Kristiansund

Four islands, the world's oldest public transport still running — and it is free.

Kristiansund is built on four islands round a harbour, and the boat that links them has been running since 1876. It is not a tourist attraction that happens to be old: it is the town's scheduled public transport, it is the oldest such company still in continuous operation anywhere, and the townspeople voted it their cultural monument in 1997. The town itself was bombed and burned in April 1940 and rebuilt in the fifties, so what stands is post-war — except on Innlandet, across the water, where the old wooden town survived. Do not confuse this place with Kristiansand, which is six hundred kilometres south and in this catalogue already.

Going ashore

Storkaia puts you in the middle of it — the Sundbåt quay is ninety metres from the gangway and the clipfish woman is between the two. The single most useful fact about this port: the Sundbåten costs nothing. The operator's own words are that you always travel free with them, and the boat runs a scheduled service on weekdays. That last part is the catch — a weekend call does not get the scheduled route, and the four islands then need the road bridges instead. Live departures are in the Sundbåt app rather than on a printed board, which is why this guide carries the rule and not a timetable.

The walks

1. 01

   The rebuilt town and the old yard

   4 km · 2 hours · 40 m up

   In April 1940 German bombers burned Kristiansund for four days and left 800 buildings standing of 3 000. The town was rebuilt through the 1950s to a single plan — straight streets, plain concrete blocks in strong colours, a church like a split rock — and it is the best complete post-war town in Norway. From the square up through the streets to the church, down to the old shipyard at Mellemværftet where the wooden slipways and workshops the bombs missed are kept as they were, and back along the water. Eight stops, no ticket.

2. 02

   The four islands by Sundbåt

   3 km · 3 hours · 40 m up

   Since 1876 a small boat has run round the harbour linking the town's four islands, and it still does, every half hour or so, from the pier 200 m from the ship. It is the oldest public transport route in the world still in service and the loop takes twenty minutes. This one uses it properly: off at Innlandet for the old town of wooden warehouses and the klippfisk museum, on to Nordlandet for the church on its rock, across to Gomalandet, and back. Three hours, one ticket, four crossings, six stops, and every side of the harbour.

3. 03

   Over the hill to the Atlantic

   6 km · 3 hours · 90 m up

   Kirkelandet is a long island with the town on its harbour side and the open Atlantic on the other, and a low hill between them with a tower on top. Up through the rebuilt streets past the church to Varden, the tower on the summit with the whole town, the four islands and the ocean below; down the far side to Kringsjå, where the shore is bare rock and the sea comes straight in from Greenland; along to the Atlantic park, and back over. Six stops, one 90 m hill, and the other side of the town.

What's inside

Look inside

Pages 1–6 are in the free sample. 38 pages in the full guide.

What the guide covers

• Storkaia
• Kongens plass
• Klippfiskkjerringa
• Kirkelandet kirke
• Mellemværftet
• Sundbåten
• Innlandet
• Norsk Klippfiskmuseum
• Nordlandet kirke
• Gomalandet
• Varden
• Kringsjå
• Atlanterhavsparken
• Nordmøre museum
• Grip

3 routes · 30 numbered stops · 38 pages

When to go

The day of the week matters more here than the month. The Sundbåten runs its scheduled service on weekdays, so a Saturday or Sunday call loses the free boat that route B is built on and has to use the bridges instead. Two of the three eating places in this guide are shut on Sunday and the café on Innlandet does not open before four in the afternoon on any day. Grip is the other seasonal question: the same operator runs a boat out to the old fishing village fifteen kilometres offshore, with a guided walk that includes the stave church and a café at the far end, and it is a summer service booked on board or online — it is a whole day, not an afternoon, and this guide does not route to it. Winter here is wet and windy rather than cold, and route A is the one that still works in it.