NORWEGIAN

Cultural landscape at the Scenic Route . NORWEGIAN SCENIC ROUTE JÆREN

- with open skies, wide horizons and endless ocean. Constantly changing weather and light. Mile upon mile of sandy beaches and sand dunes, only broken by boulders and salmon rivers.

This is Norway’s food basket with intensive agriculture in a flat, vast and well-kept cultural landscape, in an area with a mild climate the year round.

The Jæren coast is open to the sea and has always been regarded as one of the most dangerous stretches of the entire Norwegian coastline. Work on constructing lighthouses began in the mid 19th century. The aim was to lead North Sea shipping safely along the Jæren coast in bad weather, darkness and fog. Over the years a number of new lighthouses were built, with the Kvassheim Lighthouse, completed in 1912, the last of them. sand dunes give an exciting glimpse of ocean and history. Jæren’s thousand square kilometres or more represent the biggest lowland area in Norway and the long sandy beaches towards journey’s end can offer the motorist some relaxation.

KONVOI, OBRESTADHAMNA

©Photo: Roger Ellingsen

VARHAUG OLD CHURCHYARD

The first church at Varhaug was built in the 13th century. The old church was demolished in 1905 and replaced by a small burial chapel. The scenic cemetery faces the ocean. There is also a monument to nine Russian sailors who were washed ashore after the naval vessel “Ingermanland” was shipwrecked in 1842.

©Photo: Helge Stikbakke

ORRESTRANDA BEACH

VARHAUG OLD CHURCHYARD KVASSHEIM LIGHTHOUSE

Kvassheim lighthouse was erected in Ognabukten bay in 1912. Together with the lighthouses at Obrestad and Feistein, its mission was to guide ships safely along the Jæren coast. Kvassheim remained in operation until 1990. The lighthouse has been restored and reconstructed, and contains exhibitions on the story of marine rescue operations and the Jæren nature, as well as a small café.

The North Sea Route takes you to the most beautiful places along Norway’s south-west coast

The journey along the sea. On two wheels or four. It does not matter. Imagine the opposite of monotony. Then you will know what the North Sea Route has to offer. A journey along the sea, from Kristiansand in the south to Haugesund in the north.

The North Sea Route does not allow for break-neck speed, even though you can manage the whole tour in less than a day. The road is above all a holiday route for those looking for something other than speed and big trucks roaring past. The North Sea Route has many facets. On the southern coast, there is sun and sea along beaches and bare rock faces. A little further west Fedafjorden and Jøssingfjord will give you a foretaste of the steep landscape of the fjord country. Then the landscape softens again. Below the wide skies of Jæren , green meadows undulate between mile upon mile of stone fences and white sandy beaches. Lysefjorden with its amazingly steep rock sides cuts into the land east of Stavanger, and north of Boknafjorden you will come upon an open coastal landscape with outcrops and gentle grassy slopes. Here is ancient Avaldsnes – Norway’s first capital. Whether you choose to start your journey from the gentle southern coast or from the wild western Norway, there is no reason to feel bored along the North Sea Route. Something happens. All the time.