The shorter cliff across the fjord
What you give up and what you get back
You give up the boulder. Preikestolen has no Kjeragbolten and no crevice, and the photograph people take there is of a plateau with a fjord behind it. What you get back is half a day. Kjerag is about two and a half hours away by road and takes six to ten hours on foot; Preikestolen is about an hour from Stavanger and takes four to five. That is the whole trade, and for a large number of visitors it is the right one.
It is also the walk to take when the Kjerag road is shut, which is most of the year. Preikestolen does not sit at the top of a mountain pass, and the north side of the fjord is open when Fv500 is under snow. If your dates are in April or in late October, this page is probably the useful one and the rest of the site is reading for another trip.
Easier is not easy
Four to five hours on uneven ground is still four to five hours on uneven ground, and the cliff edge has no railing on it. It is busier than Kjerag by a wide margin, so in July you are walking in a queue rather than alone on a slab. I have met people who chose Preikestolen expecting a stroll and were surprised by it. The two are set side by side on the comparison page.
Included
- Round-trip transport from the Stavanger cruise terminal
- A local guide for the walk
- Six hours door to door
- About eight kilometres on foot, four to five hours of it
Not included
- A trail ticket, which Preikestolen does not have either
- Kjeragbolten, which is on the other side of the fjord and a different day
- Boots and waterproof layers of your own
- Meals unless the booking page says otherwise for your date
- A railing at the top. There is none, and there is none at Kjerag either
What works
- Six hours against eleven, which is the argument in one line
- About an hour from Stavanger rather than two and a half
- No chains and no three-ascent profile
- 4.8 across 467 reviews, a sample worth trusting
- Works in months when the Kjerag road is closed
Worth knowing
- No boulder. If Kjeragbolten is the reason you came, this is not a substitute
- By far the more crowded of the two cliffs
- Four to five hours on rock still asks something of your legs
- No barrier at the edge, and the plateau is flat enough to make people careless
If you are choosing between the two cliffs and cannot decide, ask what you want the day to feel like. Preikestolen is a busy walk to a famous view. Kjerag is a longer, emptier, steeper day with a half-metre step at the end of it. Neither answer is wrong, and only one of them fits an afternoon.
Book the Preikestolen hike
Live availability is below. The longer write-up is on the review page. If you want both cliffs, the two-day trip takes them in order with a night in Lysebotn in between.
If this one is not right
Eight people maximumStavanger: Kjerag Hike with Guide and Transportation
Both cliffs, one tripStavanger: 2-Day Adventure with Preikestolen & Kjerag Hikes
No hiking at allStavanger: Electric Fjord Cruise to Lysefjord & Preikestolen
Those dates don’t work?
Browse the other Kjerag hikes and Lysefjord trips running out of Stavanger, and pick a day that suits you — instant confirmation.
Frequently asked questions
Is Preikestolen easier than Kjerag?
Shorter and less steep per kilometre, with no chains: about eight kilometres against eleven. The full comparison is on this page.
Can you see Kjeragbolten from Preikestolen?
No, they are on opposite sides of the fjord and a long way apart. How high each one stands is on the height page.
Is there a railing at the top?
No, on either cliff. What that means in practice is on the fence page.
Which is better for a short stay in Stavanger?
Preikestolen, in most cases, because it costs you half a day rather than all of it: the decision page.