Kristiansund is a town built on four islands, which means that getting anywhere in it involves a bridge, a tunnel or, if you are lucky, one of the little open Sundbåt ferries that have been shuttling people across the harbour for well over a century. It faces the open Atlantic on the Nordmøre coast, and for a long time it made its living from fish, specifically klippfisk, the salted and dried cod that was shipped out to Spain, Portugal and Brazil. The tradition has not died: bacalao, the dish the rest of the world cooks from that fish, is still something the town takes seriously, and a plate of it is a more honest welcome than any brochure.
The harbour is the heart of it, a natural horseshoe with painted wooden warehouses on the quays and the bigger, more modern town climbing the hills behind. There is a well-regarded opera tradition here too, which surprises everybody, with a house that claims a very long history as Norway's first. With sixteen thousand people, Kristiansund has everything a rider needs: several fuel stations, supermarkets, bakeries and lunch spots, and the sort of unhurried waterfront where it feels natural to sit for an hour with a coffee and watch the boats.
The reason most riders turn up here is what lies to the west. A tunnel under the sound carries you out to Averøy, and from there the road leads to the Atlantic Road, that short, famous run of bridges and causeways hopping from skerry to skerry. The best of it comes in a westerly gale, when waves climb the rocks beside the tarmac, but check the forecast first, since the road does get closed when the sea gets truly serious. Wind is the constant companion on this coast, so expect crosswinds on the bridges and dress for a cold sea breeze even in July.
Start the day here with a proper breakfast and a full tank. Light is best in the early morning and in the long evenings of summer, when the sun skims low across the water and turns the skerries gold. The road itself is smooth, and the fun is not in the twisties but in how close the open ocean feels.