15km (9 1/4 miles) S of Sandefjord; 130km (81 miles) SW of Oslo

As you head south, consider stopping over for 2 hours or so to check out the charm of this old port. This is a main port for ferries sailing for Frederikshavn, Denmark, and it's also famously associated with its favorite homegrown boy, Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002), whose Kon-Tiki you may have already seen on the Bygdøy peninsula in Oslo. Heyerdahl organized and led the expedition by the balsa raft Kon-Tiki from Peru to Polynesia in 1947 to demonstrate the possibility of aboriginal South American voyages to the Oceanic Islands.

In addition to Heyerdahl, Larvik's largest export is a stone called Larvikitt that's 270 million years old. The stone quarry here is the town's largest industry.

Larvik is a major transportation hub and communications center for southeastern Norway. It also makes a good center for exploring such small but colorful ports as Stavern to its immediate south.