• In the footsteps of Henrik Ibsen

    Welcome to a walking tour in Henrik Ibsen’s childhood town, Skien.

    Ibsen walking tour in Skien. A man and a woman pose on either side of the Henrik Ibsen bust at Sorrento Square in Skien. They raise their arms, pointing down the street that leads all the way to the yellow wooden house on the hilltop across the town.

    Would you like to learn more about Henrik Ibsen’s childhood in Skien?
    Join the Ibsen walk In the Footsteps of Ibsen, sundays at 13 o’clock!

    Buy your tickets here.

    This guided city walk will be available for group bookings.
    Send your inquiry to: post@telemark.museum.no

    About the tour

    You’ll see where young Henrik lived and get a glimpse into the family’s upper-class life of comfort and luxury—before his father, Knud Ibsen, went bankrupt. We’ll share some of Henrik’s own childhood memories and stories about what he was like as a boy in Skien, up until he left home at the age of 15.

    Practical information

    The guided tour lasts one hour.
    It begins at the VEV museum building in Brekkeparken, Øvregate 32a.
    From there, we descend the Ibsen Steps toward the bust of Ibsen at Sorrento plass in Snipetorpgata and into Skien city center.

    We continue through the city and end the tour by walking up Snipetorpgata, via Tomtegata, and back to the final stop in Brekkeparken. The last part of the route is a bit steep, but the view over Skien from the top makes it worth it!

    At Café Aall Inn in Brekkeparken, you can enjoy delicious food and drinks either before or after the tour. (Please book in advance.)

    More Ibsen at VEV

    Inside the VEV museum building, we also have an Ibsen exhibition. The theme of the exhibition changes, and in 2026 you can see photographs from Skien taken before the great city fire of 1886:

    Ibsen’s Childhood Town – the First Act Began Here

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