Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Strandpromenaden's hulking centrepiece is the distinctive Christiansholm Fortress. Built
by royal decree between 1662 and 1672 to keep watch over the strategic Skagerrak Straits
and protect the city from pirates and rambunctious Swedes, the construction featured walls
up to 5m thick and an armoury buried within a concentric inner wall. It was connected to
the mainland by a bridge over a moat (filled in during the 19th century) deep enough to ac-
commodate tall ships.
Agder Natural History Museum & Botanic Gardens
GARDENS
11am-5pm mid-
Jun-mid-Aug, 10am-3pm Tue-Fri, noon-4pm Sun rest of year)
The winding paths through the established 50-hectare park at Gimle Estate lead through a
botanic garden that also contains rocks, minerals, stuffed animals and greenhouses con-
taining the largest collection of cacti in Norway. The estate house has 19th-century period
interiors and extraordinary teethlike columns at the front, and there's also a historic rose
garden dating from 1850. It's just over 1km from the centre, across the Oddernes bridge.
Kristiansand Museum
MUSEUM
(Vest-Agder Fylkesmuseet;
www.vestagdermuseet.no
; Vigeveien 22b; adult/child Nkr70/free;
10am-5pm Tue-Fri, noon-5pm Sat-Mon mid-Jun-Aug, 9am-2pm Mon-Fri rest of year)
Located 4km east of town on the E18, this open-air folk museum houses a collection of 40
farmsteads and hamlets from the Setesdalen region and Kristiansand itself. In summer
there are lots of kids' activities, including some nice hands-on historical re-creations. East-
bound buses M1, M2 and M3 from Henrik Wergeland gate pass the museum.
Baneheia & Ravnedalen
PARK
Baneheia and Ravnedalen, both north of the city centre, offer greenery and a network of
lakeside hiking and skiing tracks for those keen to escape the city for a while. Both parks
were created between 1870 and 1880 by Kristiansand's city chairman, General Oscar
Wergeland. Over a total 30-year period, the planting of 150,000 coniferous trees trans-
formed the area into a recreational green belt.
