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15 Best Things to Do in Fredrikstad (Norway)

Norway’s first Renaissance city, Fredrikstad was born in the 16th century on the orders of King Frederick II. The Old Town is inside a bastion fort at the mouth of the Glomma, Norway’s longest river. And the reason for these heavy fortifications is that Fredrikstad was a Danish-Norwegian bulwark against the Swedes to the east.

You can take the path around the moat, see what you can find in the endearing little Old Town, and then storm the outlying forts seconds away at Isegran and Kongsten. Here the south side of the Oslo fjord, the sunniest region in Norway, the natural splendour may leave you lost for words. You can see what we mean at dreamy granite coves, the throng of skerries and islets at Hvaler, and the immaculate royally property of Hankø Island.

Let’s explore the best things to do in Fredrikstad :

1. Gamlebyen (Old Town)

Implausibly cute, the fortified Old Town on the left bank of the Glomma in Fredrikstad is the oldest settlement in the city and has stood since 1567. When Frederick II signed the charter Fredrikstad became the first Norwegian city founded after the Middle Ages.

The man responsible for the abiding star-shaped design was the 17th-century Dutch engineer and quartermaster Willem Coucheron.

He constructed a zigzagging moat and earthwork ramparts that were so effective that Fredrikstad was never taken in a siege.

Some 350 people live on the trellis of cobblestone lanes within the fortifications, and the houses range from lovably rickety wooden houses to cultured Baroque piles.

Take a break at one of the welcoming cafes and restaurants, and potter around the busy flea market on the main square on Saturdays.

At the mouth of the Glomma is an island that has been fortified since the 13th century.

The nobleman Alv Erlingsson had a castle on Isegran at this time, which was destroyed by the King’s army in 1287. Its earthworks would become Fredrikstad’s city defences 400 years later.

Isegran was long a base for shipbuilding, and now historic wooden sailboats are restored in the same workshops they were built.

These are on the north side of the island and comprise Norway’s only school for the art of boatbuilding, while you can appreciate the vintage boats moored on the water.

The maritime museum in the powder magazine shows all the expertise that goes into restoring “International One Design” sailboats, and you can pause for a hot drink at the cafe.

3. Kongsten Fort

Founded in 1685, Kongsten Fort to the southeast of the Old Town is a freestanding fortress designed to bolster Fredrikstad’s vulnerable eastern approach and linked to the Old Town via a “hidden path”. Standing on its walls and checking the lie of the land, you’ll appreciate why the fort was constructed at this location.

Although there’s no museum at Kongsten Fort, you can come and size up the architecture, perusing the intact ramparts, gateway, bastions, powder magazine, casemate and the commander’s house.

These spaces are rented out for events and accommodation, while on its 300th anniversary the fort appeared on Norwegian postage stamps.

4. Old Town Model Train Centre

Open weekends and holidays, the Old Town has the largest model railway in Scandinavia.

In interconnected buildings is a miniature landscape more than 400 square metres in size, with two kilometres of track for 35 locomotives.

What will thrill kids and adults alike is the high degree of detail, with people, landforms, animals, monuments and Fredrikstad’s cityscape rendered at 1:87 scale.

The trains are computer operated and, as a neat touch, the centre’s control room is housed inside a replica of a Norwegian commuter train.

5. Hankø Island

An extraordinary place for a hike, this island used to be the hunting ground for the Lord of the nearby Elingård Manor.

But in the 1870s curative sulphurous mud was found on the island and it became a spa, baths and public recreation area owned by the Norwegian royal family.

Trees were planted and fallow deer were introduced, and in 1930 King Olav V built a holiday home on Hankø.

Get there via the ferry from Hankøsundet, which deposits you at the island’s northernmost point.

At the crossing, stop to appreciate the stately Seilerkroa inn on the water, painted red and completed in 1883. Also make sure to hike to the Hankø Fjordhotell & Spa established in 1877 and once swarmed by Norway’s elite.

6. Hvaler Islands

The Hvaler archipelago at the southwesternmost point of Østfold county is a world of granite skerries and islands varying in size from a few metres to several kilometres across.

The islands got the name Hvaler from the plural of “Hval”, the Norwegian word for whale as they resemble a pod of cetaceans in the water.

They may be remote, but the islands are joined to the mainland by the 108 road, meaning you could go out and come home before lunch.

The choice of things to do in the archipelago is as big as your imagination: You can dine on fresh seafood, board an island-hopping ferry, go on hikes in birch and spruce forest, find forgotten coves, take a kayak tour, play a round at the Hvaler golf course and seek out Medieval churches.

