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.

Get in

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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.

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. Lots of nice forest views and rural settlements, though.

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

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).

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.

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.

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...