Sveio is a municipality of 5,700 people in Sunnhordland. It covers a land area of about 224 km².

Understand

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Sveio farm (Old Norse: Sviða), since the first Sveio Church was built there in the Middle Ages. The name is identical with the word "sviða" which means a "clearing made by burning".

Sveio is on the mainland of Norway on the western coast of the county on the Haugalandet peninsula, facing the North Sea to the west. The entrance to the Hardangerfjorden lies along the northern side of the municipality, and the smaller Ålfjorden lies along the eastern border of the municipality. Sveio's southern border is also the county border, bordering the town of Haugesund and the municipality of Tysvær to the south, the municipality of Vindafjord to the east (across the Ålfjorden), and the island municipalities of Bømlo and Stord to the north (across the Hardangerfjorden). The lakes Vigdarvatnet and Stakkastadvatnet lie in the southern part of the municipality, crossing into the neighboring municipalities. The Ryvarden Lighthouse is located on a small point, along the Hardangerfjorden.

Get in

The Triangle Link bridge-tunnel network is based in northern Sveio, connecting the islands to the north to the mainland. The southern entrance to the Bømlafjord Tunnel is along the European route E39 highway, just south of the village of Valevåg.

See

• 1 Ryvarden Lighthouse. At Ryvarden, you will find, among other things, Galleri Ryvarden art atelier, the lighthouse master’s quarters which can be hired for overnight accommodation, and the memorial for the 16 deceased in the Sleipner shipwreck a few years ago. From Mølstrevåg, Ryvarden Lighthouse is about a 2-km walk on a good gravel road.  

Sleep

• Ryvarden Kulturfyr, Mølstrevåg 5550 Sveio, ☏ +47 95 19 58 00, ryvarden@sveio.kommune.no. 
• Tjernagel Leir og Fritidssenter, Tjernagel, 5550 Sveio, tjernagel@c2i.net.