7. Litteraturhuset Fredrikstad

One of the stylish new developments on the Glomma, the Litteraturhuset opened in 2013 and is a cultural centre devoted to the written word.

A big cube clad with wood boards and glass the Litteraturhuset is the second largest institution of its kind in Norway.

With a coffee shop, auditorium and exhibition space, the centre puts on TED-style seminars, science and art shows as well as readings and performances for children.

You can check the website for the busy programme, which has something different almost every day.

The Litteraturhuset also stages high-profile events like the Fredrikstad Animation Festival every November and International Women’s Day in March.

8. Roald Amundsen’s Birthplace

One of Norway’s favourite sons, the polar explorer Roald Amundsen was born in the parish of Borge just outside Fredrikstad.

Amundsen led the first expedition to the South Pole and was the first to navigate the Arctic’s Northwest Passage.

He was born to a family of ship-owners and is said to have cultivated his intrepid spirit sailing yachts along the Glomma River.

An interesting side-note is that his mother wanted him to avoid the maritime business so he trained to become a doctor until she died, then went to sea for the rest of his life.

The family farm has a bust of Amundsen out front and is open on weekends for tours in winter, and from Wednesday to Sunday during the summer.

The house has period furniture and souvenirs from Amundsen’s voyages, and the knowledgeable guide will fill you in on Amundsen’s achievements.

9. Hans Nielsen Hauge’s Memorial Museum

On the stunning Rolvsøy island you can call in at the painted cottage where a highly influential early-19th-century social reformer was born.

A Lutheran, Hans Nielsen Hauge became an itinerant preacher after a spiritual awakening in 1896. From then on he wrote books that were widely read and gave rise to the gender equal Haugean Movement, which encouraged informal religious gatherings (forbidden at the time), set up factories and mills around the country and challenged the authority of the Church of Norway.

If you’re keen to know more about this enigmatic character his birthplace can be visited by appointment and the owner will even make coffee and waffles for you if you order in advance.

10. Østfold Kunstsenter (Østfold Art Centre)

In a refined 19th-century mansion in the centre of Fredrikstad, the Østfold Art Centre is dedicated to contemporary and applied art.

Run by artists, the centre has a gallery for constantly-changing temporary exhibitions alongside a sales gallery.

When we wrote this post there were solo shows for the installation artist Beathe C. Rønning, ceramics designer Margit Seland, conceptual artist Hazel Barstow and the painter Davood Zandian.

There’s also an art shop, cafe and workshops for youngsters in the summer holidays.

11. Fredrikstad Cathedral

Although hardly ancient, Fredrikstad’s 19th-century Gothic Revival cathedral has a lot going for it.

Consecrated in 1880 the cathedral’s most striking feature is its 70-metre tower and its copper-clad spire.

This monument only officially became a cathedral in 1969 when the Borg diocese was created.

In the choir you’ll see the stained glass windows painted in 1917 by the accomplished religious artist Emanuel Vigeland who also contributed to the cathedrals at Lund, Aarhus and Stavanger.

The altarpiece meanwhile was the work of Axel Revold who was art professor at the Norway National Academy of Fine Arts for two decades.

12. Østre Fredrikstad Church

The Old Town’s first church was built from wood in 1560 and burnt down not long after.

The same fate would befall each of the next five churches on this site.

Finally after the last wooden church was claimed by a blaze in 1764 the city decided to build a church from stone and brick that has remained unharmed since 1779. There are small traces of its predecessor in the stonework of this proud Baroque church that can seat 450 worshippers.

Call ahead and you can view the understated interiors, which have carved wooden pews and a gallery supported by Ionic columns with capitals painted gold.

13. Mærrapanna Naturreservat

A joy in summer, the Mærrapanna Naturreservat is a bathing area and nature reserve on a peninsula 15 minutes by car.

The scenery is memorable as on the ground are monumental granite boulders, which take on a mesmerising orange hue in the sunlight.

Between the boulders are tufts of heather, pine and verdant grassy areas.

The peninsula is never more than 100 metres wide and has sheltered bathing spots where kids can paddle in safety, as well as picnic benches, fishing spots, a playground, barbecue pits and bathing ladders for stronger swimmers.

One of the loveliest beaches near Fredrikstad, Foten is only 10 kilometres to the southwest and is awarded the Blue Flag every year for its water quality and amenities.

The last upgrade was in time for summer 2012 when a beach volleyball court and new children’s playground arrived.

The beach is a little sandy bay, which blends with large, rounded granite rocks that people lounge on in summer.

