The Vestfold coast south of Tønsberg offers several good half-day or day-trip options. Borre (about 25 km north, near Horten) is home to the largest Viking-age burial ground in Scandinavia — a grassy headland covered in royal tumuli that most people drive past without stopping. It is worth going slowly. Åsgårdstrand, 20 km north on the fjord, is the small fishing village where Edvard Munch spent his summers and painted some of his most important works; his house is a small museum. Sandefjord, 30 km south on the train line, has a whaling museum of its own and a pleasant waterfront.
The islands of Nøtterøy and Tjøme lie immediately south of Tønsberg, accessible by road. In summer the coastline there — low granite and heath, dotted with bathing spots — is where much of the local population disappears on weekends.
