Kristiansund

Kristiansund is spread across four islands around a central harbour, and the crossing between them is made by the Sundbaten, a small passenger ferry service running since 1876 and among the oldest continuously operating public transport routes in the world; the little wooden boats take a few minutes between quays. The town's wealth came from klippfisk, cod split, salted and dried on the bare rock, exported to Spain, Portugal and Brazil from the eighteenth century onward, and the Norwegian Clipfish Museum in an old wharf building covers the trade. Almost the entire town was destroyed by bombing in 1940 and rebuilt in a postwar style, so the historic fabric is concentrated in a few surviving quarters like Innlandet.

History

Settlement here goes back to about 8000 BC, first found at Voldvatnet in 1909. A small settlement grew around the harbour in the 17th century and became a ladested in 1631; Dutch sailors brought clipfish production at the end of that century, and the trade helped the town gain kjøpstad status in 1742. It became a municipality on 1 January 1838 and was merged with Grip in 1964 and with Frei in 2008 (Wikipedia, Kristiansund Municipality).

What's there

• The Sundbaten - a small passenger ferry running since 1876.
• The Clipfish Museum - the dried cod trade in an old wharf building.
• Innlandet - a surviving quarter of older timber houses.
• The four-island layout - a town arranged around its central harbour.

When to go

May to September for the best weather and the fullest ferry and museum schedules; the Sundbaten runs year-round on weekdays. The Opera festival in February is a long-standing local event.

Before you go

Most of the town is postwar reconstruction after the 1940 bombing, so visitors expecting an old wooden town will find only fragments. The weather is wet and windy for much of the year. Some museums open in summer only.

Nearby

The Atlantic Road runs southwest; Grip island lies offshore and Molde is south-west along the coast.

Key facts