Stavanger
Oil Capital Of Norway With Northern Europe'S Best Preserved Wooden House Quarter And A Medieval Cathedral; The Base For Preikestolen And The Lysefjord · Stavanger, Rogaland
Stavanger is Norway's oil capital and one of its oldest towns, a harbour city on the south-west coast that grew rich first on herring and sardine canning and, since the late 1960s, on North Sea oil. Its charm lies in the contrast. Old Stavanger (Gamle Stavanger), on the west side of the Vagen harbour, is a quarter of well over a hundred white wooden houses from the 18th and 19th centuries, with cobbled lanes and flower boxes, saved from demolition in the 1950s and often called Northern Europe's best-preserved wooden-house settlement. A short walk away stands the stone cathedral, begun around 1100 and often said to be Norway's best-preserved medieval cathedral, and on the harbour the Norwegian Petroleum Museum explains the oil age. Colourful Fargegaten, the canning museum and the Swords in Rock monument fill a day, and the Lysefjord, Preikestolen and Kjerag lie close. The honest caveat: the old centre is small, the city is expensive even by Norwegian standards, and many visitors use it mostly as a base.
Stavanger centre, from Vagen harbour and Old Stavanger (Gamle Stavanger) to the cathedral and the Petroleum Museum, Stavanger, Rogaland, Norway
A living city, open all year. Old Stavanger, the harbour and Fargegaten can be walked at any hour and are free. Museums usually open daily in summer and close one day a week, often Monday, in the low season; the cathedral has its own visiting hours around services and has had long restoration works - confirm access. Arrive by air at Stavanger airport at Sola (roughly 30 minutes by airport bus), by Vy train from Oslo via Kristiansand (roughly 8 hours), or by coastal ferry. Book summer Lysefjord cruises, Preikestolen buses and festival-week hotels ahead.