Florø Travel Guide

Hjørnevikbua is an eclectic restaurant/pub the style much liked in Norway - quite simple, with a range of easy-to-make foods, varying from burgers to lasagna to local fish.
The bar is nice - the top deck of an old fishing boat brought indoors.

Favorite Dish: I had fish and chips, a friend had a burger and another asked for something vegetarian and landed a simple salad.
So, quite standard menu for a Norwegian clientele. Probably the place to meet locals during evenings.
We sat outside on their barge.

Interesting, the municipality has ordered a ban on sales of beer from supermarkets and groceries. Thus, here is a "ølutsalg". Beer shop. It is hoped that this will prevent excessive drinking. Good luck, politicians!

What to buy: Beer, I suppose, they will have nothing else on offer!

What to pay: Regular bottle-beer prices, as in any regular shop.

At the extremity of the Norwegian Bible belt that encompasses Sørlandet (South Coast) and up past Stavanger, Begen to Nordfjord, several municipalities have decleared ban on open beer sales from regular shops. Instead a separate beer shop under nominal municipal authority control is replacing other outlets. Doing a roaring trade in the name of christian moral, just like the stat liquor monopoly. We need more catolics in this country. And, perhaps, people less excitable by a whiff of alcohol?

See my Florø shopping tip on Ølutsalg - the beer shop.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Don't go to Florø without proper rain gear. Florø can have some serious rains, comparable only to tropical downpours. Some of it may come horizontally, too. The wind from the south and west really grabs you here. Rubber boots are nifty items if you think of hiking in the back country here.

Many of the islands of Flora are accessible by kayaks. Bring your own or rent, park the car and set out, just observe normal rules for camping out (see my general Norway tip on this). For this area a regular 1:50.000 topo map is sufficient for navigation.
Use the kayak to visit some of the higher islands and combine with a good mountin hike.
Or paddle in the fjords north and south of Florø to explore the coastal mainland. and as an access vehichle for some intersting hikes.

Equipment: You can rent a kayak at Florø Rorbuer. More info will be presented here later...

Favorite thing: The wether here is incredible - from a nice summer day to an autumny downpur in one hour.
Florø is very close to the mountains that bar the western winds, thus the humid air is forced up and it starts to rain. Close to 5000 mm per year just inland of Florø is the yearly average. Yearly snow depths at up to 12 meters have been measured at the fairly flat Ålfotbreen glacier not far from Florø.
Come prepared.