Kjerag without a car
What people try, and what happens
The usual plan is the ferry. The MS Lysefjord, run by Kolumbus, sails from Lauvvik with stops including Forsand, Bratteli, Bakken, Sognesand, Kalleli, Flørli and Håheller, roughly two or three departures a day, and Lauvvik is reachable by bus from Stavanger. It is a good journey. It ends in Lysebotn, at sea level, with the trailhead at the top of Fv500 and no scheduled way up it.
The second plan is the seasonal tourist bus. These do run in peak season, and if one exists on your date, take it. What I would not do is book flights around one. Ask yourself what your plan is if it is not running on the day you need it, and if the answer is a long silence, the plan is not a plan.
The third plan is the taxi or the lift, and I have watched that one go wrong at both ends of the day. Lysebotn is small. There is no rank of cars waiting at the quay, and the walk back down the pass after six to ten hours on the mountain is not an outcome anybody should accept by accident.
What works
A booked tour, because it solves the road and the timing together: the eleven-hour guided hike with hotel pickup in Stavanger, or the private hike if you want your own pace or a date outside the open season. The two-day trip does the same thing and adds the Preikestolen day, sleeping in Lysebotn in between.
The other thing that works is a hire car, if you are willing to drive it. Around three hours out via E39, Rv450 and Sirdal, then the hairpins, then paid parking at the trailhead. The full comparison is on its own page.
If neither works
Then Kjerag is not your hike this trip, and I would say that plainly rather than watch somebody lose two days to it. Preikestolen is about an hour from Stavanger, about eight kilometres round trip and four to five hours, and the guided version runs from the cruise terminal: the Preikestolen hike. The Lysefjord cruise needs no road at all. Both leave from the city and both give you the fjord.
What works
- A booked tour removes the road problem and the return-timing problem together
- Hotel pickup means the day starts where you are sleeping
- The ferry to Lysebotn is a real and pleasant journey, on its own terms
- Preikestolen and the cruise both work with no car whatsoever
Worth knowing
- No regular bus to Lysebotn, in any season
- Seasonal buses exist but cannot be planned around
- The ferry stops below the pass, and the pass is the hard part
- Lysebotn is small, and improvised transport there often is not there
If you are set on reaching the trailhead independently, the question to answer first is not how you get up. It is how you get down, at the end of a six-to-ten-hour walk, on the same day. Work backwards from that and most improvised plans fall over on their own.
Book the ride
Live availability for the hike that includes transport from Stavanger is below. If you would rather keep the fjord and drop the mountain, the cruise and the Preikestolen hike are both on the bookings hub.
The alternatives
Eight people maximumStavanger: Kjerag Hike with Guide and Transportation
Your group onlyPrivately Guided Hike to Kjeragbolten with a Local Guide
The shorter neighbourStavanger: Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) Hike with Local Guide
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 there a bus from Stavanger to Kjerag?
No regular public bus runs to Lysebotn. Seasonal tourist buses appear in peak season only: every way out of the city.
Can I use the ferry to reach the trailhead?
The ferry reaches Lysebotn, at the foot of the 27 hairpin bends, and nothing scheduled goes up them: the road page.
What is the reliable option without a car?
A booked tour with pickup in Stavanger, such as the eleven-hour guided hike.
What should I do instead if I cannot get there?
Preikestolen or the fjord cruise, both of which leave from Stavanger: the decision page.