My review of the electric Lysefjord cruise from Stavanger
Verdict: the honest answer for anyone who wants to see Preikestolen and has no intention of climbing to it. Three and a half hours on a fully electric catamaran from Strandkaien, passing the cliff from 604 metres directly below. Rated 4.6 across 10,069 reviews, by a long way the biggest sample on this site and the lowest score of the five, which is what ten thousand opinions do to a rating. The boat does not land. You will not set foot on the plateau from it, and misreading that is the main way this booking disappoints people.
What the three and a half hours contain
Out of Vågen and into the Lysefjord, which runs 42 km inland and is up to 422 m deep, about 25 km east of Stavanger. The boat passes Hengjanefossen, a waterfall on the fjord wall, and Fantahålå, the Vagabond’s Cave, which is reached through a narrow cleft and is nearly invisible from open water. The name is “fant”, a vagabond, and “hålå”, a cave; it hid thieves, tax evaders and outcasts, and the local stories have fugitives dropping rocks on a pursuing sheriff. Eagles, kestrels, herons and peregrines nest in those cliffs. Then Preikestolen, from underneath.
Two mountain goats live along the route and have names, Gunnar and Sigve, and there are white-tailed eagles. They are wild animals on a timetable of their own, so nobody is selling you a sighting. What is guaranteed is the geometry: 604 metres of granite between the deck and the plateau, which is a thing the hike cannot show you because on the hike you are standing on it. How high is it puts numbers on that.
Included
- The return sailing from Strandkaien, about 3 hrs 30
- An audio guide in English and Norwegian
- Panoramic windows, a sun deck and leather seats
- Free Wi-Fi on board
Not included
- Any landing: the boat does not put you ashore under Preikestolen
- The hike, which is a separate day, or the combined tour
- Lunch
- Eagles, goats and clear weather, none of which is anyone’s to promise
What recurs in the reviews
Across 10,069 reviews the subject is mostly the boat itself. Neil’s note is a very good, clean, quiet boat; John’s is that the electric vessel was impressive and almost silent. The silence is the thing worth understanding before you book. An electric hull moving through a fjord with 400 metres of water under it changes what the trip sounds like, and a good deal of what people are rating here is that.
The second theme is proximity. Sylvia’s note is that the boat sailed very close to the landmarks and that the commentary was good, which is the specific pleasure of a narrow fjord: the walls arrive. Matthias’s note is simply that the staff were very nice. Vessel, proximity and crew carry the score.
What a 4.6 across that many reviews hides is the weather and the expectation. The Lysefjord in rain is a grey wall with a waterfall on it, and Stavanger gets around 1,310 mm of rain a year over roughly 162 rainy days, October being the wettest month. Some of those reviews are from people who got the grey day, and some are from people who wanted to get out and walk. Neither is the operator’s fault, and both are in the number.
What works
- No walking at all, which for some people is the whole reason
- Pulpit Rock from directly below, which the hike cannot give you
- 10,069 reviews: by a distance the best-evidenced booking here
- Almost silent, being fully electric
- Three and a half hours, so it fits inside a short day in port
Worth knowing
- It does not land, and you do not stand on the plateau
- 4.6 is the lowest score of the five reviewed
- Rain and low cloud make the fjord grey, and nobody can promise otherwise
- The goats and the eagles are not scheduled
- Three and a half hours seated, with no way off in between
Who it is for, and who it is not for
For: anyone with knees, lungs or a schedule that rule out four to five hours of uneven ground, and there is no shame whatsoever in that being most visitors. Families with small children, who do better on a boat than on a boulder field. Anyone in port in February, when the trail is a guided undertaking and the fjord is not. Anyone who has already walked it and wants to see what they were standing on.
Against: anyone whose reason for coming to Rogaland is to stand on Preikestolen. This boat will show it to you and take you home again, and if that is not what you wanted you will be disappointed by something the listing told you. Walk, either on your own or with one of the guided options on the bookings page, or take the day that does both.
If you are off a ship and torn between the boat and the mountain, the boat is the low-risk choice. Strandkaien is the main cruise berth and two minutes’ walk from Old Stavanger, so the cruise starts where you already are and there is no bus to miss. What it costs you is the plateau. The full comparison against a ship’s call is on the excursion page, and there is a city to fill the rest of the day with on things to do in Stavanger.
Frequently asked questions
Does the cruise take you up to Pulpit Rock?
No. It passes 604 metres below the plateau and does not land. To stand on it you walk, either on your own or with one of the guided hikes on the bookings page.
Is it suitable if I cannot hike?
Yes, and that is what it is for. No walking, panoramic windows and a sun deck. See accessibility.
Why is the rating lower than the hikes?
Because it has 10,069 reviews and they have a few hundred. A score gathered from ten thousand people is a truer figure, and almost always a lower one.