Byrknes: Fishing-Farmer Culture and Island Stories

The history of the fishing farmers comes to life in Byrknes: the Gulen Fiskarbondemuseum, a Nordfjord færing and Byrknesøy kapell each offer a different perspective. There is also an annual tour that starts in Byrknes, as well as activities on other islands. You can therefore make cultural history and physical activity separate focal points of your trip.

Traces of fishing-farmer life

The Gulen Fiskarbondemuseum is located on Byrknes. It documents and shares knowledge about the lives of the fishing farmers who lived in these settlements, preserving houses, furnishings, boats and equipment from this way of life. The term “fishing farmers” brings together two areas considered here side by side: fishing and farming life.

One specific object in the collection is a Nordfjord færing. Built in 1915, it was used throughout its working life on Byrknes, in Klungrehaugen. The boat was adapted to transport peat for fuel. Its year of construction, place of use and purpose each tell a different chapter of its story.

The motorisation of the coastal fishing fleet on Byrknes is also illustrated in the museum’s boathouse. The original semi-diesel engine is kept in parts in the outbuilding. The museum’s story thus encompasses both a boat from 1915 and the later motorisation of coastal fishing.

Fish soup and fishcakes are served when the museum season opens, prepared with fish caught as part of the school programme. The opening and closing of the museum season are among the museum’s recurring annual activities.

Chapel and tour on Byrknes

Byrknesøy kapell stands on Byrknes, at the outermost edge of Gulen facing the sea. The building is an extended wooden prayer house. Its design and location offer a different perspective from the museum’s collections and fishing history.

The 3-fjellsturen starts on Byrknes and crosses the mountain from south to north. It has been held annually since 2014, except in 2020, and usually takes place in late April. Dates for individual editions are announced separately; check the specific date if you are planning your trip around it.

Activities on Byrknesøy and other islands

Near Byrknes, YGIL seasonally rents out six kayaks, which are based in Tausevika on Byrknesøy. The seasonal rental is an important planning consideration for a kayaking trip.

Kongeløpet also passes across several islands: the 13-kilometre fun run starts at Joker on Byrknesøy and finishes in Skjerjehamn on Sandøy. The route crosses bridges and islands, following both paved and gravel roads through a coastal landscape. As Kongeløpet takes place annually, check the specific dates and arrangements when planning your trip.

Øytrimmen offers well-marked hiking trails and checkpoints that can be visited year-round on Byrknesøy, Mjømna and Sandøy. Depending on the checkpoint, you can collect one, two or three points; conditions on individual routes may change. The formats are clearly distinct: Kongeløpet has a named 13-kilometre route between two places, while Øytrimmen is a checkpoint system spread across several islands.

Gulen in a broader cultural context

The wider destination of Gulen tells a different, older story at Gulatinget. From 900 to 1300, it was a regional Viking Age assembly site where people from western Norway discussed politics, made laws and administered justice. In Flolid, the Tusenårsstaden Gulatinget features monumental artworks by Bård Breivik. Cultural trails around Gulatinget have been laid out in Eivindvik and Flolid and can be followed using a mobile phone or iPad.

A guided tour in Eivindvik gives visitors the chance to walk around the oldest assembly site at Gulatinget, where assembly members gathered for 400 years. It also tells visitors about Member of Parliament and “Potato Priest” Prost Niels Griis Alstrup Dahl (1778–1852), who transformed Gulen through his life’s work.

Choose the right focus for your stay

When choosing your holiday apartment in Byrknes, it helps to decide what you want to focus on: should the history of the fishing farmers and the 3-fjellsturen starting on Byrknes shape your stay, or would you also like to include cultural attractions in the wider destination of Gulen, such as Gulatinget? The island activities also vary in format and season. Check dates and seasonal rentals if these activities are important to your trip.

Discover more destinations: Brekke, Eivindvik, Gulen, Åsheim, Ånneland, Byrknesøy, Dalsöyra, Mjømna.

Back to the main travel overview: Gulen.