What is the prettiest place in Norway?

There is no answer to that, and anyone who gives you one is selling something. What I can do is be specific about this corner of it: the Lysefjord, 42 kilometres long and up to 422 metres deep, with a wooden stairway of 4,444 steps at one end and a cliff at the other.

Lysefjord length42 km

Lysefjord depthUp to 422 m

Distance from StavangerAbout 25 km east

Preikestolen604 m above the water

Kjerag summit984 m

Flørli stairway4,444 wooden steps

Why I will not pick one

Norway is long. The Lofoten islands, the western fjords, Finnmark in winter and the mountains inland are not competing in the same event, and the lists that rank them are written by people who need a headline. I live three kilometres from one of the most photographed cliffs in Europe and I still could not tell you whether it beats a beach in Lofoten in June. What I can tell you is what is here and what it is like, which is more use to you than a verdict.

The Lysefjord, specifically

42 kilometres of water running inland from about 25 kilometres east of Stavanger, up to 422 metres deep, with walls that go straight up from the surface. Preikestolen stands 604 metres above it on one side. Hengjanefossen falls into it. Fantahålå, the Vagabond’s Cave, opens off it through a cleft so narrow it is nearly invisible from open water, and it hid thieves, tax evaders and outcasts, with local stories of fugitives throwing rocks down at a pursuing sheriff. Eagles, kestrels, herons and peregrines nest in those cliffs.

At the far end is Flørli, where a wooden staircase of 4,444 steps climbs beside the pipeline of the old hydroelectric station, built between 1917 and 1921 and billed as the longest wooden stair in the world. Four people live there all year. It is about 2.5 hours up and 2.5 down by another path, and it is reachable by ferry from Lauvvik in about 45 minutes.

How to actually see it

From the water, which is the only way to take in a fjord as a shape rather than as a view from a height. The Lysefjord cruise runs from Stavanger on a fully electric catamaran, passes Hengjanefossen and the cave, and goes directly under Preikestolen. It does not land, so you do not get onto the plateau from it, and for a great many visitors that is exactly right: the accessibility page explains why it is the honest answer for anyone not walking.

And Rogaland beyond the fjord

Stavanger itself is a working oil city with more than 250 preserved wooden houses in it, which is a stranger combination than any brochure admits: things to do in Stavanger. Kjerag is up the same fjord, with a summit at 984 metres and a boulder wedged over the drop: Preikestolen against Kjerag.

Local tip

If you want the single most photogenic hour available here without walking for it, take the boat on a still morning and sit on the sun deck facing back down the fjord. The walls reflect, and that is the picture people think they came to Preikestolen for.

What there is to book

The trail is free and there is no ticket for it. What is bookable is the Lysefjord cruise, which passes under the cliff and involves no walking at all, and the guided hikes that drive you out from Stavanger. Everything is listed on the bookings page.

Check dates & book

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Frequently asked questions

So which is the prettiest place in Norway?

There is no single answer. Within Rogaland the Lysefjord is the one I would send people to, seen from the water.

Is the Lysefjord worth a day?

Yes, and it takes less. The cruise from Stavanger runs about three and a half hours and passes below Preikestolen.

What is at the far end of the fjord?

Flørli, with a wooden stairway of 4,444 steps beside the old hydro pipeline, reachable by ferry from Lauvvik.