Photo: Marthinius Skøien·Public domain· Wikimedia Commons
Islands / Nesodden / Ildjernet
A small island (0.17 km²) in the inner Oslofjord off Nesodden. From around 1895 to 1903 it held Elgjarnes Bad, a resort with sea bathing, a spa, a revue stage and a dance floor. Today there are no permanent residents, only cabin owners.
Ildjernet is the small island in the inner Oslofjord off Nesodden, south of Flaskebekk below the Vardåsen ridge. It is only 0.17 km², covered in cabins between the smooth rock. In summer the Nesodden boats stop here, and you can see the small quay where passengers step ashore.
A 0.4-hectare marine nature reserve (2008) protects shallow water and coastal meadow in the eastern bay. The boundaries and the rules are in Naturbase, and they are worth checking before you land anywhere outside the marked areas.
The Nesodden boats call at Ildjernet on a daily service in summer.
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.
Around the turn of the last century this was a pleasure resort. Elgjarnes Bad operated here from the mid-1890s until about 1903, offering sea bathing, a spa, a revue stage, a dance floor and a wine bodega, a whole entertainment complex on an islet barely larger than a few football pitches. City people took the steamer out to bathe and to party. Otherwise the island lived on what small islands lived on: a little farming, fishing (mackerel above all), the timber trade and guest houses.
Nobody lives here permanently. The island is a cabin island, used by summer house owners whose ties go back generations.
The Nesodden boats call at Ildjernet on a daily service through the summer half of the year, morning to evening, with extra sailings from Wednesday to Sunday at midsummer, towards Drøbak and Son among other places. Otherwise you need your own boat. **Protection:** a small marine nature reserve was established on the east side in 2008, 0.4 hectares (4 dekar) covering a shallow marine area with coastal meadows. Keep clear of the meadow in the eastern bay.
On an island you can walk round in half an hour there was once a revue stage, a dance floor, a wine bodega and a spa. Elgjarnes Bad was bathing resort and nightclub in one, around 1900.
The whole thing lasted barely a decade. After 1903 it has mostly been cabin people and mackerel fishing.
Oslo Sea Experience passes Ildjernet on its private fjord trips from Tjuvholmen.
The Norwegian version notes which facts were taken from each source: Ildjernet på norsk.