What you are actually booking
I spent eleven summer seasons in the service building at Øygardstøl, at the top of the 27 hairpin bends on Fv500 above Lysebotn. I sold coffee, pointed at the map on the wall, and watched people come back down. The question I was asked most was which tour to take, and the honest answer starts one step earlier than the product list.
The road is the constraint
The trailhead sits at the top of a narrow mountain pass that snow shuts for most of the year. It generally opens in late May or early June and closes again in October or November, depending on the year. The several hundred metres of chains bolted along the steepest slabs are taken down when the road closes and put back when it opens. That is the whole planning problem in one sentence: not whether you are fit enough, but whether the road is open on your dates and how you get to the top of it. The road and its bends and the season are set out separately.
The ride and the guide
Stavanger to the trailhead is roughly two and a half hours each way by road in a van. Driving yourself via E39, Rv450 and Sirdal is described as about three hours. Then the walk: about eleven kilometres round trip, six to ten hours for most people, and somewhere around 760 to 800 metres of climbing accumulated over three ascents and two descents, because you go up, drop into a dip, and go up again. Add the road at both ends and you have an eleven-hour day, which is exactly what the guided listing is. The timings are worth reading before you pick anything.
The boat
The Lysefjord cruise is on this page because it answers a question people arrive with, not because it goes to Kjerag. It does not. Three and a half hours on an electric catamaran, no walking at all, Hengjanefossen, the Vagabond’s Cave and Preikestolen seen from directly below. Nothing on that trip goes near the boulder, and I would rather say so here than have you work it out on board.
Eight people maximumStavanger: Kjerag Hike with Guide and Transportation
Your group onlyPrivately Guided Hike to Kjeragbolten with a Local Guide
Both cliffs, one tripStavanger: 2-Day Adventure with Preikestolen & Kjerag Hikes
No hiking at allStavanger: Electric Fjord Cruise to Lysefjord & Preikestolen
The shorter neighbourStavanger: Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) Hike with Local Guide
4,444 wooden stepsFlørli 4444: RIB Boat and Hike on the Lysefjord
The three that people actually choose between
| Stavanger: Electric Fjord Cruise to Lysefjord & Preikestolen | Our pickStavanger: Kjerag Hike with Guide and Transportation | Privately Guided Hike to Kjeragbolten with a Local Guide | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leaves from | Stavanger, by boat | Stavanger, hotel pickup | Stavanger, private pickup |
| Duration | 3 hrs 30 | 11 hrs | 12 hrs |
| Do you walk? | None at all | About 11 km | About 11 km |
| Kjeragbolten | Not on this trip | You stand on it | You stand on it |
| Group | A boat full | Eight people maximum | Your group only |
| Season | Boat season | When the road is open | Runs year round |
| Rating | 4.6 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Reviews behind it | 10,155 | 120 | 4 |
| View → | Book this → | View → |
Choosing in a minute
You have one full day, the road is open, and you want to stand on the boulder: the eleven-hour guided hike, eight people maximum. You want the pace set by your own party, or you are here outside the open season: the private hike, which runs year round and brings crampons when they are needed. You want Kjerag and Preikestolen and you do not want to drive the pass twice: the two-day trip, which sleeps in Lysebotn. You are not walking anywhere: the Lysefjord cruise. You want a big cliff and half a day rather than a whole one: the Preikestolen hike on the other side of the same fjord. You want stairs instead of chains: Flørli 4444. The same thing laid out by situation is on the decision page.
If you are driving yourself, the parking at the trailhead is paid and the car park is large, several hundred spaces, open roughly from the middle of May to the end of October. What it does not have is a way of making the day shorter. People who arrive at the top of the hairpins in the early afternoon and set off anyway are the ones I used to watch walking down in the dark. When to start matters more here than on any other Norwegian hike I know.
Book, or do not
Live availability for the most-booked option is below. If none of it suits you, drive the pass yourself, walk up and pay nobody for the mountain, which is a perfectly good plan for the months the road is open. I say the same at greater length on the page about the hike being free and on what the day costs.
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
Do you have to book a ticket for Kjerag?
No. There is no ticket, no gate and no permit for the trail. What you can book is the ride out of Stavanger, a guide, or the boat: why the hike is free.
Which listing is the flagship here?
The eleven-hour guided hike from Stavanger, at 5.0 across 120 reviews, with eight people maximum: the full page.
Is there anything for people who will not walk?
The Lysefjord cruise, three and a half hours by electric boat, with no hiking. It does not go to Kjerag: what the boat does and does not do.
Can I get to the trailhead without a car?
Not on a regular public bus, because there is none to Lysebotn. The honest version is on the page about doing it without a car.
How dangerous is the boulder itself?
There is no recorded death from falling off Kjeragbolten in Norwegian history. The trail and BASE jumping are separate questions: how safe it is.