Traveling in Norway – Kristiansand

This post concludes with thoughts on private stays versus hotels

In Norway, alcoholic beverages over 4.7%, essentially anything other than basic beers, are controlled and sold only in government run stores called Vinmonopolet. Their hours are limited, closing at 6pm and not open on Sundays. One must plan in advance to enjoy a bottle of wine with dinner at home or else go out to a bar or restaurant which you will find lively on a summer evening. Alcohol is highly tax in Norway and therefore drinks are expensive, much like in California.

Below:

Our last dinner out in Kristiansand, a smoked salmon salad with marinated veggies, fresh asparagus, and grains.

 Gary attempting to fix a broken cabinet in our apartment.

And a little take-away restaurant that I thought was just too funny. No, we did not try it.

Airbnb versus hotels:

We have been using Airbnb for years. We have only had a couple of issues over the many years, which Airbnb addressed and resolved for us immediately. The advantages of private stays over hotels for us are significant. Pre-pandemic we often stayed with locals, which we hope to do again soon. You have to enjoy sharing space with others, agreed, this is not for everyone. We have met wonderful people through this method of traveling and now have two families we consider friends from past Airbnb stays. Locals will share hidden treasures of their city, best restaurants, tips on using local transportation and occasionally share a meal. Admittedly, it is more work to research private stays, read all the reviews, sort through a myriad of pictures, and hope we have picked a suitable place. There is always the risk that upon arrival the place is not as expected. Hotels, especially chains, provide a standard of service, hopefully, that is uniform across their properties. 

Full kitchen access for us is a top priority.  It gets tiring and expensive eating all meals out. Breakfast especially, we like to eat fruit, yogurt, and cereal. It is also great to have a fridge and the option of packing a lunch to carry for the day. 

Generally speaking, there is much more space in an apartment versus a hotel. You can open the windows for fresh air, have a table for eating breakfast, a comfy couch for relaxing. The biggest plus for us is secure internet. We continue to work while traveling and good, private internet access is essential. Bottom line, we find we get more for our dollar with Airbnb stays versus hotels. I will post pictures on our next blog to substantiate my theory.

We are moving on, next stop Stavanger, Norway. We enjoy a last coffee at Cuban Life Kaffebar, possibly one of the best coffee experiences ever.

Thanks for all your wonderful comments. Thanks for following us on our adventures.