Swimmers can take a dip in the gentle sea via a wooden pier with bathing ladders, and a multi-level diving board has been built on the rocks beside deeper water.

15. Fredrikstad FK

Now, watching a football match in Norway might not be your lifetime ambition, but there are a few reasons to keep the local team Fredrikstad FK in mind if you come in summer.

First off, football is a summer sport in Norway, played from March to November so there’s a good chance of catching a game.

But Fredrikstad FK is a team of real history and culture, playing at the well-appointed Fredrikstad Stadion, which opened next to the Glomma in 2007. Founded in 1903, the Aristocrats as they’re known, are now in the 2. Divisjon having been relegated from the OBOS-ligaen in 2017. But their current lowly position belies the club’s heritage as one of the most successful in Norway’s history, having won the top division nine times and lifted eleven Norwegian cups.

15 Best Things to Do in Fredrikstad (Norway):

• Gamlebyen (Old Town)
• Kongsten Fort
• Old Town Model Train Centre
• Hankø Island
• Hvaler Islands
• Litteraturhuset Fredrikstad
• Roald Amundsen's Birthplace
• Hans Nielsen Hauge's Memorial Museum
• Østfold Kunstsenter (Østfold Art Centre)
• Fredrikstad Cathedral
• Østre Fredrikstad Church
• Mærrapanna Naturreservat
• Fredrikstad FK

Fredrikstad

• 1 Understand
• 2.1 By train
• 2.2 By plane
• 3 Get around
• 4.1 Old Town
• 5.1 Activities
• 10 Stay safe

Fredrikstad is a city and municipality in Østfold county in Norway , home to around 85,000 people (2023). Its old town is Northern Europe's best preserved fortified town.

The city of Fredrikstad was founded and named in 1567 by King Frederick II of Denmark-Norway. The oldest part of the city was built as a fortified town behind protective walls. The city's location is at the estuary of Glomma, the largest river in Norway and not far from the Swedish border. The river was used for transporting timber. The city still has a significant wood processing industry. The main settlement is along the river banks. Today, the city has an important trading business and is a popular tourist city.

• Fredrikstad city website

Fredrikstad is served by the Norwegian State Railway on the Oslo - Halden line. Also some trains to Gothenburg and onward connections, and almost as long (plus waiting time in Oslo) between the airport and the central station of Oslo to Fredrikstad.

There are two main airports serving eastern Norway, the larger one is Oslo Gardermoen (OSL), which is 50 km north of Oslo while Fredrikstad is about 90 km (56 mi) south of Oslo. Nevertheless, there is a bus service ( line FB11 between Fredrikstad and the airport taking slightly over two hours.

Some people find a good deal if they fly to Gothenburg instead, and take the train or drive from there.

About 230 km to the south, Gothenburg airport Landvetter is even further from Fredrikstad than OSL is (though the difference in driving time is less than an hour), but sometimes the tickets might be better there.

Hourly to Oslo via Moss by TimEkspressen . Several daily to Strømstad in Sweden, corresponding with a ferry to Sandefjord .

It is fairly easy to get around the city as public transportation in form of bus is frequent and goes around town and to the suburbs in all directions from the centre of downtown.

Taxi is available from the main taxi central in downtown, just opposite of the main walking street.

There is a ferry from downtown to the old town which is quite frequent. It is an affordable and scenic means of transportation, and you get to see the city from a different view as well, as the river offers a unique view of town. It also goes to the neighboring suburb Gressvik.

If you have a rental car, traffic is usually unproblematic, but there may be some traffic jams in the main entry roads to town around 16:00-17:00 (rush hour).

The old fortified city, founded in 1567, and Kongsten fortress .

