27/10/2025
Our drive south to Tønsberg was fairly uneventful. It’s only rationale was to get us closer to Larvik where we would take our ferry back to Hirtshals in Denmark.
Parking in Tønsberg
Tønsberg has several motorhome parking spots – three official ones that I counted – but only one service area, a freebie which was in the industrial estate close to, but not in, one of the parking areas. We did our services and then chose that nearby parking spot. It was convenient more than anything. Although it was in an industrial estate, the park up was right at the edge of the water with a view out over the fjord and some patches of nature reserve that were attracting the sort of person who carries a camera with a very long lens.
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- On arrival in the motorhome parking
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- As the sunset the sea started to shimmer
Walking around Tønsberg
Given that this was a convenience stop we actually had a really nice day mooching around Tønsberg.
We walked along the waters edge to the marina. This is obviously an area with some money. Large numbers of pleasure boats were out of the water for the winter. Just a few remained in the harbour. Restaurants and bars lined the waters edge and were busy with people enjoying a Sunday lunch. Plenty of small tourist attractions lined the area.
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- A historic paddlesteamer at the harbour
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- A display of old fire engines
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- A replica Viking longship in the process of being created
From the Marina we continued to follow the waters edge, past another nature reserve until we could finally head uphill towards the very prominent feature of Slottsfjell Tower. The tower was built in 1888 as a landmark and memorial to the medieval fort that once stood on this bluff that overlooks Tønsberg. It’s a much meddled with site, but you can get an idea of the scale of it when you walk around the restored walls.
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- Some old grass roofed houses
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- The tower above the restored foundations
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- Good views over Tonsberg
We finished our walk by descending the other side of the hill fort and walking through the town where we found a bakery for some tea and cake.
Our evening in Tønsberg was fairly uneventful and we moved on the next morning to Larvik.
A day in Larvik
We had an evening ferry but Paul wanted to do a bit of shopping for new shiny things before he left Norway. He spent our last cash on fishing lures to add to his collection.
We still had a long wait to catch our ferry so we found a walk on the outskirts of Larvik up to the small forested summit of Martineåsen. We had fun clambering over fallen trees and squidging through boggy undergrowth in the woods. When we got back to the van we were ravenous so we had a late lunch and prepped some sandwiches for the ferry.
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- There were plenty of fallen trees across the path
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- But some had been protected from the wind
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- And interesting bridge over the bog. It was very slippery though.
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- Walking between rocky outcrops
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- The obligatory firepit at the summit
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- Our path is somewhere under the overflowing lake
Leaving on the ferry
Finally it was time to leave Norway. It was so disappointing to have to leave, but our Schengen days were running out and we only had a few days to get to Calais for our return ferry. We know we will be back in the Nordic countries and are already thinking about 2027. There is so much more to explore and it is such a beautiful area. And most of all Paul cant stop raving about the fishing, maybe next time he’ll get a licence for sport fishing and we might get some trout on the table.
Our evening ferry had been booked a long time before our night time trip to Bodo. In hindsight we definitely wouldn’t book evening ferries if it was going to be dark. It may have felt like a good use of time when we booked it, but we felt quite stir crazy, despite taking plenty to entertain us. Maybe it was just the sadness at having to leave.