Pulpit Rock

Preikestolen: The Hike Everyone Does and Why That’s Fine

Pulpit Rock (Preikestolen in Norwegian) is a 604-metre cliff above the Lysefjord with a flat top roughly 25 by 25 metres. Photographs suggest it is empty and serene. In summer, it holds around 100 people at peak times, all jostling for the same shot with their feet dangling over the edge. This is not a reason to skip it. The view is genuinely astonishing and the walk to get there is very good. You just need to manage your expectations about solitude.

The Hike

The trailhead is at Preikestolen Fjellstua, about 40 km from Stavanger by road. The hike is 3.8 km each way with around 330 metres of elevation gain. Norwegian trail signs rate it as demanding but most people in reasonable health complete it comfortably in 2 hours up and 90 minutes down. The path mixes wooden boardwalk sections with rocky scrambling and some steep stretches that involve using hands as well as feet. Waterproof boots are sensible; trainers work but become miserable if it rains, which it frequently does.

The trail is open year-round but snow and ice make the upper sections hazardous from November through March. There have been serious accidents in winter conditions. In April, crampons are sometimes needed. The Norwegian Trekking Association website publishes current trail conditions.

Crowds and Timing

July and August are the busiest months. At these times, aim to start the hike no later than 07:00 to arrive at the summit before the main groups. Tour buses from Stavanger begin arriving at the car park from about 08:30 onwards, and by 10:00 the path can feel like a pedestrian highway.

Early June and late September are considerably quieter and the light is extraordinary. Autumn colours in the birch forest below the ridge make the return walk particularly good. The midnight sun period (mid-June to mid-July) allows for hiking at 22:00 in full daylight, which is a genuinely unusual experience and far less crowded than daytime.

Getting There

From Stavanger, the easiest option is the ferry to Tau followed by a shuttle bus to the car park. The ferry from Stavanger city centre to Tau takes about 40 minutes and costs around 75 NOK. Shuttle buses from Tau to the car park run in season. Total journey: around 1 hour 20 minutes. Car users can drive the Tau road directly; parking at the car park is 200 NOK per day and fills up fast in summer, so arrive early.

No-car visitors on a budget can take the Kolumbus bus route 4 from Stavanger, but check current schedules as they change seasonally.

Kjerag: The Alternative

If you want a harder hike with more solitude, Kjerag is 2 hours from Stavanger (or 1 hour from Lysebotn if approaching from the south) and involves serious scrambling up three steep boulder fields. The summit plateau has the famous Kjeragbolten, a boulder wedged in a crack above a 1,000-metre drop. Queues form there too in summer, but Kjerag as a whole sees far fewer people than Preikestolen and is a better day out if fitness allows.

Eating and Staying

The restaurant at Preikestolen Fjellstua serves hot food and is perfectly good for a post-hike meal. Reindeer stew, fish soup, waffles. Prices are Norwegian (expensive by most European standards) but fair for the quality.

Stavanger is the natural base. It is a small, wealthy city from the North Sea oil era with a well-preserved old town (Gamle Stavanger) of whitewashed wooden houses from the 18th and 19th centuries that is genuinely lovely. Decent Norwegian seafood restaurants cluster around the harbour: Fisketorget on the waterfront is reliable if pricey, while the covered fish market (Torget) has cheaper lunch options.

Accommodation in Stavanger covers the full spectrum. For a character option, Skansen Pensjonat in the old town is small, well-run, and in a 1870s building. For something larger, Clarion Hotel Energy is centrally placed and has a rooftop bar.

What to Bring

Water (minimum 1.5 litres per person), layers including a windproof layer for the exposed summit, and something to eat. The wind on the plateau can be brutal even on warm days in the valley below. There are no facilities between the car park and the summit.