Southern Norway - Norway - page 237

Getting There & Away
TheMandalRutebilstasjonliesnorthoftheriver,justashortwalkfromthehistoricdistrict.
TheNor-WayBussekspresscoastalroutebetweenStavanger(Nkr360,3½hours)andKris-
tiansand (Nkr90, 45 minutes) passes through Mandal two to four times daily.
Lindesnes
Why go north when you can go south? At the almost 'polar' opposite to Nordkapp (some
2518km away) is Lindesnes, the southernmost point in Norway (latitude 57° 58' 95” N).
Lindesnes (literally 'arching land peninsula') provides an occasional glimpse of the power
that nature can unleash between the Skagerrak and the North Sea.
Rising above the cape is the evocative Lindesnes Fyr ( www.lindesnesfyr.no , in Nor-
wegian; adult/child Nkr50/free; 10am-8pm late Jun-early Aug, shorter hr rest of
yr) ,aclassic lighthouse. Intwoofthebuildings you'llpassasyouclimb tothecape, there
areexhibitionsonthehistoryofthelighthouse,whilethevisitorscentrenexttothegatehas
more plus an informative video about the site. The first lighthouse on the site (and the first
in Norway) was fired up in 1655 using coal and tallow candles to warn ships off the rocks.
The current electrical version, built in 1915, is visible up to 19.5 nautical miles out to sea.
Equally enticing are the series of intricate rocky coves that twist and turn their way
around this snake-like coastline.
HERE WERE VIKINGS
From the 8th to the 11th centuries, Norway's coastline was the domain of Vikings,
but the cape at Lindesnes, where the waters of the Skagerrak and the North Sea col-
lide, proved a challenge even to these formidable sea goers. Their solution? In a spir-
it of creative engineering that Norway's road builders would later emulate when
faced with daunting geographic forms, the Vikings carved a canal across the Lindes-
nes Peninsula at Spangereid (once a home port of Viking chieftains) to avoid the dan-
gerous seas of the cape. In summer 2007, a replica canal was opened to recreate the
Viking detour. Close to the site, the excellent historical centre Vikingland
( www.spangereidvikingland.no ; Spangereid; adult/child Nkr80/50;