Accommodation
Halden and Svinesund form the gateway to Norway from Sweden, strategically placed between beautiful skerries on one side and large forests and lakes on the other. Oslo is situated just under two hours to the north, with Gothenburg about the same distance to the south.
If you are going to Gothenburg you can now cross Svinesund by the new and modern bridge with the Ringdals fjord deep below.
With its area of 640 square kilometres there is no other municipality in Østfold which can compare with Halden’s opportunities for outdoor experiences. The wide reaching area can offer forest and fjord, mountains and plains, inland waterways, islands, hunting grounds and miles of marked paths and walkways. Northern Europes’s highest locks – the Brekke locks – are an experience you are unlikely to forget quickly as you work your way up the Halden inland waterway.
Today, Halden is a modern town with a central position in the country’s history. It was therefore natural that Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson should mention it – Fredrikshald – in Norway’s national anthem.
Fredriksten fortress, Østfold’s millenium site, and with a central role in the celebrations of the dissolution of the union with Sweden in 1905, stands as a monument to the Norwegian will to defend itself during times of unrest. Today the fortress is one of the town’s most important and much visited tourist attractions. Approximately 200000 tourists visit the fortress each summer where its walls, bastions, armaments, amunition tower, dark secret passageways and museums tell the story of the town. Fredriksten fortress also has an inviting and beautiful park. The whole site is floodlit by Norway’s most impressive floodlighting.
The Halden Canal, which is a part of the Halden water course, is one of our country's finest technical, historical monuments. By means of this canal it is possible to travel the 75 kilometre long stretch between Tistedal and the village of Skulerud by boat.
The navigational channel is signposted, and a boating and recreation map can be purchased at the Halden tourist office. The Halden water course consists of a sequence of large lakes connected by short rivers or sounds. Starting at the southern end, the lakes are Femsjøen, Aspern, Ara,
Øymarsjøen and Rødenessjøen.
