Årbakka is a preserved trading post on the eastern shore of Tysnesøya, facing the Onarheimsfjord. The trading station dates from 1898, a typical western Norwegian coastal outpost with a store, smithy, and boathouse. It served as a combined shop and post office until 1960.
The old general store, called a krambu, still has its 1930s interior intact. You can buy coffee, waffles, and old-fashioned sweets. There is also a small coast and motor collection in the smithy, and art exhibitions in the old boathouse.
Just above the trading post sits Årbakkavollen, an ancient burial ground from the early Iron Age (0-550 AD). At least 20 burial mounds and six standing stones, between one and three metres tall, are spread across the hillside. Some sources count up to 35 mounds, cairns, and stone rings.
The combination is striking: a 1,500-year-old sacred landscape directly above a 125-year-old shop that still sells ice cream. Årbakka is not on the main road across Tysnes, but it is a short detour if you are crossing the island on the E39.
The old general store, called a krambu, still has its 1930s interior intact. You can buy coffee, waffles, and old-fashioned sweets. There is also a small coast and motor collection in the smithy, and art exhibitions in the old boathouse.
Just above the trading post sits Årbakkavollen, an ancient burial ground from the early Iron Age (0-550 AD). At least 20 burial mounds and six standing stones, between one and three metres tall, are spread across the hillside. Some sources count up to 35 mounds, cairns, and stone rings.
The combination is striking: a 1,500-year-old sacred landscape directly above a 125-year-old shop that still sells ice cream. Årbakka is not on the main road across Tysnes, but it is a short detour if you are crossing the island on the E39.