Oslo Region, Norway

This capital city is connected to the southern coast by the Oslo fjord, which is more than 100 kms long. On both sides of the fjord are numerous cozy, coastal towns with bustling pier life during the summer months and Christmas markets in winter. The archipelago starts just south of Oslo and stretches all the way down to Kristiansand in the West and to the Swedish border in the East.

Cities and places to visit include the fortified town of Fredrikstad, which is Northern Europe’s biggest of its kind and a cultural landmark of the region, the Hvaler islands for their beautiful archipelago, Tønsberg for their lively pier life and just as beautiful an archipelago, Kragerø for the cozyness and wonderful experience of spending summers in the archipelago, and Grimstad and Arendal that are both gateways into Norway’s deep south where you find a relaxed and stress-free maritime way of life that will charm even the sturdiest of land crabs. These and many more idyllic towns and villages are scattered like pearls along the coast. A great way to experience the fjord is on a boat from Oslo to the southernmost coastal city of Kristiansand.

Did you know that every fourth Norwegian household owns their own boat? Thanks to the Gulf Stream, water temperatures in summer usually reach 20-21 degrees Celcius and sometimes even 24-25 degrees Celcius in the inner Oslo fjord. This might be unexpected, considering that Oslo is more or less on the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska and only an hour south of the Arctic Circle by plane.