• 59.201984 10.951889 2 Fredrikstad Museum , Tøihusgaten 41 ( Fredrikstad's Old Town ).  
• 59.20288 10.95561 2 Gamlebyen Modelljernbanesenter , Voldgaten 8 ( Old Town ), ☏ +47 90 50 98 74 , [email protected] . Claims to be the largest model train system of its kind in Scandinavia. Great fun for kids of all ages. 30 kr. .  
• Go swimming . There is a plethora of swimming south of downtown just waiting to be discovered.
• 59.201336 10.966507 4 Gamle Fredrikstad Golfklubb , ☏ +47 958 555 00 . Play golf at this centrally located golf course.  
• 59.214271 10.94025 1 Torvbyen
• 59.21163 10.93718 1 Divan , Storgata 3 , ☏ +47 934 70 909 . A Turkish restaurant. ( updated Mar 2018 )
• 59.21371 10.93431 2 Mother India , Storgata 20 , ☏ +47 69 31 22 00 . As you might have guessed from its name, it is an Indian restaurant. ( updated Mar 2018 )
• 59.20713 10.95018 3 Quarteret café , Jernbanegata 8 , ☏ +47 474 41 766 . It claims to be the world's only "Pølsepub" or "hot dog bar". It offers sausages and local brews. Budget . ( updated Mar 2018 )
• 59.21171 10.93446 4 Restaurant Slippen , Verkstedveien 12 , ☏ +47 994 69 988 , [email protected] . A fish and seafood restaurant. ( updated Mar 2018 )
• 59.21207 10.93706 5 St. Raw Fredrikstad , Storgata 8 , ☏ +47 474 79 417 . A sushi restaurant. ( updated Mar 2018 )
• 59.203262 10.955069 6 Majorens Kro og Stue ( Majorstuen ), Gamle, Voldportgaten 73 ( Fredrikstad's Old Town ), ☏ +47 69 32 15 55 .  

There are three coffee shops in the city centre that make very good coffees, milkshakes, smoothies etc. One is Verdensspeilet (World Mirror) right opposite the cinema. The second is Syversen Tea and Coffee and the third is Malenki, next to the cinema. All three have friendly staff and great coffee, and are great for a quick bite. If you want to stay a little longer, maybe have a beer and play a board game then Verdenspeilet is the best choice.

The riverwalk has a lot of restaurants and bars, and in the summertime, especially, it is a very busy area where people go to eat, drink a beer in the sunshine by the water and in general have a good time. People also come by boat, staying directly at the guest pier.

• 59.21193 10.938286 1 Dragen Pub , Nygaardsgata 35 .  
• 59.203763 10.953176 2 Gulating Pub Gamlebyen , Kirkegaten 28 A ( Fredrikstad's Old Town ). Great selection of craft beer.  
• 59.204058 10.954263 3 Tamburen , Færgeportgaten 78B ( Fredrikstad's Old Town ).  
• 59.215372 10.93251 4 West End Pub , Brogata 17 .  
• 59.2002 10.9649 1 Fredrikstad Motel & Camping , Torsnesveien 16/18 , ☏ +47 99 22 19 99 .  
• 59.21134 10.93957 2 Quality Hotel Fredrikstad , Nygata 2-6 , ☏ +47 69 39 30 00 , [email protected] . A five-star hotel next to the cinema. It is a short walk and a ferry trip to the old city and 0.5 km to the train station. 172 rooms with two design themes; Urban and Ocean. Expensive . ( updated Mar 2018 )
• 59.203606 10.954667 3 Gamlebyen Hotell , Voldportgaten 72 ( Fredrikstad's Old Town ), ☏ +47 400 53 909 , [email protected] . This historical hotel is in an old, picturesque wooden building, snugly in the old fortified town.  
• 59.21296 10.93904 4 Scandic City , Gunnar Nilsens gate 9 ( next to the bus station and a few minutes walk to Brygga and 0.5 km to the train station ), ☏ +47 69 38 56 00 , [email protected] . 4-star hotel. Hotel facilities: garage, internet, restaurant, bar, nightclub, fitness room, sauna and animals allowed. ( updated Mar 2018 )
• 59.2153 10.9343 5 Hotel Valhalla , Valhalls gate 3 , ☏ +47 69 36 89 50 . An old building made of wood in 1870 and run by a family. The building has been totally rebuilt and contains 24 modern rooms, divided into single/double and family rooms. The outside of the building is now like it was at the beginning of the century. All rooms contain TV and private shower/wc. The hotel's website says that staying at this hotel is like living on the roof of the city, because of the great view. The hotel has its own park and is within walking distance to the city centre. ( updated Mar 2018 )
• 59.207582 10.942099 6 Hotel Victoria , Turngaten 3 , ☏ +47 69 38 58 00 , [email protected] . This central and traditional hotel is next to the Cathedral Park, the city's main street and the Old Town. It offers free Wi-Fi and an on-site restaurant with bar.  

Norway is a fairly safe country in general, and Fredrikstad is no exception.

• Oslo - The capital of Norway
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Top Things to Do in Fredrikstad, Norway

Places to visit in fredrikstad, explore popular experiences, tours in and around fredrikstad.

Fredrikstad: A Self-Guided Audio Tour along the Riverside

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2hr Retro Motorcycle Sidecar Oslo Highlights Tour

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Plan Your Trip to Fredrikstad: Best of Fredrikstad Tourism

Fredrikstad, Norway

Essential fredrikstad.

