6 Best Sights in Southern Norway, Norway

Established in 1832, this museum displays a fascinating array of artifacts pertaining to coastal life, from toys to farm tools. Find out about the 1767 slave ship Fredensborg and learn more about the region’s folk art traditions.

Although it’s a reconstruction of an Iron Age farm, Jernaldergården feels like the real thing because the newly built structures have been positioned on the original foundations. Relics such as a Bronze Age gravestone have been discovered here, and more research is underway. Taste some mead, the Vikings’ favorite drink, or have breakfast or lunch on wooden benches in front of roaring fireplaces.

In an Empire-style building from 1827, the Lillesand Town and Maritime Museum is a window into the region's seafaring past. You can see how sailmakers worked and the city’s first fire pump. 

Housed in the only two shipping merchants' houses that remain completely intact is Stavanger Maritime Museum. Built between 1770 and 1840, the restored buildings trace the past 200 years of trade, sea traffic, and shipbuilding. Visit a turn-of-the-20th-century general store, a merchant's apartment, and a sailmaker's loft. A reconstruction of a shipowner's office and a memorial are also here, as are two 19th-century ships, the sloop Anna af Sand, and the Colin Archer yacht Wyvern, moored at the pier.