Årstad

Alrekstad (later Årstad) is the birthplace of Bergen. The estate was an estate for Harald Hårfagre and several of his descendants: Eirik Blodøks, Håkon den gode og Olav Tryggvason. These first kings moved with their courts and guardsmen from estate to estate. From these estates the king ruled the country.

Øpstad

The post house at Øpstad stands out in the landscape. An ochre yellow house with a loft and a white-painted house in Swiss style with ochre edgings, bears witness to a well preserved house from the 1800s, nearest neighbour to the beautiful old vicarage. In the Øpstad hamlet there was a post office for more than a hundred years, until the 1970s. Today it is possible to walk the old post road across the mountain to Strandvik, as part of “Den Stavangerske Postvei” (The post road to Stavanger).

Lyse Monastery

Ferstad

Ferstad is well worth a visit. The farm lies on a little hillock south of Lekven: a beautiful official residence from the 1700s.

Herdleflaket

Spring, summer and autumn, there is bird life on Valen, and the tidal zone is especially attractive. Out on Herdlaflaket, you see ducks and other diving birds all year round, but most in winter.

Herdla- Migrating birds

Bergen folk landed on it, long and well. The Germans took it over, during the Second World War. The birds had been doing it for several thousands of years: HERDLA is the main airport for migrating birds during their autumn migrations.

Ekso

In the late 1800s, Ekso was known among the nobility in England as having among the best salmon rivers. In summer the Lords could haul in big fish of up to 25 kg. In return, the townsfolk were paid for fishing rights, lodging and local assistance.

Frøyset river network

Frøyset river network is protected from power station-building - not because of its pristine nature - but because it is a typical river network for this part of western Norway.

Tjeldstømarka

There is no place in Hordaland where there are so many over-wintering song swans as in Tjeldstømarka. And there are few places in the county that have had this birdfowl as a guest for as long.

Salhusfjorden

When the debate about building a pontoon bridge over Salhus Fjord was raging, some were afraid that the bridge would disrupt the ecology of the fjord system inside. The worst predictions did not prove true, but it is easy to see that there was a change: the Puffins have gotten a new food platter after the Nordhordaland bridge was built. Its favourite meal, mussels, thrive on the pontoons that are the foundation for the bridge.