Fredrikstad Is Great For

Eat & drink

• Quality Hotel Fredrikstad
• Gamlebyen Hotell
• Hotel Fredrikstad
• Scandic City
• Bevø Camping
• Thai Market
• Mezzo & Grill
• Restaurant Slippen
• Divan Restaurant
• Ristorante Fabbrica
• The Fortified Town
• Gamlebyen Miniature Railroad
• Prehistoric Road
• Fredrikstad Museum

This Wild Planet

5 Fun Things to Do in Fredrikstad, Norway

Fredrikstad is a small town located in Østfold, Norway. Founded in the 16th century under the rule of King Frederick II, Fredrikstad is considered to be Norway’s first Renaissance city. It is only about an hour by train from Oslo city center, which makes it a great place for a day trip if you’re staying in Oslo!

Popular attractions in Fredrikstad include Fredrikstad Old Town and Gamlebyen Miniature Railroad. This small, picturesque city is full of history and well worth a visit! Read on for some of the top things to do in Fredrikstad, Norway.

Table of Contents

Things to do in fredrikstad, 1. take a ferry from the city center to fredrikstad’s old town.

Fredrikstad has a (free!) local ferry that runs between the city center – Stortorget – and the old town – Gamlebyen. This is a great way to get some scenic waterside views of the town!

2. Walk around Fredrikstad’s Old Town

The 18th-century Old Town in Fredrikstad is one of the best-preserved historic fortress towns in the region and is definitely worth a walk around. Today, you can wander the cobblestone streets browsing boutiques and art galleries.

When you’re ready for a break, there are plenty of cozy cafes and restaurants contained within the fortress walls. Consider stopping to try the famous waffles at Café Magenta!

3. Visit the Fredrikstad Museum

You can learn more about the rich history of the area at Fredrikstad Museum. At the museum, you can get to know the town’s life and people from the 16th century to the present day.

4. See the trains at Gamlebyen Model Train Center

For a unique experience, consider visiting Gamlebyen Model Train Center! The center’s impressive model train exhibition spans 400 square meters. It includes about 2 kilometers of railway and scenery and over 30 different miniature trains.

If you look carefully, you can even find a model of Fredrikstad’s Old Town!

5. Enjoy the oceanside views at nearby Ytre Hvaler National Park

Ytre Hvaler National Park is a very scenic national park located in the municipalities of Hvaler and Fredrikstad. It is the perfect place to go to do some hiking or relax at the beach!

See this post for more information about visiting Ytre Hvaler National Park!

Getting to Fredrikstad from Oslo via public transportation

The best way to get to Fredrikstad from Oslo using public transportation is by train. The train takes about 1 hour to get from Oslo Central Station to Fredrikstad Station.

The train to Fredrikstad leaves from Oslo Central Station about every half hour. Tickets should cost around 265 NOK each way and can be purchased from the  Vy website .

For more day-trip destinations that can easily be reached via public transportation from Oslo, check out this post !

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Top 8 BEST Things to do in Fredrikstad (Norway)

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The first Renaissance city in Norway , Fredrikstad, was founded by King Frederick II in the 16th century. A bastion fort houses the Old Town at the opening of the longest river in Norway, Glomma.

Fredrikstad was a Danish-Norwegian bulwark over the Swedes towards the east, which is the main reason behind such massive fortifications.

You can take a path to get around the moat, explore the endearing small Old Town, and storm the forts outlying seconds away at Kongsten and Isegran.

You may be left spellbound when visiting the sunniest landmark of Norway, the south of Oslo Fjord, and the natural splendor. You may be amazed at the dreamy coves formed with granite, the islets at Hvaler, the thong of skerries, and the royally immaculate property of Hanko Island .

Here are some of the best things to do in Fredrikstad .

Table of Contents

Experiences and top things to do in Fredrikstad

Hankø island.

hiking in Hankø Island is one of the best things to do in Fredrikstad. The island was once used as the hunting land for the Lord of Elingard Manor.

Curative sulfurous mud was found in the 1870s on the island and later became baths, spa, and public recreation spot owned by the royal family of Norway. Later on, fallow deer were introduced, and trees were planted.

The holiday home was also built for King Olav V in 1930. You can take the ferry from Hankøsundet to get there at the northernmost point of the island. Then stop at the crossing and embrace the Seilerkroa inn, which was painted red on the water and was finished in 1883.

Established in 1877, you can also hike to Hankø Fjordhotell & Spa, which was once swarmed by the elites in Norway.

