Nærbø

Nærbø is in Hå municipality in Rogaland in Norway, situated north of Varhaug and south of Bryne. Nærbø is part of the flat geographical area Jæren that goes from Brusand in the south to Randaberg in the North.

Understand

Nærbø can be written like Naerboe if your keyboard doesn't have Scandinavian letters. It will not be correct, but understandable to most Norwegians. If you plan on learning Norwegian before coming, please observe that the official written version of Norwegian in the area is "Nynorsk" -a little different from "Bokmål" that is used in most urban areas in Norway and in most of the largest newspapers and magazines.

Get in

Nærbø train-station is located on the Jærbanen railroad . Express-trains doesn't stop at the station, so swap trains in Egersund if you are coming from the south (Kristiansand or Oslo) or use local trains or bus if your're coming from the north (Stavanger). The closest airport is Stavanger Airport, Sola. A runway and hangar for small aircraft and ultralights is located at the northern end of the Refsnes beach. Some ferry services to/from Denmark may include bus travel to Nærbø. Closest international ferries dock in Risavika.

Get around

Use rail, bus, taxi car or bike. The taxi central is in a small building on the town square -right next to the railroad station. If there is none there (knock on the door), call +47 51433325. Nærbø enjoys very little snow, so traditionally cyclists from all over Norway come there to exercise on the snow free roads in the winter months. The bus ride from Nærbø (stop across the street from the railroad station) to Bryne takes much longer than the train, but takes quite a scenic route, so it might be worth your time.

See

Aude-Motland - both for the Iron Age settlements remains and the WWII coastal fort.

See the local farms that are very modern, efficient and more environmentally sound than in many other countries.

Do

Bird-watching - In the wild or in the park for exotic birds

Events

Nærbø hosts a bi-annual formula racing festival in May.

Experience the Norwegian constitution day (17 May) with its flag parades and fairground activities. Just catching a glimpse of the parade may be hard in the larger towns, but it's fairly easy to find a spot here.

Buy

Shopping can be done in individual stores or in one of the two shopping-centres:

• Amfi Torgsenteret
• Co-Op .

The most well known consumer article made in Nærbø is the Jarlsberg cheese. You can sometimes get a glimpse of the work inside the almost lab-grade clean environment when standing on the pavement opposite the Samfunnshuset community centre -looking through the basement windows.

Eat

There are places to eat and have a drink in town -in both malls and in other locations: The cafe Jærbuen in the Sammfunshuset community centre, Emelankton in the locales that used to contain his grandfathers hardware store, The Chinese takeaway service and cafe in the old railroad station, The Snadder snackbar in front of the Amfi Torgsenteret mall, and the Marios takeaway on the town square. One of the local specialties is komle.

Drink

The previously "local" beer brand "Tou" is made in eastern Norway now. Two remaining local brands are Berentsen (made in Egersund) and a new brand "Ein Te" (means "One More") that is made in Stavanger. There is no commercially available wine nor spirits from the area.

In the weekends, young people travel to Bryne, Sandnes or Stavanger to party, so rides with the local trains after 22:00 Friday or Saturday can be quite entertaining and/or disgusting.

Nærbø was once hailed as the "Moonshine capitol of Norway" in a newspaper in the 80s. Moonshine is around, but not very much after the Methanol scare a few years ago.

Sleep

There are no hotels nor inns in Nærbø, so in order to get a bed for the night, one needs to go north to Bryne town.

Go next

• Kongeparken - A family amusement park in Ålgård.
• Knudaheio - Where the poet Arne Garbord used to live.