By land or sea follow the fjord’s west coast some 80 miles southward from Oslo to discover Larvik. First settled in the seventeenth century, during the union of Norway and Denmark, it was established as the county and town of Larvik by Ulrik Fredrik Gyldenløve in 1671. Illegitimate son of Fredrik III of Denmark, Gyldenløve became Norwegian viceroy in 1644 and named Grev (count) of Larvik in 1674, with a manor house (Larvik Herrgården) completed in 1677 in time for his third wedding. One of the largest wooden structures in Norway, it is a unique and splendid venue for baroque music and entertainment.

Larvik Kirke, nestled close by and also built by the Grev Gyldenløve, offers a beautiful setting for sacred music; while just down the lane Tollerodden, the home originally of the customs collectors – tolls never far from the port – provides an ideal venue for lavish dinners with chamber music. A stone’s throw further and without crossing Farriselva – the river flowing from the famed Farris spa waters – is Fritzøe Jernverk.

An ironworks originally founded by the Gyldenløve counts and once powered by the river, it was purchased in the nineteenth century after Norwegian independence from Denmark by the Danish Treschow family. Together with the surrounding forest, it provided a rich and continual supply of timber for export for the following century-and-a-half as a foundry-cum-saw mill until its decommissioning some fifty years ago. Today, as one of the oldest industrial building sites in Norway, Hammerdalen (‘hammer dale’ as the site around the foundry is known) houses a museum and, opening up its unusual spaces to the arts, music, dance and art academy (Larvik Kulturskole). And – yes – Larvik Mikrobryggeri, too, with excellent ale worthy of export.

Heading down again to the sea from Hammerdalen, the Kulturskole behind, the remains of a once-industrial wasteland have been partitioned, giving the chance along the coast for new construction of the Bølgen arts centre and it’s neighbouring art-haven spa-hotel Farris Bad.