Where to stay: Best hotels in Fredrikstad

Gamlebyen (Old Town)

Another best thing to do in Fredrikstad is wandering around Gamlebyen.  This fortified Old Town is very adorable and scenic on the left bank of the Glomma River in Fredrikstad. This oldest settlement dates back to 1567. 

Fredrikstad was the first city in Norway founded after the Middle Ages when Frederick II signed the charter. Willem Coucheron was the quartermaster and Dutch engineer in the 17th century who made this star-shaped design.

He was also responsible for the construction of earthwork ramparts and zigzag moat, which was so impressive that this city was never attacked. On the trellis of lanes made of cobblestones, around 350 people live in the fortifications.

You can find cultural Baroque piles and rickety wooden houses of the locals here. It also has some beautiful restaurants and cafes to take a break and potter around the bustling flea market on Saturdays in the main square.

Hvaler Islands

At the southwestern-most of Ostfold County houses the beautiful archipelago of granite skerries, Hvaler Islands, which vary from few meters to several kilometers.

Hvaler is named from “Hval” (plural), a Norwegian word that resembles a whale as a pod of cetaceans of the water. These remote islands are joined to the mainland through 108 Road. Therefore, you can come home and go out before lunch.

There is no lack of activities in the Hvaler Islands as you could imagine. You can hop on a ferry, hike in birch , find some lost coves, play at Hvaler Golf Course, do kayaking, and explore medieval churches.

Kongsten Fort

Kongsten Fort was founded in 1685 at the southeast of Old Town. It is a freestanding fort designed to strengthen the vulnerable eastern approach to Fredrikstad and is linked through a hidden path to Old Town. You will embrace the fact why the fort was built here by standing on its walls. It does not have any museum.

However, you can still come and explore the architecture of this tourist attraction in Fredrikstad. It houses the gateway, ramparts, powder magazine, bastions, commander’s house, and casemate, which survived well over time.

The fort was featured on Norwegian postage stamps on its 300th anniversary, and these spaces are now rented out for accommodation and events.

Mærrapanna Naturreservat

Bathing in the nature reserve of Mærrapanna Naturreservat is a treat in summer . This peninsula is located just 15 minutes from the city by car .

It exudes memorable scenery on the ground with monumental granite boulders where you can get the scenic orange hue of sunlight. There are tufts of pine, heather, and serene grassy lands across the boulders.

The peninsula has sheltered bathing places and has never been over 100m wide where kids can paddle in, and there are also fishing spots, picnic benches, barbecue pits, playground, and bathing ladders for swimmers.

Fredrikstad FK

Though catching up on a football match in Norway is not the thing you want to do in life, but you should still consider Fredrikstad FK, a local team if you are getting here in summer .

Football is played from March to November in Norway. So, you are most likely to catch a game if you are getting around Fredrikstad landmarks in summers.

Playing at Fredrikstad Stadion, Fredrikstad FK is full of culture and history.

COOL READ → Do you want to know something interesting about Norway? Here’s our post about the fun facts about Norway !

Østre Fredrikstad Church

The first church in the Old Town, Ostre Fredrikstad Church, was built in 1560 entirely of wood but burnt down after a long time. Each of the nearby five churches was burned down the same way on this site. When the last wooden church was lost in 1764, the city finally decided to use brick and stone to build a church, which has survived since 1779.

You can also find small traces in the stonework of its predecessor in this proud church, which has the capacity of over 450 worshippers.

You may also get a chance to view the unmatched interiors with a gallery of Ionic columns, gold-painted capitals, and wooden pews.

Foten is located just 10km southwest of town and one of the most beautiful beaches in Fredrikstad. Every year, it receives the Blue Flag for world-class amenities and turquoise blue waters.

The new kids’ playground and a beach volleyball court were built in the summer of 2012. It is a bit sandy beach, which blends well with curved, large granite rocks, which you can lounge on during summers.

There is a wooden pier as well as bathing ladders to dip in the gentle sea. It also has a diving board with several levels on the rocks around deeper water.

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Evan Kristine a.k.a Pretty Wild World is a professional blogger with over 10 years of experience in content creation. Originally from the Philippines, she's been living in Finland for 15+ years working as a chef and entrepreneur in Tampere, Finland.

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In Norway, the Electric Vehicle Future Has Already Arrived

About 80 percent of new cars sold in Norway are battery-powered. As a result, the air is cleaner, the streets are quieter and the grid hasn’t collapsed. But problems with unreliable chargers persist.

