• Understand
• Get around
• See
• Do
• Learn
• Work
• Buy
• Drink
• Contact
• Stay safe
• Cope
• Get out
• External Links

Kristiansand is the capital of Vest-Agder County, Norway. By population, it is the fifth largest city of Norway. The city is sometimes called Kristiansand S, where S stands for South, to distinguish it from Kristiansund in western Norway.

[edit] Understand

[edit] Get in

[edit] By plane

Kjevik Airport is located 12 km (7 miles) north-east of the city.

SAS Braathens runs 8 daily flights to Oslo, 6 to Bergen and 3 to Stavanger, as well as 3 daily flights to Copenhagen (Denmark) and a weekly flight to Alicante (Spain).

Planes from Dutch airline KLM departs twice daily for Amsterdam (Holland).

There are bus connections to the town centre for every arrival, both airport buses and local buses. The airport bus costs NOK80, NOK180 return. Local buses are to the left as you exit. No 35 and 36 to city centre Kvadraturen is NOK37 (Jun 08). Taxi to Kvadraturen is NOK280/350 in weekends.

[edit] By train

Regional trains connect Kristiansand to other cities and towns along the Southern Railway Line (Sørlandsbanen). Up to 8 trains daily depart for Stavanger, while up to 6 daily trains leave for the country's capital, Oslo. The trip to Stavanger takes about 3 hours and the trip to Oslo between 4 1/2 to 5 hours. Trains both westwards towards Stavanger and eastwards to Oslo follow an inland route, meaning that travel to the towns along the coast is quite inconvenient by train. There are lots of nice forest views and rural settlements, though.

The train station is situated right next to the town centre, the ferry terminal, and the bus terminal.

[edit] By car

Kristiansand sits along the E18 highway from Oslo. The highway changes its name to E39 when it passes Kristiansand on its way to Stavanger. Rv 9 (National route no. 9) starts in Kristiansand and takes you through the natural beauty of the Setesdal Valley to Haukeligrend on the Hardangervidda (Hardanger Plateau).

[edit] By bus

The bus-connections to Oslo and the towns along the western shore of the Oslo Fjord is excellent. Nor-Way Bussexpress has 9 daily connections to Oslo, Konkurrenten.no 4-7 buses while Lavprisekspressen runs twice daily. You are guaranteed a seat - if the bus is full, the bus company will add an extra bus. Lavsprisekpressen provides online ticketing only.

These express busses are usually just as fast as the trains to Oslo. To towns such as Larvik, Tønsberg and Sandefjord you might arrive several hours later if you go by train.

There's also infrequent express bus connections to Stavanger and up along the Setesdal, with connections to cities such as Bergen and Haugesund. Regional buses run frequently along the coast, from Lyngdal and Lista in the west to Arendal in the east, run by several different bus companies.

The bus terminal is located about 100 meters from the main shopping street, right next to the ferry terminal and the train station. There's also a taxi stand here.

[edit] By boat

Ferry companies Color Line and Masterferries operate car ferries to Denmark. Color Line sails 4 times each day to Hirtshals, while Masterferries runs 4 times daily to Hanstholm. The trip takes 2 - 2 1/2 hours with the hydrofoil ferries of both companies, while Color Line also have a regular ferry which uses 4 1/2 hours on the crossing. Both Hirtshals and Hanstholm are small ports on the northern part of Denmark, with Hirtshals being the most accessible from the Continent.

Prices soar in the summer, with Color Line the most expensive overall.

The routes to Gothenburg (Sweden) and Newcastle upon Tyne (United Kingdom) close down for good in October 2006.

[edit] Get around

Bussen Trafikkselskap AS operates the yellow and white city buses. Eastbound buses depart from the Henrik Wergeland street, while westbound buses depart from the Tollbod street or the bus terminal, but not both. Northbound buses (to Vennesla) leave from the bus terminal.

The main lines going from west to east is called the Metro bus. You can expect a bus every 5 minutes on weekdays. Service elsewhere is quite frequent during daylight hours, but the frequency drops significantly in the evenings and on weekends. Night buses operate Fridays and Saturdays.

Currently, the prices are 20 NOK for local travel, 27 NOK for suburban routes and 37 NOK for the regional routes. Night buses have their own prices.

