The two-day Preikestolen and Kjerag trip: my review
Verdict: the sensible shape for anyone who wants both famous cliffs and does not want to do either of them badly. Preikestolen and a Lysefjorden cruise on day one, dinner and a bed in Lysebotn, then the guided Kjerag hike on day two, with eight people at most. The reservation is stark: this listing carries two reviews. Two. Read the itinerary as the reason to book it, and read the rating as decoration.
Two reviews is two reviews
I am putting this at the top rather than the bottom. A 5.0 rating built on two reviews carries almost no information. It is not a bad sign and it is not a good one; it is the sound of a new listing. Judge this trip on its structure, which is genuinely better thought out than most things sold in Stavanger, and on the operator’s other work, which you can see on the guided Kjerag hike with its hundred and twenty reviews. Do not judge it on the stars.
Why the overnight in Lysebotn is the whole point
Here is the arithmetic that makes every one-day Kjerag trip long. Stavanger to Øygardstøl is about two and a half hours each way, and the hike is six to ten hours for most people. Put those together and there is no day left over. Now try to add Preikestolen, which is on the north side of the same fjord, about 8 km round trip, four to five hours, and roughly an hour out of Stavanger. It does not fit. People still try.
Sleeping in Lysebotn breaks the problem in half. Day one is the Preikestolen walk and the cruise down the Lysefjord, which is how you end up at the bottom of the hairpins in the first place. Day two starts you already on the right side of the water, with the Kjerag hike in front of you and a whole day to spend on it instead of the remains of one. That is the single most useful thing this booking does.
There is a two-course dinner and a buffet breakfast attached to the night. I mention it because Lysebotn is a small place at the end of a fjord, not a town with a choice of kitchens, and having the evening arranged is worth more there than it would be in a city.
Two mountains, and how different they are
People book this expecting two versions of the same day. They are not alike. Preikestolen is a flat plateau 604 metres above the water, about 8 km round trip in four to five hours, with no chains anywhere on it and far more people on the path. Kjerag is about 11 km, six to ten hours, three ascents and two descents, several hundred metres of chain along the steep slabs, and a boulder wedged in a crevice about 984 metres above the fjord.
So day one is the easier walk with the bigger crowd, and day two is the harder walk with the stranger object at the end of it. If your legs are undecided about the second morning, that is normal and it is exactly why the pages on how hard it is and how the two compare exist. Eight people maximum on both days, in English and Norwegian.
What the cruise adds
The Lysefjorden cruise on day one is not filler. It is the only way to see the fjord from the water on this itinerary, and it passes directly below Preikestolen, which you will have been standing on. Waterfalls, steep walls, and the plateau seen from underneath a few hours after seeing it from on top. That sequence is the best thing about the first day, and it is a better use of the afternoon than driving.
What works
- Both cliffs, with a night in between instead of an impossible single day
- The Lysefjord from the water as well as from above
- You wake up on the right side of the fjord for Kjerag
- Dinner and breakfast arranged in a place with very few alternatives
- Eight people maximum, on both days
Worth knowing
- Two reviews. The rating is not evidence of anything yet
- Two big walks on consecutive days, which is more than some legs will accept
- Runs only while the Fv500 road up to the trailhead is open
- Two days of your trip committed to two mountains
- If day two is fogged in, you have spent a night to find that out
Included
- A guided Preikestolen hike on day one
- A Lysefjorden cruise
- A two-course dinner and overnight accommodation in Lysebotn
- Buffet breakfast
- The guided Kjerag hike on day two
- A guide in English and Norwegian, with eight people at most
Not included
- Boots and waterproofs, which remain your responsibility
- Lunches and anything you want to carry up either mountain
- A guarantee of a clear plateau on either day
- Any climbing equipment, because neither walk uses any
Pack for the second morning the night before, and put the warm layer at the top of the bag. The wind comes up the fjord side at Kjerag and the plateau can sit in fog while the car park is in sunshine. I have handed out more coffee to people who came back down early and cold than to anyone else. What to wear is specific about this.
Who should book something else
If you only have one day, do not try to compress this: pick one mountain. The guided Kjerag hike is the eleven-hour version, the Preikestolen hike is the six-hour one, and the comparison page will settle it faster than reading both. If two consecutive hard days is the problem rather than the time, book them separately with a rest day between, which is what I would do myself. And if either mountain is looking doubtful, weather and rain is the page that tells you what to turn back for.
Frequently asked questions
Can you do Preikestolen and Kjerag in one day?
Realistically, no. Kjerag alone is six to ten hours of walking plus about 2.5 hours of road each way from Stavanger. This trip exists because the honest answer is two days with a night in Lysebotn.
Which of the two hikes is harder?
Kjerag. About 11 km, three ascents and two descents, roughly 760 to 800 metres of climbing and several hundred metres of chains. Preikestolen is about 8 km in four to five hours with no chains.
Where do you sleep?
In Lysebotn, at the bottom of the hairpin road, with a two-course dinner in the evening and a buffet breakfast before the Kjerag hike.