About 80 percent of new-car sales in Norway were electric last year, putting the country at the vanguard of the shift to emissions-free vehicles. Credit... David B. Torch for The New York Times

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By Jack Ewing

• Published May 8, 2023 Updated Sept. 17, 2023

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BAMBLE, Norway — About 110 miles south of Oslo, along a highway lined with pine and birch trees, a shiny fueling station offers a glimpse of a future where electric vehicles rule.

Chargers far outnumber gasoline pumps at the service area operated by Circle K, a retail chain that got its start in Texas. During summer weekends, when Oslo residents flee to country cottages, the line to recharge sometimes backs up down the off-ramp.

Marit Bergsland, who works at the store, has had to learn how to help frustrated customers connect to chargers in addition to her regular duties flipping burgers and ringing up purchases of salty licorice , a popular treat.

“Sometimes we have to give them a coffee to calm down,” she said.

Last year, 80 percent of new-car sales in Norway were electric, putting the country at the vanguard of the shift to battery-powered mobility. It has also turned Norway into an observatory for figuring out what the electric vehicle revolution might mean for the environment, workers and life in general. The country will end the sales of internal combustion engine cars in 2025.

Norway’s experience suggests that electric vehicles bring benefits without the dire consequences predicted by some critics. There are problems, of course, including unreliable chargers and long waits during periods of high demand. Auto dealers and retailers have had to adapt. The switch has reordered the auto industry, making Tesla the best-selling brand and marginalizing established carmakers like Renault and Fiat.

But the air in Oslo, Norway’s capital, is measurably cleaner. The city is also quieter as noisier gasoline and diesel vehicles are scrapped. Oslo’s greenhouse gas emissions have fallen 30 percent since 2009, yet there has not been mass unemployment among gas station workers and the electrical grid has not collapsed.

Some lawmakers and corporate executives portray the fight against climate change as requiring grim sacrifice. “With E.V.s, it’s not like that,” said Christina Bu, secretary general of the Norwegian E.V. Association, which represents owners. “It’s actually something that people embrace.”

Norway began promoting electric vehicles in the 1990s to support Think, a homegrown electric vehicle start-up that Ford Motor owned for a few years. Battery-powered vehicles were exempted from value-added and import taxes and from highway tolls.

The government also subsidized the construction of fast charging stations, crucial in a country nearly as big as California with just 5.5 million people. The combination of incentives and ubiquitous charging “took away all the friction factors,” said Jim Rowan, the chief executive of Volvo Cars, based in neighboring Sweden.

The policies put Norway more than a decade ahead of the United States. The Biden administration aims for 50 percent of new-vehicle sales to be electric by 2030, a milestone Norway passed in 2019.

A few feet from a six-lane highway that skirts Oslo’s waterfront, metal pipes jut from the roof of a prefabricated shed. The building measures pollution from the traffic zooming by, a stone's throw from a bicycle path and a marina.

Levels of nitrogen oxides, byproducts of burning gasoline and diesel that cause smog, asthma and other ailments, have fallen sharply as electric vehicle ownership has risen. “We are on the verge of solving the NOx problem,” said Tobias Wolf, Oslo’s chief engineer for air quality, referring to nitrogen oxides.

But there is still a problem where the rubber meets the road. Oslo’s air has unhealthy levels of microscopic particles generated partly by the abrasion of tires and asphalt. Electric vehicles, which account for about one-third of the registered vehicles in the city but a higher proportion of traffic, may even aggravate that problem.

“They’re really a lot heavier than internal combustion engine cars, and that means that they are causing more abrasion,” said Mr. Wolf, who, like many Oslo residents, prefers to get around by bicycle.

Another persistent problem: Apartment residents say finding a place to plug in their cars remains a challenge. In the basement of an Oslo restaurant recently, local lawmakers and residents gathered to discuss the issue.

Sirin Hellvin Stav, Oslo’s vice mayor for environment and transport, said at the event that the city wants to install more public chargers but also reduce the number of cars by a third to make streets safer and free space for walking and cycling.

“The goal is to cut emissions, which is why E.V.s are so important, but also to make the city better to live in,” Ms. Stav, a member of the Green Party, said in an interview later.

Electric vehicles are part of a broader plan by Oslo to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions to almost zero by 2030. All city buses will be electric by the end of the year.

Oslo is also targeting construction, the source of more than a quarter of its greenhouse gas emissions. Contractors bidding on public projects have a better chance of winning if they use equipment that runs on electricity or biofuels.

At a park in a working-class Oslo neighborhood last month, an excavator scooped out earth for a decorative pond. A thick cable connected the excavator to a power source, driving its electric motor. Later, an electric dump truck hauled away the soil.