The town's center is quite compact, which means that everything is within walking distance. Suburbs are spread over quite a large area. There are dedicated bike lanes along most of the main roads.

Most roads except the highway is just one lane each way - thus rush hour should be avoided. Parking might be difficult in the city centre, try the parking houses. There's a toll booth on all roads leading to town.

[edit] See

• Fiskebrygga (Fish market) is found at the southwestern part of the town centre Kvadraturen. There is still a fish market here, but there are also several, mostly maritime, restaurants around the central waterfront. During summer, locals arrive in their boats and anchor up here. Lovely place for an ice cream.

• Kristiansand Dyrepark (Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement Park). Just east of the town, has a wide selection of animals in, for the most part, natural habitats. The main attractions are tigers, wolves, red pandas, and a reptile house. Other activities here include a log run, a large play area, and a pirate castle with Norway's favorite pirate, Kaptein Sabeltann (Captain Sabretooth). During the summer, there are pirate shows late at night. There's also a kind of toy town called Kardemomme by (Cardamom town) which is based on a book by Norwegian children's writer Thorbjørn Egner. Admission is as much as NOK 260 (€ 32, US$ 45, £22) in peak season, the price drops to almost a third in off-season, but many activities are open only in peak season. Once inside, all activities are free.

• Posebyen is what's left of Kristiansand's old town. It still occupies several blocks on the eastern part of the town centre. Here you can still see small, white, single-storey, wooden houses occupy a whole block. Very peaceful just a few minutes' walk from the busy shopping streets.

• Ravnedalen (Ravens' Valley) is a lovely park just outside the city centre. It is surrounded with steep cliffs and presents the visitor with lush flower gardens and manicured laws perfect for picnics. If you forgot your picnic basket, there's also a café here. There are sometimes music performances in the summer.

• <see name="Kristiansand Cannon Museum" alt="" address="" directions="" phone="" url="http://www.kanonmuseet.no/?language_id=2" hours="" price="" lat="" long="">Here you will find the world's second largest cannon ever to be mounted on land. Mounted by the occupying German forces in 1940 to guard the shipping lanes of the Skagerak.</see>

• Agder Theatre

[edit] Do

Untill 2007, Kristiansand was the site of the Quart Festival, a multi-day music festival - the largest of its kind in Norway. Other festivals have come and after selling only 2000 tickets for the 2008 event, the festival was cancelled.

[edit] Learn

University of Agder has its main campus at Gimlemoen just east of the town centre. The new campus was built at an old military camp, and the new building was finished in 2001. There are programs in nursing, teaching, languages, psychology, literature and arts, sports and health, mathematics and similar subjects, economics and politics. Just a few of the classes are taught in English.

There's also music education (both classical and pop/rock) at Musikkens hus (House of Music) in the town center.

There's also several small, private higher education schools, among them a Christian journalism school at Gimlekollen.

[edit] Work

[edit] Buy

Markens gate is the main shopping street in the town center. Most of the street is pedestrianized. Most of the shops are now chain stores, but it is still a busy and nice main shopping street. A few independent stores are still here. It's a central gathering place for most locals, and thus more than a shopping street.

Sørlandssenteret is located about 10 minutes' drive east of town, in a industrial area. It is just a run-of-the-mill shopping center, but can be a godsend for shopping when the weather turns nasty.

[edit] Eat

[edit] Budget

[edit] Mid-range

[edit] Splurge

Sjøhuset (Østre strandgate 12 A) is Kristiansand's main sea food restaurant. It is situated on a pier near the Nupen Park.

[edit] Drink

[edit] Sleep

[edit] Budget

[edit] Mid-range

• Thon Hotel Wergeland, Kirkegata 15 [1]. Situated in the heart of Kristiansand, with the Wergeland Park, the cathedral and the market as its nearest neighbours. The hotel is only one block away from Markens, the most popular shopping street in Kristiansand.

[edit] Splurge

[edit] Contact

[edit] Stay safe

[edit] Cope

[edit] Get out

[edit] External Links

• Kristiansand Norway.com – Information in English on Kristiansand including shopping, fishing, activities and infomation for the budget traveller. It is a useful quick guide to Kristiansand with information that is updated regularly.