Photo Essay – Day 3 – Driving from Kristiansand to Stavanger, Norway

Bidding goodbye to our host at Villa Baneheia, we left Kristiansand early in the morning and joined E39 again to drive towards Stavanger. Our plan was to reach Stavanger in the evening with one brief stop in between. We had quite a few options for this stopover but ultimately decided to visit the southernmost point in Norway at Lindesnes to see the lighthouse here i.e. the Lindesnes Fyr.

The Norwegian countryside, Norway

The drive on this route was beautiful again alongside hills, rivers, fjords and we felt like stopping every 10 minutes to click pictures of the beautiful vistas around us. And this feeling continued throughout our drive in the Norwegian countryside.

Somewhere on the E39, Norway

On the E39, Norway

For Lindesnes we had to take a slight detour and this part of the drive was one the best drives we did in Norway. The road was unpaved in parts, narrow with mountains on one side and the deep blue sea on the other. All along there were small villages and red boat houses on the water and in many places rocks were plunging dramatically into the sea. And there were no other cars or people anywhere around. We also saw many small islands in the water with just one lone red house amidst the wilderness and we so wished we could live in one of these houses.

A village enroute to Lindesnes, Norway

Houses and Boat houses, enroute Lindesnes, Norway

On the drive to Lindesnes, Norway

Love the color of the water, enroute Lindesnes, Norway

After roughly 45 minutes of driving on this stretch, we finally reached the southernmost point in Norway at the Lindesnes Fyr (Lighthouse). Lindesnes Lighthouse is closed on Monday and Tuesday, hence we couldn’t see it from inside. However the spectacular views around it more than made up for our disappointment. The Lighthouse is surrounded by the open sea as far as the eye can see and there are large rocks strewn all around. There are a few trails around and we walked around a few of them to capture some of the gorgeous views of this area. We enjoyed the calmness all around and loved the soft sound of the sea.

Lindesnes Fyr, Norway

Area around Lindesnes Fyr, Norway

Views around Lindesnes Fyr, Norway

The happy trip at Lindesnes Fyr, Norway

The lighthouse has a small exhibition with pictures of other lighthouses in Norway, the history of these lighthouses etc and some of these lighthouses are in stunning locations. I am actually tempted to just tour all these lighthouses sometime. During World War II this area was under the German control, who built a small fort here. The remains of this fort and bunkers are still around and we walked and saw some of them.

An Exhibit of Photographs, Lindesnes, Norway

After spending an hour here we resumed our drive towards Stavanger and reached there in the evening. We then checked into our quaint B&B that was in a nice quite area and within walking distance from everything we wanted to see and do here. But the best part of our stay were the free and really tasty waffles served every evening for the guests.

Typical views on our drive towards Stavanger, Norway

We spent the evening walking around the old town and its streets. But I felt that Stavanger was a bit disappointing as a lot of it’s interesting stores and cafes were closed (they only open for the summer months from May to August).

Stavanger, Norway

The Fountain, Stavanger, Norway

Streets of Stavanger, Norway

Shopping in Stavanger, Norway

A street with cafes, Stavanger, Norway

An old church, Stavanger, Norway

We saw the old Church, some nice boutiques but majority of interesting cafes and boutiques were closed thereby lending an empty feeling to the place. We had an extremely early start the next day and hence decided to retire early and see the rest of this city the next day.