Photo: Far min·CC BY-SA 4.0· Wikimedia Commons
Islands / Asker / Bjerkøya
A cabin island in the inner Oslofjord, about 1.3 km long and mostly built up with around 40 holiday properties. It has no fixed link to the mainland. There is a small protected natural monument on the northeast point.
A cabin island in the inner Oslofjord, about 1.3 kilometres long from southwest to northeast. From the water you see cabins spread over most of it. The one part never built on is the northeast point, a small protected natural monument.
Bjerkøya natural monument (a small protected area in the northeast). The boundaries and the rules are in Naturbase, and they are worth checking before you land anywhere outside the marked areas.
Own boat or kayak (no ferry, no bridge).
No scheduled boat comes here. You will have to find the nearest public quay yourself, and the rest is your own boat or a kayak. Check the wind and wave forecast before you set out. The open stretches in the outer fjord turn unpleasant in a fresh breeze.
Bjerkøya covers around 17.5 hectares (175 dekar) and is mostly built up with holiday houses on some 40 properties. It has no fixed link, neither bridge nor ferry, and grew into a cabin area. The urban development that reached neighbouring islands such as Nesøya never came here. Bjerkøya natural monument at the northeast point is around half a hectare (five dekar), protected under the Nature Conservation Act.
Bjerkøya is private cabin ground. Around 40 holiday properties take up most of the area, used mainly by their owners in summer. The natural monument on the northeast point is the undeveloped exception.
You get here by your own boat or kayak. There is no ferry and no bridge. Most of the island is private cabin ground, so come ashore within the limits of the right to roam (*allemannsretten*) and keep clear of the plots. The natural monument in the northeast is protected, so check the rules before landing there.
Bjerkøya and neighbouring Nesøya are close together but had entirely different fates. Nesøya got a bridge and became one of the most expensive residential areas in the country. Bjerkøya, with no link to land, stayed a cabin island.
Oslo Sea Experience passes Bjerkøya on its private fjord trips from Tjuvholmen.
The Norwegian version notes which facts were taken from each source: Bjerkøya på norsk.