Grimstad
Municipality · Agder
About Grimstad
The pharmacy where young Ibsen wrote his first play, boat trips into Raet National Park and the Norwegian Short Film Festival each June.
What to do and where to stay in Grimstad
Places to stay are run locally, with no hotel or campsite chain behind them.
1Ibsen-museet (Ibsen Museum)History & culture
The pharmacy where Henrik Ibsen apprenticed from age 15 in 1843, and the small room where he lived and wrote his first play, shown on guided tours in summer.
Henrik Ibsens gate 14, Grimstad centre · 1 h (guided tour) · daily 21 June–9 August 2026, 11–16; by appointment all year
2Sjøfartsmuseet (Grimstad maritime museum)History & culture
A harbourside museum on why Agder led Norwegian shipping in the sailing-ship era, with rooms on WWII merchant seamen, sail to steam, and a swim ladder on the quay outside.
Hasseldalen 3, Grimstad · 1 h · daily 21 June–9 August 2026, 10–15, plus some June and autumn days
3Fjære kirke and the Terje Vigen memorialHistory & culture
A white stone church from about 1150 among restored burial fields; a stone raised in 1906 marks Terje Vigen, the sailor in Ibsen's poem, said to be buried here.
Fjæreveien 189, about 3 km east of Grimstad · 20–30 min · all year outside; inside by arrangement
4Dømmesmoen park and the 500-year-old oakNature
A former state gardening college's English-style park by the Raet moraine, with over 40 Iron Age burial mounds, a hollow oak about 500 years old and a lit ski trail.
Fjæreveien 35, Dømmesmoen, just east of Grimstad · 1–1.5 h · park all year; horticulture museum daily 21 June–16 August 2026, 11–16
5Hamsun's writing cottage at NørholmHistory & culture
Hamsun bought Nørholm in 1918 and in the early 1920s moved a croft cottage near the house to write in; guided tours on July Wednesdays show his desk and library.
Nørholm, about 10 min drive west of Grimstad (former Eide municipality) · 1–1.5 h tour · Wednesdays in July only (guided, max 8, pre-booked)
6Grimstad coastal path (Kyststien) to HasseltangenHike
A marked coastal route from Grimstad centre east past Fevik and over cliffs to Hasseltangen and on to Arendal, keeping as close to the shore as it can.
From Grimstad centre east via Fevik · 2–4 h for a stretch · all year
7Hasseltangen (Raet National Park)Swim
A shore area east of town marketed as Raet National Park on land, with a beach, beech wood, grass and paved wheelchair paths down to the sea, and fishing from the quay.
Sømsveien, east of Grimstad · 1–2 h · all year; swimming in summer
8Kalvehageneset, HomborsundViewpoint
A walking area on the Homborsund coast with a view straight out to Homborsund lighthouse, and good spots for swimming and fishing.
Homborsund, southwest Grimstad · 1 h · all year
9Café at Norsk Hagebruksmuseum, DømmesmoenFood & drink
The horticulture museum's café in Dømmesmoen park is known for its waffles and sveler with homemade rhubarb jam, and also serves ice cream in the summer season.
Fjæreveien 35, Dømmesmoen, just east of Grimstad · 30–45 min · Daily 21 June–16 August 2026, plus some Sundays May–September
10ReddalskanalenLocal oddity
A canal finished in 1880 for timber and small ships, running about 3 km from Strandfjorden to Landvikvannet, with a 500 m cut on to the protected lake Reddalsvannet.
Reddal, west of Grimstad (former Landvik) · 20–60 min (longer by canoe) · All year (boating May–September)