Holland Norway Lines will run a new route between Kristiansand, southern Norway, and Eemshaven, Groningen, the Netherlands, three days a week from Friday, April 8th 2022, the beginning of the Easter holidays in Norway. 

“We are bringing Europe closer to Kristiansand and southern Norway,” Bart Cunnen, managing director of Holland Norway Lines, said in a press release. 

The route will provide a new option for those who want to travel between western and northern Europe without flying. 

The ferry will take 18 hours, departing from Kristiansand at 3pm on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

For trips into Norway, services leave the Netherlands at 3pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. One way trips for two travellers departing from Kristiansand currently start from €150 for a standard ticket or €210 for the same number of passengers but with a car and a flexible ticket. You can take a look at the tickets here. 

The route will shorten travel times for those who want to drive between the UK and Norway. Since 2008 there has not been a direct ferry link between the two countries. 

Eemshaven is also just a two-hour drive from Amsterdam, six hours from Berlin and seven from Paris. 

Holland Lines Norway has chartered the cruise ferry Romantika from the Tallink Grupp for the route. 

The Romantika has 700 cabins and a capacity for 1,500 passengers and 350 cars. The boat was previously used on the Riga-Stockholm route. 

“Romantika will be among the leading cruise ferries operating in Norwegian waters. We look forward to showing the ship in Kristiansand,” managing director Cunnen said. 

Synnøve Elisabeth Aabrekk, general manager of USUS, a business cluster for cultural and tourism companies in southern Norway, said that the new route could boost tourism in the area. 

“There is a lot of focus on the European market. And with this route, we believe more people from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and France will be able to discover southern Norway,” Aabrekk told public broadcaster NRK.

Kristiansand is a popular destination for tourists due to its beaches, summer weather, zoo and theme park.