Stavanger Norway & the Puplit Rock Hike / Preikestolen
Preikestolen / Pulpit Rock Hike - 7.6 km / 4.72 Mile RT - 334 m / 1128 ft elevation gain
A work trip to Oslo and Stavanger Norway from June 2nd to June 9th 2019 granted me the opportunity to take a day to do the Preikestolen, or Pulpit Rock, hike in Stavanger Norway. I flew out of Houston, Tx on the afternoon of June 2nd on Singapore Airlines, landing in Manchester, UK on in the late morning of June 3rd. After a 3 hour layout, I flew to Oslo, Norway on SAS Airlines. I arrived in Asker, Norway, southwest of Oslo, in the afternoon via the train and spent the 4th and 5th working out our office there. In the evening of the 5th, I flew to Stavanger, Norway and attended a conference at the Scandic Hotel at the airport on the 6th. I took the 7th, a Friday, as a day to explore Stavanger.
Even with staying up late the night before I still woke up before my alarm at 7:45am and joined some colleges for breakfast downstairs, enjoying a massive spread that is a trademark of Norwegian hotels. I made it back to my hotel room to get a little work done for an hour or so. Due to not having a car and not wanting to get one, I found that Flybussen operated buses from the airport to several stops in Stavanger. I got on the 9:45am bus and got off on the second to last stop across from the ferry terminal across the fjord called Fiskepiren. I didn’t have to wait too long and the 10:30am ferry showed up. It was a beautiful 45min ride across the Fjord to Tau. I got there at about 11:15am and found the bus easy enough. There looked to be several different bus lines that operated from this ferry terminal to the trailhead. I had bought my ticket ahead of time and it included my Flybussen ticket from the airport.
A work trip to Oslo and Stavanger Norway from June 2nd to June 9th 2019 granted me the opportunity to take a day to do the Preikestolen, or Pulpit Rock, hike in Stavanger Norway. I flew out of Houston, Tx on the afternoon of June 2nd on Singapore Airlines, landing in Manchester, UK on in the late morning of June 3rd. After a 3 hour layout, I flew to Oslo, Norway on SAS Airlines. I arrived in Asker, Norway, southwest of Oslo, in the afternoon via the train and spent the 4th and 5th working out our office there. In the evening of the 5th, I flew to Stavanger, Norway and attended a conference at the Scandic Hotel at the airport on the 6th. I took the 7th, a Friday, as a day to explore Stavanger.
Even with staying up late the night before I still woke up before my alarm at 7:45am and joined some colleges for breakfast downstairs, enjoying a massive spread that is a trademark of Norwegian hotels. I made it back to my hotel room to get a little work done for an hour or so. Due to not having a car and not wanting to get one, I found that Flybussen operated buses from the airport to several stops in Stavanger. I got on the 9:45am bus and got off on the second to last stop across from the ferry terminal across the fjord called Fiskepiren. I didn’t have to wait too long and the 10:30am ferry showed up. It was a beautiful 45min ride across the Fjord to Tau. I got there at about 11:15am and found the bus easy enough. There looked to be several different bus lines that operated from this ferry terminal to the trailhead. I had bought my ticket ahead of time and it included my Flybussen ticket from the airport.
I got to the hike at 11:45am and started it about 11:50am. There were some pretty steep sections and I will admit I was out of shape but it was a wonderful hike. The trail was very well maintained and consisted of a few different steep areas but the views from every crest was worth it!
The view of Lysefjord greeted me as I neared Preikestolen. The sheer size and drop from the rock to Lysefjord was amazing! It is 604 meters or 1981 ft from the water to the top of Pulpit Rock! I arrived at Preikestolen at 1:30pm after about an hour and 40 minutes of hiking. I snacked a bit there and enjoyed the sights!
I headed back down at 2:25pm and got to the bottom at 3:35pm with a very pleasant hike back to the bottom. There were numerous older people on the trail which was made of large rocks and therefore large steps. I am very surprised I didn’t see a fall or two! I helped two older couples hiking together down a section with some pretty big steps but then decided to keep up my pace and trusting they made it down okay. There were some other close calls I witnessed as well! Saw a bus parked where I got off but it didn’t look like mine but it was in fact my 3:45 bus. Oh well, it was a nice day was about 16C and sun so I waited and got on the 4:30pm bus.
The bus got to the ferry terminal about 10 min before the boat did and we had a nice trip across the bay again arriving at Stavanger at 5:50 or so. I walked around Stavanger for a while. Found a few of it’s pretty churches and took in the city. I found a street with amazing smelling restaurants, just off of the street the Tau ferry lands on called Pedersgata. After much deliberation, went to a bar / burger joint since my phone was pretty much dead and I liked their classic rock music (had to decide somehow). It was a good burger! Since my phone only had 10% left, I couldn’t use it to help explore the city so I completely missed areas that would of been nice to see, such as: Byparken, a large lake / park in the middle of the city; Stavanger Cathedral; and most importantly Sjøfartsmonumentet, a monument and old town Stavanger with its port. I was only a few blocks off of it as well! There was also confusion on the bus to the airport that I already had a ticket for. The driver in the morning they stopped running at 6:00pm but I was sure they ran later hence why I used so much battery trying to find the schedule on the slow free internet sprint provides. I eventually sent the link to Emily and she was able to confirm it runs all night basically. I headed back on the 7:40pm bus with my phone dying on the ride since I started using it for photos again. I arrived at the hotel room at the airport about 8:10pm or so and debated hiking out to the beach which was about 1.5 mile away (sand and everything) but I was tired from the hike and city exploration so stayed in.
Safe Travels,
B (and E in Spirit)
The bus got to the ferry terminal about 10 min before the boat did and we had a nice trip across the bay again arriving at Stavanger at 5:50 or so. I walked around Stavanger for a while. Found a few of it’s pretty churches and took in the city. I found a street with amazing smelling restaurants, just off of the street the Tau ferry lands on called Pedersgata. After much deliberation, went to a bar / burger joint since my phone was pretty much dead and I liked their classic rock music (had to decide somehow). It was a good burger! Since my phone only had 10% left, I couldn’t use it to help explore the city so I completely missed areas that would of been nice to see, such as: Byparken, a large lake / park in the middle of the city; Stavanger Cathedral; and most importantly Sjøfartsmonumentet, a monument and old town Stavanger with its port. I was only a few blocks off of it as well! There was also confusion on the bus to the airport that I already had a ticket for. The driver in the morning they stopped running at 6:00pm but I was sure they ran later hence why I used so much battery trying to find the schedule on the slow free internet sprint provides. I eventually sent the link to Emily and she was able to confirm it runs all night basically. I headed back on the 7:40pm bus with my phone dying on the ride since I started using it for photos again. I arrived at the hotel room at the airport about 8:10pm or so and debated hiking out to the beach which was about 1.5 mile away (sand and everything) but I was tired from the hike and city exploration so stayed in.
Safe Travels,
B (and E in Spirit)
