The Old Town (Gamlebyen) in Fredrikstad

The Old Town can boast that it is the best preserved fortress town in Scandinavia with many of its buildings dating from the eighteenth century and its defensive battlements, drawbridges and moats from the seventeenth.

The star-shaped fortress town from 1567 is still a thriving part of Fredrikstad. You can enjoy Italian coffee in the market place, have a romantic dinner over a bottle of wine at one of the restaurants, visit Fredrikstad Museum or shop for curiosities and designer furniture in one of the unique shops. The flea market every Saturday in the town square is well worth a visit! 
 

Guided tours of the Old Town

Season: 9 June – 24 August 2008
Times: 12 noon and 2 pm
Prices: Adults NOK 90, senior citizens NOK 75, children NOK 20

The ticket covers:

• Guided tour of the Old Town
• Admission to Fredrikstad Museum in Tøihuset
• Admission to the Maritime Museum on Isegran and to
• Admission to Elingaard Manor
• Admission to the Football Museum

Meeting place/ticket purchase: The tourist information office

Island hopping around Hvaler

The Hvaler Archipelago along Fredrikstad´s coastline is a paradise of skerries and islets of every size. Hvaler is known for its maritime tales, its food and drink and its lazy days of sunbathing. Hvaler has also become a centre for artistic activities.

Island hopping around Hvaler is a continuous joy. An islet you can barely see on the map turns out to be the perfect bathing spot, the tiny shop on the neighbouring island has the best ice cream in the world, whilst the islands out there where the sky meets the ocean, are where the first inhabitants buried their chieftains.

M/S Hollungen takes you on a round trip from Skjærhalden to the islands of Lauer, Nordre Sandøy, Søndre Sandøy and Herføl 19 times a day. On Søndre Sandøy some 540 species of plants have been registered and a bike ride across the island offers a verdant contrast to sea and sand. There is also a café, a shop, a gallery and a farm selling local produce on the island.

On Herføl you will find two of Norway´s most impressive burial mounds from the Bronze Age and many potholes. The potholes were created by the scouring of glacial ice that covered Hvaler a long, long time ago. The most distinctive pothole is known as The Cathedral, a vertical pothole some two and a half metres up the rock face. Many couples choose to get married below this impressive natural formation. Herføl also offers a supermarket, a shop and a pub with an outdoor serving area.

Once the ferry gets you back to Skjærhalden you can stock up on everything you need for a picnic. Just before the church there is a left turn down to Storesand, Hvaler´s most beautiful beach and a great place for a barbecue and an evening dip.

Price: A round trip ticket costs NOK 100

The Ancient Trail

This round trip takes you on an historic adventure. Aided by downloaded maps on your telephone and a new guidebook full of information and enthralling stories, you can travel on a voyage of discovery to see how the people of Fredrikstad lived during the Bronze Age.

The guidebook and telephone download map can be ordered online at opplevfredrikstad.com or at the tourist information.

Isegran

The promontory of Isegran on Kråkerøy divides the course of the Glomma River. The Earl of Borgarsyssel, Alv Erlingsson, built a small fort here in the thirteenth century. Sources tell of him plundering merchant vessels plying the trade route between Norway and Denmark, and thereby curtailing the growth of Hanseatic influence. Up to 1680 Isegran was Norway’s only naval shipyard.

The fort you see today was built in the 1740’s. Today Isegran is a green oasis of parkland just outside Fredrikstad town centre. Here you find Fredrikstad Museum which offers seminar facilities and exhibitions in the historic buildings. From Kafé Galeien you can enjoy a pleasing view across the river to the Old Town and Vaterland. Strolling in the renaissance garden of the main house you can hear the splashing of water in the mill wheel.

Isegran is a fully functional museum dock for visiting museum ships and the two vessels Jelsa and Valentine have their permanent moorings here. There is a maritime centre here for building and repairing wooden craft. You may also notice two portrait busts – one of Norwegian boat builder Bjarne Aas, the other of the Norwegian archaeologist and historian Erling Johansen, both of whom had Isegran as their base.