Fjords has it all
mock drill platform, complete with emergency chute.
We also visit The Norwegian Canning Museum and take a guided tour of what life was like before the oil, when Stavanger’s main industry was canning. “If it swam in the sea or grew on trees, we canned it,” our English guide Piers informs us.
While Stavanger’s quirky attractions make for a fun day out, most tourists know the city as a gateway to the fjords and despite black clouds, we are keen to get out onto the water with a cruise up to the famous Pulpit Rock, Norway’s most photographed monument.
Heavy mist sits on top of the Lysefjord’s mountainous cliffs, but the place is still stunning. We speed past craggy islands dotted with red-roofed houses, churning up the strikingly blue waters of the fjord. As we approach the famous Pulpit, a sheer jut of granite towering 604m above the fjord, we see... nothing. Hidden above the clouds, we’re just going to have to climb it instead.
Tours of the Lysefjord leave from Stavanger several times a day and you can opt for just the cruise (£37 each) or the cruise and the hike, which as a round trip, takes six hours and costs £70. Tickets can easily be bought on the day either at the quay, or on board.
“The weather is trolsk,” says our guide, “it means the trolls are nearby.” As we head up into the mist, it’s easy to see why legends around here are plentiful.
After two hours, we finally get our glimpse of the rock. It’s a gigantic structure, reaching out into the abyss, like an altar to the Norse gods. It’s said to be one of the greatest viewing platforms on earth.
Sadly, there’s no view right now, but who needs one? It’s still breathtaking. As people precariously dangle their legs over the edge, perhaps it’s good we can’t see to the bottom.
The epic climb to the top of the rock leaves us feeling rather adventurous, so what better way to recharge the adrenalin than a sea safari on a power rib?
Fjord Events offers a range of raft excursions (£70 each for two hours) where you can look out for whales, seals and birds of prey, all while bouncing over the waves at up to 60mph. We head to Flor and Fjaere, also known as the palm island – a unique oasis in the North Sea. As we disembark onto the small jetty, we’re immediately greeted with an explosion of colour.
Some 50,000 annuals are planted by hand every year to stun visitors and the scent of all these flowers permeates the island.
Our guide and co-owner of the island, Siri, takes us on a tour of the gardens – a passion project started by her father-in-law and expanded by her husband into a 20-acre site with beaches, waterfalls and a Japanese carp pond.
You could easily lose yourself in the beauty here, but our captain, Havard Gundersen, is calling us back to the rib. At well over 6ft tall and sporting a gigantic ginger beard, his infectious grin has us all excitedly clambering aboard.
I realise how fun it is here, Stavanger has so much more to offer visitors than just its oil.