The three best-known hikes in Norway
Preikestolen, the one you can fit in a day from a city
About 8 kilometres there and back, roughly 350 to 500 metres of climbing depending on how you count the dips, and 4 to 5 hours for an average walker including time on the top. Fit walkers do it in 3 to 4. The ground is forest path, stone staircases built in part by Nepalese Sherpa trail builders, boulder fields, boardwalk over marsh and then bare rock along the fjord edge. It is about an hour outside Stavanger, which is why it is the one that works for a short trip: getting there from Stavanger.
Kjerag, the step up
The summit is 984 metres and the hike is roughly 9.8 kilometres with about 460 metres of climbing over 6 to 8 hours. The numbers understate it, because the route has three steep climbs and no warm-up: you start going up immediately. At the top is Kjeragbolten, a boulder of about five cubic metres wedged in a crevice above a drop of some 984 metres, which you step onto with no climbing gear if you want to. The comparison with Preikestolen is on its own page.
Trolltunga, a different category
20 kilometres round trip from the upper car park, or 28 from the lower one, and 7 to 12 hours of walking. It is strenuous, it is a long way from help in the middle, and it is in Hordaland rather than Rogaland, so it is not a day trip from Stavanger. If your fitness is untested, do Preikestolen first and see how the descent treats your knees before you commit to a day three times the length.
How to pick between them
What works
- One day from a city, moderate effort, famous view: Preikestolen
- A full day, a real climb, and the boulder if you fancy it: Kjerag
- A long mountain day and an early start: Trolltunga
- No climbing skill or equipment is needed for any of the three in summer
Worth knowing
- None of them has a railing at the end of it
- All three can be in cloud, and no page can promise you otherwise
- Trolltunga and Kjerag are seasonal in practice; the shoulder months need care
- Underestimating the descent is the common mistake on all three
There is more on the rock formations themselves on the famous rocks page, and on what makes a trail feel alarming on the scariest hikes page.
If you are doing two of the three on one trip, put Preikestolen first. It is the shortest, it tells you honestly what Norwegian trail surface is like, and you would rather learn that lesson four hours from the car park than nine.
What there is to book
Not the trail. Nobody sells a ticket to Preikestolen and nobody can, so anything you pay for is something else: the ride out of Stavanger, the guide who walks it with you, or the boat that shows you the cliff from the water. Which of the three you actually need is set out on the bookings page and in the comparison.
Frequently asked questions
What are the top three hikes in Norway?
Preikestolen, Kjerag with Kjeragbolten, and Trolltunga. They get harder in that order.
Which is the easiest?
Preikestolen: about 8 km and 4 to 5 hours, with roughly 350 to 500 metres of climbing.
Can you do more than one from Stavanger?
Preikestolen and Kjerag are both in Rogaland. Trolltunga is not a day trip from here.