Haugesund is a city in the region West Norway of Norway and the Viking capital of the World. Haugesund is Norway's leading commercial centre, situated on the North Sea coast. Commerce, oil, gas and maritime operations, training and conferencing are important to the town's business and industry.
The town offers a much wider range of goods and services than might be expected from a town of its size. With its provincial charm, and an enticing range of town-centre shops, along with modern shopping centres on the outskirts of town, visitors have every opportunity for making a great "haul" in Haugesund.

Get in

---

By plane
Ryanair (http://www.ryanair.com) from Stansted, London. SAS Braathens (http://www.sasbraathens.no) from Oslo.

Get around

---

Rent a car on the airport, or travel by bus or taxi. Travel by air with http://www.coastair.no.

See

---

Historic ground



For thousands of years there have been human activities on Haugalandet, and the region is covered in traces of these people. Visit one of the many exciting, historic destinations!




St. Olav's Church

King Håkon Håkonsson erected the St. Olav’s Church around 1250 AD as part of the royal farm on Avaldsnes. Next to the church stands one of Norway’s tallest pillars, “Jomfru Marias synål” (Virgin Mary’s Sewing Needle). According to the legend when the pillar touches the church wall it means the end of the world. That is why the priests through the years have chipped off parts of the top. St. Olav’s Church is situated on Avaldsnes, approximately 10 minutes by car south of Haugesund.



Nordvegen History Centre

At Nordvegen History Centre king Harald Fairhair invites us in to walk in the footsteps of our ancestors. He is our guide through a 3500 year long history about Avaldsnes as a meeting spot between Norway and Europe, and as a national and, at times, international centre of power. The Viking king presents some of the kings who have controlled the Norwegian coast from Avaldsnes. Some of these kings are known through archaeological findings, and some through tales. The history centre is situated adjacent to St. Olav’s Church.





The Viking farm at Avaldsnes

The Viking farm at Bukkøy is a reconstructed farm at Avaldsnes. The museum provides knowledge about the lives of our ancestors. In the museum courtyard you will find a traditional longhouse as well as smaller dwellings, a Viking boat and plants and animals. During the summer people are dressed in Viking clothes as they display the Vikings’ way of life. You get here by walking from St. Olav’s Church, through the open beautiful landscape before getting to the tree-covered island.




Haraldshaugen

Just north of downtown Haugesund you will find Haraldshaugen, a testimony to the fact that although the city is young, the area has been known and used for thousands of years. Haraldshaugen consists of four important monuments in Norwegian history; the burial mound, the stone cross, the church site, and the National Monument (Haraldsstøtta). The latter was unveiled in 1872 in commemoration of Harald Fairhair’s...