9/11/14 Kristiansand, Norway

9/11/14 Kristiansand, Norway

We did one Princess tour during the 25-day cruise, and this was in Kristiansand, Norway. Kristiansand is Norway’s fifth largest city and it is beautifully located on the scenic southern coast. This is a popular vacation spot for the Norwegians, summer is the busy season and we were visiting it during the between season where it is still summer but most kids have gone back to school and vacation time is over. I had a tough time finding out much info about this town, which is why I opted to take the Princess tour in the first place. Had I know that the ship would be docked right in the downtown area, close to many quaint streets which were easy to get access to, I would have done a DIY tour instead. Most of my friends had just walked off the ship and followed the many streets to lots of places, including a fresh fish market that was practically next to the ship. There were a lot of activities in this downtown area, not to mention lots of shopping.

http://www.visitnorway.com/us/where-to-go-us/south/kristiansand/

On our Princess excursion we did a cruise through the Blindleia Passage to Lillesand, a cute and charming little town that was quite scenic. The cruise was nice but the guide was not very exciting and I just didn’t feel any passion or love from him, something I notice that good guides always have. The passages was striking in a haunting way, with all of its interesting rock formations, and perfectly calm waters. The homes around this passage were expensive, in the million-euro neighborhood for most of them! It was a beautiful area.

The town of Lillesand where we finished the cruise was mostly closed, not only because it was early in the day but also because it was late in the season and most residents were there for the summer only. Finally, we only had a half hour to visit the town and it was not enough time to walk through the narrow winding lanes throughout, so we didn’t see much of it at all. This town was so cute; it certainly deserved more time than we were allotted to visit it. If I ever come back here I will find my own transportation to get back to Lillesand, it really required several hours to explore during “open” hours. The excursion was not worth the money we spent on it at all!

http://www.visitnorway.com/en/where-to-go/south/lillesand/