Norway is a country that has been on our bucket list from before we can remember. So when the opportunity came up to visit family living in Stavanger for the weekend, we were incredibly excited to go and visit the land of fjords, mountains and trolls.
We only had two days there to pack in as much as we could, and we knew that we wanted to see as much as possible of the wonderful landscapes for which Norway is famous. Here’s what we got up to.
Preikestolen
Any weekend in Stavanger should have a hike up to Preikestolen, or Pulpit Rock, on the itinerary. The huge flat-topped 604m cliff, which juts out above the Lysefjord like a preacher’s pulpit, attracts more than 200,000 visitors each year. The walk is not for the faint-hearted, especially in the winter months, and can be challenging in places. The reward at the end is breathtaking though, with spectacular views over the fjords.
We drove from Stavanger to Preikestolenhytta, the basecamp where the Preikestolen Trail begins. It’s about an hour’s drive from Stavanger, through the largest subsea road tunnel in the world, the 14 km Ryfylke tunnel. If you don’t have a car, you can also travel by boat from Stavanger to Oanes, then take a bus to Preikestolenhytta. Here you’ll find toilets, a shop, cafe, and a centre with guides who keep a beady eye on the walkers as they pass, stopping people who don’t have the correct footwear.
The walk starts off steeply then flattens out, following this pattern until the end. Despite the cold and ice, it was fairly busy for March, though the weather was unseasonably warm and dry for the area on the day.
From about halfway and upwards from there, there was a thick covering of snow. We had to tread extremely carefully – more than once, I put my foot down on some snow to find my boot disappearing up to my ankle! About halfway up there’s a lake with a boardwalk through it and frozen (though shallow) water on each side – I found this part a bit hard as I had to choose between walking in the snowy, icy middle of the walkway or the snow-free edges.
After a particularly tricky uphill section of the walk, some of which has metal railings for you to hang on to, we came to a part of the path where there was a steep sloping drop on one side. At this point my fear of heights became too much – I always know it’s time to stop when my legs feel a bit wobbly and my hands start to shake! I told Colin that I wouldn’t be able to go any further and waited for the others instead. I waited for about an hour in a flat area with large rocks to sit on while the others went on – it was no hardship as it was so still and beautiful.
Colin said later that I’d made the right decision as there were a couple more scary parts for those who aren’t great with heights, including a part where you have to hug the cliff to get round. However, there is also a hill path that you can take, which takes a little longer but avoids the cliff walk. So if you suffer from acrophobia, be aware of this before attempting Preikestolen and opt for the hill path.
Everyone felt bad for me having to wait for them but I didn’t mind at all. Where I’d stopped was beautiful – the view was spectactular, the air still, and with my winter gear on I didn’t feel cold. It was heavenly just sitting looking out on the fjords with nothing else to do but watch and wait. It’s not often that you get the opportunity to just sit and be in nature, with no Wi-Fi or other distractions, and I relished every moment of it.
Colin writes:
I wasn’t happy about leaving Caroline, but I could see that she was safe, so we ventured on for that final kilometre to the famous jut of rock that is Preikestolen!
With the bulk of the steep bits out of the way, this last section was mostly on the flat, though it was these final sections that proved the most exciting … and dangerous. We encountered more of these easy-going paths meandering between frozen ponds and icy outcrops. But there were a couple of nerve-wracking sections of path where there was absolutely no room for error. At these short sections, as we inched along the narrow path it was all too evident that a slip here could have meant a fatal fall. Extreme care was required to make it to the majestic Preikestolen outcrop, where we rested and recovered for a few moments before stealing a series of selfies and stunning panoramic pics of the beautiful vista! It felt busy even then – a frozen but sunny Saturday in March – so in summer it must be mobbed. Time your visit well, and be just as careful on the descent. There were definitely a few bruised bums and egos on the way down!
Coming down was definitely more challenging than going up, but actually pretty good fun – in some parts we had to slide down, other parts weren’t possible without using your hands to hold on to trees, railings or the wall. There were plenty of friendly hikers who offered hands to travellers coming down which helped, but it wasn’t for the faint hearted or anyone unsteady on their feet. We stopped after the halfway point, once we could see the grass again, and had a picnic at a very pretty picnic spot with the forest to one side and the fjord in front of us.
The hike took us four hours, but can be done in two hours in the summer when there’s no snow and ice.
Olberg Beach
On our second day we decided to swap snowy mountains for the beach and headed to Olberg. It’s a lovely little harbour about half an hour southwest of Stavanger, with a sandy beach and rock climbing, as well as an ice cream shop that’s renowned in the area for its amazing ice creams – the queue was very long though, so we didn’t try them on this occasion.
The rock climbing was the highlight for the kids – safe enough to be done relatively unsupervised, with secret tunnels leading into creepy rooms carved inside the rocks, and even an abandoned building, an old fortification from World War II, overlooking the harbour to peer inside.
Down by the shore, the beach is perfect for swimming, if you can stand the cold. The water will be very, very cold – minus 5 – until around May so be warned. Olberg beach has some of the softest, finest sand I’ve seen in years – we wished we’d brought a picnic.
There’s free parking at the beach, and also a popular campsite. And on the way back into Stavanger you can stop at the Sverd i fjell monument, three huge swords in the ground to commemorate an ancient Viking battle fought on this site.
Norway was everything we thought it would be – stunning scenery, friendly people, and views that go on for miles. Our weekend in Stavanger only scratched the surface of what this beautiful country has to offer. We haven’t crossed it off the bucket list yet – we are definitely not finished with you, Norway, and will be back !
If you liked this article, read about our adventures in Scotland earlier this year.
