Around 500 relatives of the victims of Norway's worst peace-time massacre gathered Friday on the island near Oslo where four weeks ago 69 mostly young people were gunned down in cold blood.
The painful visit to Utoeya island came as the rightwing extremist who has confessed to the attack, Anders Behring Breivik, made his second court appearance in Oslo since his arrest.
A judge ruled that he should remain in solitary confinement for another four weeks.
Under a light rain, the families visited Utoeya, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Oslo, for the first time since the attack.
The mother of one 16-year-old girl, Andrine, who was found among the dead following the July 22 killing spree, said beforehand that she was preparing herself for a "difficult" day.
"But the last weeks have been so difficult that this cannot possibly be any worse," the woman said on NRK public radio ahead of the trip.
"At least we will be able to find the last spot where Andrine was alive. We can place flowers there and burn a candle."
Behring Breivik, 32, chose the island for his shooting rampage because it was hosting a summer camp for members of the youth wing of Norway's ruling Labour Party.
Earlier in the day he had set off a car bomb outside government offices in Oslo which killed another eight people to provide a distraction as he ran amok on Utoeya, hunting down victims and taking aim at will, while some of the young people begged for their lives.
Behring Breivik, arrested on the island after police finally arrived there, has confessed to both attacks and said he acted alone.
The final funeral for a victim -- 16-year-old Elisabeth Troennes Lie -- was held on Thursday after a delay so her 17-year-old sister, who was seriously wounded in the shooting, could take part.
Since the killings police have cleaned up the tiny island and authorities said that those who requested it would be shown the exact places where victims, some of them as young as 14, were killed.
The 500 visitors were accompanied by psychologists and clergymen, and members of the investigation team were on hand to help, said Per Kristen Brekke, a senior official with Norway's Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency.
The visit was closed to the press.
"We have done everything we can to provide the security and dignity necessary for this visit: we want it to be calm and peaceful, and to provide people to talk to and we intend to answer all questions the families want to ask," Brekke told AFP.
"If they want to, the families are free to ask the police to show them the places where the bodies of their relatives were found."
Lars Weisaeth, an expert at the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies, said visiting the island would be an essential step in the healing process of the families.
"The most important thing is to try to comprehend the incomprehensible," he told AFP.
"It's also a sign of solidarity with the person who is gone. To put yourself in his shoes during his final moments is to get closer to him," he said.
On Saturday, a second visit to the island is planned for survivors of the shooting, their family members and loved ones, with around 1,000 expected to make the trip.
Meanwhile in Oslo judge Hugo Abelseth told Behring Breivik in a closed door hearing that he would be kept in isolation until September 19.
Abelseth told reporters afterwards that he had made the decision to prevent Behring Breivik from communicating with anyone outside in a bid to destroy possible evidence.
Behring Breivik had argued that his treatment amounted to "sadistic torture", according to his lawyer, Geir Lippestad.
Lippestad said his client had appeared in court wearing a normal suit after a judge turned down his earlier request to be allowed to wear a tail-coat on the grounds that it was "unnecessarily disturbing, offensive and provocative".
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