Normally, the crew would have been required to stop working when the children in a nearby kindergarten napped. But the electric equipment was quiet enough that work could continue. (Children in Norway nap outdoors, weather permitting.)

Espen Hauge, who manages city construction projects, said he was surprised at how quickly contractors substituted hard-to-find electric equipment for diesel machinery. “Some projects that we thought were impossible or very difficult to do zero emission, we still got the tender for zero emission,” he said.

Ms. Stav acknowledged what she called the hypocrisy of Norway’s drive to reduce greenhouse gases while producing lots of oil and gas . Fossil-fuel exports generated revenue of $180 billion last year. “We’re exporting that pollution,” Ms. Stav said, noting that her party has called for oil and gas production to be phased out by 2035.

But Norway’s government has not pulled back on oil and gas production. “We have several fields in production, or under development, providing energy security to Europe,” Amund Vik, state secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, said in a statement.

Elsewhere, Norway’s power grid has held up fine even with more demand for electricity. It helps that the country has abundant hydropower. Even so, electric vehicles have increased the demand for electricity modestly, according to calculations by the E.V. Association, and most owners are charging cars at night, when demand is lower and power is cheaper.

Elvia, which supplies electricity to Oslo and the surrounding area, has had to install new substations and transformers in some places, said Anne Nysæther, the company’s managing director. But, she added, “we haven’t seen any issue of the grid collapsing .”

Nor has there been a rise in unemployment among auto mechanics. Electric vehicles don't need oil changes and require less maintenance than gasoline cars, but they still break down. And there are plenty of gasoline cars that will need maintenance for years.

Sindre Dranberg, who has worked at a Volkswagen dealership in Oslo since the 1980s, underwent training to service electric-vehicle batteries. Was it difficult to make the switch? “No,” he said, as he replaced defective cells in a Volkswagen e-Golf.

Electric vehicles are creating jobs in other industries. In Fredrikstad, 55 miles south of Oslo, a former steel plant has become a battery recycling center. Workers, including some who worked at the steel plant, dismantle battery packs. A machine then shreds the packs to separate plastic, aluminum and copper from a black mass that contains crucial ingredients such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite.

The factory, owned by Hydrovolt, is the first of several the company plans to build in Europe and the United States. So far, there is not much to recycle, but eventually recycled batteries could greatly reduce the need for mining.

“If we can take the active material that already is within the product and create new ones, then we create a shortcut,” said Peter Qvarfordt, the chief executive of Hydrovolt, a joint venture of the aluminum producer Norsk Hydro and Northvolt, a battery maker.

If anyone has to worry about their jobs, it’s car dealers. The almost complete disappearance of gasoline and diesel vehicles from showrooms has reordered the industry.

The Moller Mobility Group has long been Norway’s biggest auto retailer, with sales last year of $3.7 billion and dealerships in Sweden and the Baltic countries. Moller’s Oslo outlet is filled with electric Volkswagens like the ID.4 and the ID.Buzz. There are only a few internal combustion cars.

Yet, Tesla is greatly outselling Volkswagen in Norway, grabbing 30 percent of the market compared to 19 percent for Volkswagen and its Skoda and Audi brands, according to the Road Information Council.

Sales of electric cars from Chinese companies like BYD and Xpeng are also growing. If that pattern repeats itself elsewhere in Europe and in the United States, some established carmakers might not survive.

Petter Hellman, the chief executive of Moller Mobility, predicted that traditional brands would regain ground because customers trust them and they have extensive service networks. “But clearly,” he added, “Tesla has shaken the industry.”

Circle K, which bought gas stations that had belonged to a Norwegian government-owned oil company, is using the country to learn how to serve electric car owners in the United States and Europe. The chain, now owned by Alimentation Couche-Tard, a company based near Montreal, has more than 9,000 stores in North America.

Guro Stordal, a Circle K executive, has the difficult task of developing charging infrastructure that works with dozens of vehicle brands, each with its own software.

Electric vehicle owners tend to spend more time at Circle K because charging takes longer than filling a gasoline tank. That’s good for food sales. But gasoline remains an important source of revenue.

“We do see it as an opportunity,” Hakon Stiksrud, Circle K's head of global e-mobility, said of electric vehicles. “But if we are not capable of grasping those opportunities, it quickly becomes a threat.”

Audio produced by Tally Abecassis .

Jack Ewing writes about business from New York, focusing on the auto industry and the transition to electric cars. He spent much of his career in Europe and is the author of “Faster, Higher, Farther," about the Volkswagen emissions scandal. More about Jack Ewing

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