Want to experience coastal culture at the very edge of the open sea at the entrance to Arendal? Then you are welcome at the Store and Lille Torungen lighthouse stations. On Store Torungen two of the buildings are run as a tourist cabin with about 25 beds in total. The boathouse on Store Torungen and the tower on Lille Torungen can also be rented as party venues for larger and smaller groups. There are few places where you can experience a panoramic view of the archipelago in historic surroundings like at the Torungen lighthouses.
Since the age of sail, Arendal has been known as the town of “the two lighthouses”. Store and Lille Torungen were established as twin lighthouses, each on its own islet at the entrance to the town, in 1844. Lille Torungen was closed down in 1914, while Store Torungen was upgraded to a modern lighthouse station with a new tower the same year. Store Torungen was not de-manned until 80 years later, in 2004. The old brick tower from 1844 on Lille Torungen is preserved. So is the cast-iron tower from 1914 and several of the buildings on Store Torungen. The Norwegian Coastal Administration rents out both lighthouse stations to Stiftelsen Torungen fyr, which runs them in cooperation with Aust-Agder Turistforening.