Stories from Stavanger
Long-form writing on Stavanger, the Lysefjord and Rogaland — hiking to Preikestolen and Kjeragbolten, cruising beneath the fjord's cliffs, and the practicalities of Norway travel.
More stories
Flørli and Its 4,444 Empty Steps
How Many Days in Stavanger Before It's Enough?
Jæren: The Beaches That Don't Belong on a Norway Postcard
Kjerag Is Closed More Than It's Open
No, You Will Not See the Northern Lights in Stavanger
The Krone Confusion: Why I Stopped Converting Every Price to Euros
Preikestolen Is Not a Hike, It's a Queue
Should You Actually Stand on Kjeragbolten?
Sola or Somewhere Else: The Airport That Shapes a Stavanger Trip
Sverd i Fjell and the Myth of National Unity
The Cash You Will Never Need in Norway
The Cathedral That Never Got Rebuilt
The Cruise Ship Day and Its Lie
The Price of a Beer as a Measure of a Country
The Rain Is Not Bad Luck, It's the Climate
The Right to Roam and Its Limits
The Tunnel That Brought Preikestolen Closer
The Weather App That Lies About the Plateau
What a Week in Stavanger Really Costs
What Oil Did to This City
What Restoration Erased in Gamle Stavanger
Good to know about the Stavanger blog
The blog steps back from strict planning to cover the questions that shape how a Stavanger trip actually feels. 97°N, Stavanger sits in Norway's mild, wet south-west, not the Arctic north of the midnight sun and the northern lights. A history piece follows the discovery of the Ekofisk field in the North Sea in 1969, and how it turned Stavanger into Norway's oil capital almost overnight. Another looks at Gamle Stavanger's roughly 170 white wooden houses, the largest such concentration in Northern Europe, and makes the point that they are lived-in homes, not a museum village.
A piece on Sverd i Fjell explains the three bronze swords planted at Hafrsfjord in 1983 and the battle they commemorate, traditionally dated to 872. A safety and etiquette piece is blunt about Kjeragbolten — a serious hike with chained sections and a real fall risk, never a casual photo stop — and about Preikestolen's unguarded cliff edge. A piece on Nuart follows the street art festival that has run in Stavanger since 2001. None of this replaces the destination or guide pages; it exists for the softer context a strict itinerary doesn't cover.
Frequently asked questions about the Stavanger blog
Will I see the northern lights in Stavanger?
Very unlikely — at 58.97°N, Stavanger sits in Norway's mild south-west, well outside the latitudes where the northern lights are reliably seen.
Why did Stavanger become Norway's oil capital?
The Ekofisk field was discovered in the North Sea in 1969, and Stavanger quickly became the industry's onshore base.
Can I visit the houses in Gamle Stavanger?
You can walk its streets freely, but the roughly 170 wooden houses are private homes, not museum exhibits.
What does Sverd i Fjell commemorate?
The Battle of Hafrsfjord, traditionally dated to 872; the three bronze swords were planted there in 1983.
What is Nuart?
A street art festival that has run in Stavanger since 2001.
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GetYourGuide does not provide a product photo for this activity — the image shows the meeting point, photographed by us.
