Welcome to the Kristiansand cruise port guide. With a population of 90.000 Kristiansand is the 5th largest city in Norway. It is one of the fastest growing regions in Scandinavia thanks to its industries and geographical position. This is the reason why they call Kristiansand the capital of the south. It also has another nickname. It is often referred to as the coolest riviera because it is the favorite summer destination among the Norwegians. The region is known for its mild and sunny climate and the coastline is famous for its thousand islands. All in all this makes for beautiful scenery in the area and let’s not forget about the charming town of Kristiansand. The city centre might be small and there are limited things to do in town, but Kristiansand it without doubt a city that has a small town feel to it where the tiny coffee corners and boutique shops are abundant. You can also find the famous zoo, cannon museum and open air museum in the near are. Hiking, sightseeing, scenery or history is all what you can find in or closeby the port of Kristiansand. Find out underneath what there is to find in port, what your transportation options are and what to see and do in Kristiansand.

This is your view from the ship in Kristiansand. As you can see it is a industrial port. It is about 1 km walk to the city centre from here.

On the dock you will find a small visitors centre with maps, brochures and information.

From the dock, walk to the left to exit the port. The yellow houses you see in the distance is part of the fish market. This is the start of the city center.

Also visit the following cruise port guides:

Flam Geiranger Bergen Oslo

Cruise Port Guide Kristiansand – Norway: docked

When there is only 1 ship in town you will dock at the southern pier on the island of Odderoya. If there are 2 ships in town it could be that you are going to a slightly different dock, see map above for its locations.

From these docks it is about 1 km walk to get to the city centre. From both docks you will walk by the fish market to get to the city. The city centre is square shaped. All together it is only 1 square km. it is therefore easily explored by foot.

You also have several other options to get around town:

Local Transport

There is a perfect bus system in Kristiansand that can take you to all the mayor sights out of town. See the location of the local bus stop in the map above. From here you can catch the following busses:

To Kristiansand zoo: Take route 01 and M1 eastbound to Dyreparken/Quality hotel.

To Kristiansand cannon museum: Take route M1 westbound to Krooden.

To Kristiansand open-air museum: Take route 01, M1, M2, M3 eastboun to Bjorndalssletta.

Single tickets are sold on board buses. You pay the driver in cash Norwegian Kroner. 24 hour bus-cards are sold at the customer information centre at the central bus terminal. Pay with credit card or cash. Single tickets cost between 35 and 50 kroner and 24 hours tickets between 70 and 100 kroner.

Hop on hop off bus

There is a hop on hop off bus in Kristiansand that often operates when a cruise ship is in town. It departs from a spot near the ship and mainly has stops out of town.

Tourist train

At the pier there is also a tourist trolley train that offers tours through the city centre of Kristiansand and that doubles as a shuttle service.

Destination and distance:

Kristiansand Open-Air Museum – 6 km north east
Cannon museum – 10 km south
Kristiansand Zoo – 13 km north east
Mineralen park – 60 km north