The guided Preikestolen hike: my review
Verdict: the booking I recommend most often to people who came looking for Kjerag, because it is the one that fits the day they actually have. Six hours door to door, transport included, from the Stavanger cruise terminal, rated 4.8 across 467 reviews. The reservation is simple and worth repeating: Preikestolen is a different mountain. There is no boulder on it and it is on the other side of the fjord.
The different-mountain part
Preikestolen, Pulpit Rock, is a flat plateau on the north side of Lysefjorden, 604 metres above the water. Kjerag is on the south side, its high point about 1,084 metres up, with a boulder wedged in a crevice about 984 metres above the fjord. They are both on the same water and they are not the same outing. This tour goes to Preikestolen. If you want to stand on Kjeragbolten, this is not the booking and no amount of wanting will make it one.
What Preikestolen is, is the easier one. About 8 km round trip, four to five hours, no chains anywhere, and roughly an hour from Stavanger rather than two and a half. Kjerag is about 11 km, six to ten hours, three ascents and two descents, several hundred metres of chain on the steep slabs. Kjerag or Preikestolen compares them properly if you have not decided.
Six hours against eleven
This is the number that decides most bookings, and I would rather you look at it clearly than be sold a mountain. Preikestolen guided is six hours door to door. Kjerag guided is eleven. That difference is not the walking, or not mostly: it is the road, because Kjerag sits at the top of 27 hairpin bends above Lysebotn and takes about two and a half hours to reach from Stavanger, while Preikestolen is about an hour away.
If you are in Stavanger for one day, off a ship with a sailing time, or travelling with people who will not thank you for an eleven-hour commitment, six hours is the number that works. It leaves you an evening. The cruise-ship page does the arithmetic against a normal port call and reaches the same conclusion.
What 467 reviews tell you
They tell you this runs often and runs reliably, which is exactly what you want from a transport-and-guide product. A 4.8 over that many accounts is a stronger signal than a perfect score over a handful, and I say that on the page of every product here with a small count. The reviews are numerous enough to include bad weather days, and a rating that survives bad weather days is worth reading.
The departure from the cruise terminal is the other thing the number reflects. It is built around ships’ hours, which means the timings are tight and dependable rather than leisurely. If you are staying in the city and not on a ship, that is still a perfectly good start point; it is a short walk from most of central Stavanger.
It is still a mountain walk
The easier of the two is not the easy one. Four to five hours on uneven ground is a real day out, the photographs of that plateau are taken from a drone or a boat and do not show the path, and there is no railing at the top. Strong wind, heavy rain and fog are as good a reason to think again here as they are at Kjerag. Read how hard is it before deciding this one is a stroll, and what to bring before packing for one.
What works
- Six hours door to door, which fits a day in port or a busy itinerary
- 467 reviews at 4.8, a large and believable sample
- Transport included from the Stavanger cruise terminal
- About 8 km and four to five hours, with no chained sections
- Roughly an hour from Stavanger rather than two and a half
Worth knowing
- It is not Kjerag and there is no boulder on it
- A plateau 604 metres up, against Kjeragbolten at about 984
- Far more visited than Kjerag, so expect company on the path
- Still four to five hours of uneven ground, not a viewpoint you drive to
- No railing at the top, which surprises people every season
Included
- Return transport from the Stavanger cruise terminal
- A local guide on the mountain
- About 8 km of guided walking, four to five hours
- A six-hour schedule built around ships’ hours
Not included
- Boots and waterproofs
- Food and drink for the walk
- Any part of Kjerag or Kjeragbolten
- A promise that the plateau will be out of the cloud
If you are choosing between this and Kjerag because you are not sure about the chains, choose this one and enjoy it, rather than booking eleven hours and spending five of them worrying. Turning round at a chain is fine; deciding in advance that you would rather not meet one is better. The chains describes what they are.
If Kjerag is what you came for
Then the guided Kjerag hike is the eleven-hour day that gets you onto the boulder, and the two-day trip does both mountains with a night in Lysebotn so that neither gets rushed. If you want the fjord without a mountain at all, the cruise sails directly beneath the plateau this tour walks to. All six bookings are on one page if you would rather compare them there.
Frequently asked questions
Is Preikestolen the same as Kjerag?
No. Preikestolen is a flat plateau 604 metres above the north side of Lysefjorden, about 8 km round trip. Kjerag is on the south side, with a boulder wedged about 984 metres above the water and a much longer trail.
How long does the guided Preikestolen hike take?
Six hours door to door from the Stavanger cruise terminal, including about four to five hours of walking. The guided Kjerag equivalent is eleven hours.
Is it easier than Kjerag?
Yes, and it is still a mountain walk. About 8 km with no chained sections against about 11 km with several hundred metres of chains, three ascents and two descents.