While southern Norway doesn't have picturesque tall mountains like in the west and north, they have many small towns by the sea with beautiful white wooden houses. This area became an important trading centre in the 16th century, with foreigners especially the Danish, Dutch, and British coming for oak and pine, which is used to build houses and ships.
The houses along the coast were originally not painted in white, but were inspired by white-painted houses abroad. The wealthy thought imported white paint from England was a status symbol, and soon the towns became covered in white.
Without a car, it's still possible to explore this region by public transport. From Oslo, you can take either VY or Flixbus to Kristiansand, a 4.5 hour journey. Alternatively, you can take a domestic flight.
Once you reach this region, AKT operates bus services within cities and between towns. They have a 24 hour ticket for NOK 318 or a 7-day ticket for NOK 528 as of this trip in August 2025. This ticket for 3 or more zones will be enough to cover the key towns in the area.
From Kristiansand heading west, I used the 24 hour ticket to visit Mandal and Flekkefjord in 1 day.
Mandal is only a short 30-minute bus ride on route 200 from Kristiansand, a 40km journey. Flekkefjord is a further 1.5 hour trip from Mandal on route 200 to Lyngdal and then route 250.
