Photo: Kurth Brekke·CC BY 3.0· Wikimedia Commons
Islands / Hvaler / Lauer
Lauer is an island group south of Kirkøy made up of Nordre Lauer, Sva Lauer, Mellomholmen and Sør-Lauer. Nordre Lauer is the main island, with around 34 holiday cabins and a small-boat harbour. It is a popular destination in the outer Hvaler.
Lauer is a small group south of Kirkøy, four low islets with cabins and a small-boat harbour. The main island, Nordre Lauer, has a quay and a good little harbour. There was a school and a fish landing station here until forty years ago, before the island became purely a cabin destination.
Ferry from Skjærhalden (three departures a day, reopened 2025) or private boat.
Times shift with the season, and several of the island boats run only in summer — check the current timetable at Ruter.
The group consists of Nordre Lauer, Sva Lauer, Mellomholmen and Sør-Lauer. Subdivision into house plots began around 1900. Lauer was a fishing village with a school and a fish landing station run by Norges Makrellag, the national mackerel sales cooperative. Catches from the surrounding islands were delivered here.
The station stayed in operation until 1979, when Hvaler municipality bought the buildings. The permanent residents moved out over the course of the 1970s and 80s. In 2000 the municipality demolished the station's quays. In 2024 Vegard Krog Petersen published the book *Øya og menneskene – historien om et fiskevær på Hvaler* (“The island and the people: the story of a fishing village in Hvaler”), which documents the place from the earliest times to the present.
Nordre Lauer is the main island, with around 34 holiday cabins and a small-boat harbour that has both guest berths and permanent moorings, administered by Borg Havn, the regional port authority. Sva Lauer has three cabins, Mellomholmen four and Sør-Lauer one. There are no permanent residents left; this is a summer community and a popular destination in the outer Hvaler.
A ferry runs from Skjærhalden with three departures a day, restored on 7 April 2025 after the speed restrictions in the sound were changed. Check the operator's current timetable for departure times. Come ashore at the harbour on Nordre Lauer, which has both free moorings and permanent berths. No specific access bans are registered on the group itself, but respect the signage in the seabird areas in the surrounding skerries.
The ferry route to Lauer disappeared and came back. Speed restrictions in the sound stopped the traffic for a while; when the rules were adjusted, the route reopened on 7 April 2025 with three departures a day. For the cabin owners that is the difference between getting out here and needing a boat of their own.
The fish landing station was the heart of the island. Norges Makrellag took in catches here until 1979, the municipality took over the buildings, and in 2000 the quays were demolished. That removed the last trace of the workplace that once kept a year-round community alive.
Oslo Sea Experience passes Lauer on its private fjord trips from Tjuvholmen.
The Norwegian version notes which facts were taken from each source: Lauer på norsk.