Photo: Kyrre·CC BY-SA 3.0· Wikimedia Commons
Islands / Hvaler / Homlungen
A small islet outside Skjærhalden with Homlungen lighthouse, a timber-built station from 1867, rebuilt in 1915, with its original French fourth-order lens from 1878. Automated and left unmanned in 1952, it now serves as a coastal trail cabin (*kystledhytte*) for overnight stays.
Homlungen is a small islet just outside Skjærhalden, with a red and white timber lighthouse on top. The light has shown ships the way in to Hvaler since 1867. People can stay the night up there now, since the lighthouse is let as a coastal trail cabin.
Listed lighthouse station (protected heritage). The boundaries and the rules are in Naturbase, and they are worth checking before you land anywhere outside the marked areas.
Coastal trail cabin; private boat or kayak.
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.
Homlungen light was first lit in 1867, built in timber with a small lantern tower on the roof. In 1878 it was fitted with a fourth-order lens from France, ground glass optics that gather the flame into a beam. The building was reconstructed in 1915, and the façade has stood more or less unchanged since. The light sits 13.5 metres above the sea and carries 9.8 nautical miles.
A keeper manned the station until 1952, when it was automated. After that the light ran itself. The station is listed as protected heritage and is owned by the state.
Homlungen lighthouse is run as a coastal trail cabin by Oslofjordens Friluftsråd, the Oslofjord outdoor council. The whole lighthouse can be rented, and guests sleep on the islet. The light still burns as a seamark for boat traffic heading in to Skjærhalden.
There is no link to the mainland. You come by private boat or kayak, or by renting the coastal trail cabin. Booking goes through Oslofjordens Friluftsråd. The islet is small and exposed, so check the weather and the swell before coming alongside. No public ferry runs here.
The French lens from 1878 is still in the tower, nearly 150 years of ground glass optics, made for a paraffin flame and now with an electric lamp behind it. Fourth-order lenses like this one were ordered from French makers and shipped to lighthouses along the whole Norwegian coast.
The last human presence on Homlungen ended in 1952. The keeper left, the light went automatic, and the islet stood empty for fifty years before the outdoor council turned the keeper's house into accommodation. Tourists rather than keepers now wake to the sound of sea on rock.
Oslo Sea Experience passes Homlungen on its private fjord trips from Tjuvholmen.
The Norwegian version notes which facts were taken from each source: Homlungen på norsk.