Risør is often called the best-preserved of Sørlandet's white towns, and it earns the title. The old town wraps tightly around a narrow, sheltered harbour, its 18th- and 19th-century wooden houses — built for the sea captains and shipowners who made Risør rich on timber and shipping — packed close along impossibly narrow lanes with no room for cars. Wander without a plan; the town is small enough that you can't really get lost, and every turn opens onto another whitewashed row leaning down to the water.
The harbour is the heart of things, especially in the first week of August, when Risør's Wooden Boat Festival (Trebåtfestivalen) fills the water with hundreds of classic wooden boats and the town with visiting sailors and spectators — it's been running since 1985 and is one of the largest events of its kind in Europe. Outside festival week, the harbour is a quieter place of moored yachts, a working fishing fleet, and cafés looking out over the water.
The town's white wooden church, overlooking the harbour from its low hill, dates back to the 17th century and is worth a look for the model ships hanging from its ceiling — a common feature in Norwegian coastal churches, given as offerings by sailors and shipowners. Beyond the town, the surrounding skerries and islands are easily explored by the passenger boats that run from the harbour in summer.