Although I have seen quite a lot of the fjords in Norway on land tours, in April 2022 I did a cruise to the fjords. It was a beautiful time of year as there was still snow on the mountains and the sun was shining and the sky was blue most of the time. However, as expected, it was rather cold, especially when there was a wind blowing through the valleys.
The first port was Stavanger, which was new to me. Stavanger is in southwest Norway and is best known for the oil industry. It is the "gateway" to the fjords. The town seemed quite small and surrounded by water and bridges.
Normally on cruises I like to do independent tours rather than take the more expensive ship's excursions. So as soon as we landed, I hurried along the jetty to catch the tour boat to the Lysefjord and Pulpit Rock. It was a very scenic tour. On the way out we went in between various islands. We saw lots of holiday homes, salmon farms, and an old mussel farm.
This hill near Forsand resembles a sleeping elephant -
We went under the Lysefjord bridge and into Lysefjord. This suspension bridge is about 50 m above sea level and apparently won awards as it was constructed with minimal damage to the environment.
The entrance to Lysefjord. This fjord is 42 km long and 500 m deep. The name means light fjord, and is said to be derived from the lightly coloured granite rocks.
In places we were able to sail very close to the cliffs. Pulled up to Fantehala or Vagabonds Cave
At one place there were lots of ducks, I think they are the
common eider
Next was the highlight, Pulpit Rock,
Preikestolen. It looks so small from the water, 604 m high. I couldn't see anyone dangling their legs over the edge!
A waterfall near Pulpit rock
We wento the Hengjanefossen, a waterfall (400 m) -
From here we made our way back to Stavanger. After a quick lunch, I went to explore the town. Firstly I went to
Gamle Stavanger, the old quarter with some 200 white wooden houses, built in the 18th to early 19th century. The the Norwegian Canning Museum is here, but it was closed, likewise the Petroleum Museum across the water.
Part of the Maritime Museum -
Across the dock is a row of colourful buildings with more restored white buildings behind -
Valberg Tower was constructed from 1850 to 1853 and was the former observation tower of Stavanger
The cathedral was completely covered for restoration work. And as mentioned, all the museums were closed despite there being 2 cruise ships in town.
After Stavanger, our next port of call was
Olden.
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