Photo: PeterFisk·CC BY-SA 4.0· Wikimedia Commons
Islands / Færder / Veierland
A car-free island of 4.16 km² with around 150 permanent residents and a large number of holiday homes. Ferries run from Tenvik on Nøtterøy and from Engø near Sandefjord. Edvard Munch spent the summer of 1887 here, and Jens Bjørneboe lived his last year in the Swiss-style villa Eikvold. The church dates from 1905.
Veierland is a wooded island of 4.16 km² west of Vrengensundet, with quays reaching out into the bays on the east side: Tangen, Vestgården, Albykilen. Tangen brygge is where the ferry from Tenvik comes in. There are no cars ashore, and what moves between the houses are mopeds and tractors.
ferry from Tenvik (Nøtterøy) and Engø (Sandefjord); car-free.
Boats do run here, but the quay is not in Entur’s system — usually a summer service or a private crossing that never enters the national journey planner. Check with the operator before you build a day around it.
The oldest farms on the island appear in written sources from the Middle Ages. The name comes from the Old Norse *Vájir*, the plural of *vá*, meaning a corner or a bend. Veierland belonged to Stokke municipality until 1 January 1965, when the island was transferred to Nøtterøy at the request of its residents. The church, a chapel under Torød parish, was built in 1905. The community hall followed in 1956.
Edvard Munch spent the summer of 1887 on Veierland, and probably 1888 as well. The singer Ole Paus owned the Swiss-style villa Eikvold from 1972 to 1974 and wrote a song about the island. Jens Bjørneboe lived his last year in the same villa and died there on 9 May 1976.
A residence requirement (*boplikt*), obliging owners to live in their houses year-round, was introduced in 1998 and lifted on 19 June 2012, against the wishes of the permanent residents. The school closed in 2013.
Around 150 people live here permanently, in some 60 year-round houses, against roughly 450 holiday homes, so the population multiplies in summer. Albykilen is the guest harbour. Permanent residents are allowed mopeds and tractors; otherwise the island is car-free. It is densely wooded, with smooth rock and coves all round.
The ferry runs from Tenvik on Nøtterøy to Vestgården and Tangen on Veierland all year; in summer the route is extended to Engø near Sandefjord. Check the operator's current timetable before setting out, since it changes with the season. There is no road connection to the island. Arriving by private boat, Albykilen is the natural place to put in. No access restrictions or protected areas with seasonal closures are known on the island itself.
Munch was 23 the summer he painted here in 1887, which puts the stay in the years before his breakthrough.
Two literary figures shared one house: Ole Paus owned Eikvold first, then Jens Bjørneboe moved in and lived his last year there. It was in this villa he died in 1976.
Being car-free is everyday practice here. Goods and furniture come up from the quay by tractor and trailer.
Oslo Sea Experience passes Veierland on its private fjord trips from Tjuvholmen.
The Norwegian version notes which facts were taken from each source: Veierland på norsk.