Kristiansand

Kristiansand sits at the very southern tip of Norway, where the mountains meet a sparkling coastline dotted with islands. Compared to much of Norway, summers here are genuinely warm and sunny, which is why so many Norwegians flock to its beaches and waterways every year. The city has a bright, relaxed holiday atmosphere, but it also has real history baked into its streets — quite literally, since a king designed the whole city centre as a perfect grid of square blocks back in 1641, and that tidy layout still shapes the city today.

Wander further and you will find a neighbourhood of charming low white wooden houses that have barely changed in two centuries, and a grand white cathedral whose tall tower watches over the whole city. But perhaps the most exciting thing about Kristiansand is its famous park on the edge of town, where you can come face to face with wolves, tigers, and giraffes, scream your way through thrilling rides, and then wander into a fairy-tale storybook village. There really is nowhere quite like it!