Kristiansand; Saturday, 31 May, 2025

The train eventually arrived 20 minutes late into Kristiansand, so I was thankful it was only a very short walk round the corner to my hotel to checkin – even if it turned out to be an almost as long walk from reception to my room which was in the furthest possible point away from reception they could have put me!

After freshening up I headed out of the hotel to go for a wander, heading over to the island (albeit now joined to the mainland with multiple bridges) of Odderøya. Sitting between the Eastern and Western harbours of the city the island has long been an important location for fortifications, with forts appearing by the 17th century. During WWII, as part of their Atlantic Wall, the Nazi’s heavily upgraded the fortifications and the island is dotted by remains of bunkers, gun emplacements and control towers.

Due to it’s military history the island was at times completely off limits to anyone who wasn’t in the military, but similar to Suomenlinna in Helsinki, as the military retreated from the island the artists moved in and today the whole island is open to explore as well as being home to a small artistic community and a significant number of galleries and exhibition spaces.

There are lots of paths on the island, but I chose to follow the main path that starts by taking you up – its basically just one giant hill – to the very top and the main fortress which looks out over both harbours and a long way out to sea – its clear why this location was so important to military of all persuasions over the centuries.

At the very top is the greatest concentration of WWII era fortifications, bunkers and a control tower – the latter clearly about to collapse at any moment so off limits, but the rest of the area is open to explore at your own risk.

From the top of the island I then headed back down to sea level at the southwestern tip to see the Odderøya fyr or Odderøya Lighthouse which protects the entrance to the western harbour of the city. Unfortunately, on an island that is just one giant rock in the sea, when you’re on the opposite side of it to the exit and at sea level the only route is all the way back up to almost the summit to cross over and back down the other side.

I took the costal path which didn’t need to climb quite so high, but it was still most of the way back up to the summit, then back down close to sea level then back up a couple of times as I passed both the southern and eastern batteries which show just how bristling with firepower this place was during the war.

Having made my way around the island I headed back into town to grab a very late dinner before heading back to the hotel to rest my now aching calves and feet before the final day of my trip.