Fancy a RIB tour to Færder lighthouse?
We take you out to Store Færder, where the original lighthouse was built in 1697. From the west side of Store Færder we drive the last stretch out to Færder lighthouse on Tristein. The lighthouse was completed in 1857 and has been one of Norway’s best-known lighthouses ever since. There is always a landing, and we tell you a little about the history of Færder lighthouse.
With its location, Færder is one of the main landmarks for shipping in the Oslofjord. The area around Færder lighthouse can be very harsh, and the Norwegian pilot guide describes it as a dangerous place to be when the autumn storms set in.
Færder lighthouse stands on the middle one of the three islands that make up Tristein (also called Lille Færder). The islands belong to Tjøme municipality in Vestfold. The lighthouse was cast in iron at Bærums Verk. It was completed in 1857 and rises 47 metres above sea level. The tower itself is 43 metres and is the country’s second tallest cast-iron tower. The light intensity is 3,570,000 candela and the range is 19 nautical miles.
Tristein became part of Færder National Park in 2013.
The first Færder lighthouse was built in 1697 on the island of Store Færder, just north of today’s lighthouse. It was a private lighthouse shaped like an open, forged fire basket. The basket stood directly on the ground, and the keeper refilled it with coal and wood all night. In one year about 540 barrels of coal were burned. In 1799 the state took over responsibility for the lighthouse, and a tower with a large lantern was completed in 1802. The coal fire was replaced by a lens apparatus and paraffin lamps in 1852. A few years later a new tower was also built on the islands a little further south, completed in 1857. Today the lighthouse runs on electricity.
We visit Færder lighthouse on all our tours
