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Sørlandet ("Southland"), comprising the two counties of Aust-Agder (East Agder) and Vest-Agder (West Agder), has more sunny days per year than anywhere else in the country, making it a veritable holiday paradise. Even the tiniest communities seem to explode into life as their populations double several times over during the summer.

Vacation homes, hotels and pensions fill to capacity as Norwegians – and the more knowledgeable foreign visitors – descend on the region to swim, sail, scuba dive, fish for crab and mackerel, or just sunbathe to the screams of the seagulls. Others wander inland for a spot of mountain climbing or river rafting.

With only a touch of hyperbole, we like to refer to this stretch of coast, with its grassy holms and skerries shielding the mainland from the harsh winds and waves of the Skagerrak, as "the Norwegian Riviera".

Kristiansand, southern Norway's largest city, is charming, with its weathered old homes and pulsating summer atmosphere. Far out in the Kristiansandsfjord you will find a welter of islands to explore en route to the coastal skerries that teem with life. Kristiansand's most popular attractions, for children especially, include a zoo and Kardemomme By ("Cardamom City"), a theme park based on a well-known Norwegian children's book.

With their white-painted houses nestled between flowering gardens and sun-bleached rocks, the little southern towns of Lillesand, Tvedestrand, Risør, Brekkestø, Gamle and Ny Hellesund resemble nothing so much as a pearl necklace strung along the coast. When Norwegians use the word "idyllic" it is usually this southern coastline they have in mind. Lyngør, an island at the edge of the open sea with barely 100 year-round residents, is a unique community of closely built wooden houses lining a cosy, sheltered harbour. One of Europe's best-preserved villages, in summer it is a magnet for sailing enthusiasts.

Risør is notable for its annual music festival, which focuses on chamber music and works for small orchestra, performed in the 17th-century wooden church and 19th-century Town Hall, and capitalizing on the fine Risør Festival Strings. The artists, drawn from leading names on the international circuit and from a rich fund of Norwegian talent, are resident in Risør for the entire week, encouraging the mixing and matching of works for different ensembles in any of the three to five concerts a day. Lyngør's natural setting alone has been known to send some of the most jaded music critics into raptures.

Shipping was the original economic base for this region, producing generations of sailors, fishermen and boat makers, and a traditional coastal culture that laid the foundation for Norway's leading position in international shipping to this day. Shipwrecks, and a monument to those who fell in the battle of Lyngør in 1812, are among the many historic sights here.

From Flekkefjord in the west to Risør in the east, and from Lindesnes in the south to Hardanger in the north, the Norwegian Riviera is a maritime paradise best explored by boat. In season, vessels of all shapes and sizes dart among the skerries: scheduled services, organized excursions and charters are equally plentiful and easy to come by.

The locals are said to be born with webbed feet – plus, paradoxically, seaweed between their toes – and a sunny disposition. The typical Sørlander is immortalized in the writings of two of the region's best-known writers, Vilhelm Krag and Gabriel Scott.

• Aust-Agder
• Vest-Agder