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| Starting point |
In 2012 out of curiosity for history of the city I took a curse to become a certified Stavanger Tourist Guide, in those days I had the chance to guide very little as I was working full time, and the years that followed were exactly the same. Now that I have been unemployed since July 2015 I finally got the chance to do some guiding during the cruise season. I mainly guide in Spanish for there are many native english and norwegian speakers guides that get prioritized to guide when groups are required on those languages. I have requested to guide the hike to Preikestolen for it's a guaranteed gig of eight hours and paid work to workout hiking which I like.
Despite having been up there over a dozen times, the hike never gets boring, through the years the hike has gotten much crowded due to the exposure on social media and this can be frustrating so I would recommend an off season visit or have a late afternoon hike for those who have the possibility. The first time I visited Preikestolen was 1998, a much more hard hike awaited me back then, now days the trail has been upgraded with stone steps in many of the difficult areas thus making it more accessible to people. Despite the improvements it is a tourist attraction that will require the tourist at least one and a half hour each way of their time and physical effort to enjoy the scenery over the Lysefjord or the Fjord of lights.
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| Half the way one can see the Fjord. |
My groups have been of 40-50 passengers. We work with one of the best guiding agencies in Stavanger and in close contact with the prot agent, they have informed the cruises over and over again about the demands of such journeys and still it's not very surprising to see within our groups and just less than one kilometer on the journey the people who shouldn't have been allowed to come along. We have to start sending them down to the Preikestolen Mountain Lodge to wait, which is a pity considering the amount of money they have paid to their Cruise Shore Excursion office to come on this trip. Most people are able to complete the hike, poorly dressed and with bad shoes they are determined to come and see the popular marvel of nature, as I did back in 1998 before my learning curve of proper nature attire started when I moved to Norway.
Despite all this, I find groups of positive tourists ready to embark on an adventure of a lifetime, for it feels that way when you see such things for the first time and that are so different to your own environment. After photographing themselves over and over, and the area around them, you find them sitting in their little piece of stone just contemplating the nature around them, as I reach to check on the few I can recognize from my own buss, or any other happy tourist ready to chat, their eyes shine with admiration, they smile at me and they say it was so worth the effort. I understand them so well, this is not the tourist attraction of a "been there, done that" those who say that about norwegian nature are fools, they haven't seen nothing yet, for norwegian nature attractions are more like " been there, I want to stay here" experience.
My first trip to Preikestolen in 1998 was beautiful and painful, I hated the hike, the rain, the cold (I was a flat asphalt and desert child). My then Norwegian boyfriend who later became my husband wanted me to see it, he coped with my complaining, and he was right, I needed to experience it, it is perhaps one of my favorite memories of us of that year when I travelled around the world to see things the only way I could afford it, working on a cruise ship, the year I found a love that brought me here to this beautiful land. We met in the caribbean three months earlier, he was also working in the cruise ship but only for a few weeks as an independent contractor for a swedish company. He saw me during the day when I had gone down to the crew bar to collect my crew bar salary. I was a receptionist/purser (my main job) during the day, and an amateour hobby crew bartender during the night. The crew bar was empty and I was talking to the boss when he then entered there and saw us, he smiled and introduced himself and as he held my hand to greet me he immediately took it to his nose and sniffed it, then he said "Perfect, you don't smoke".
Tips for foreigners:
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| My Preikestolen Injury 2 |
- Preikestolen is crowded in the summer, especially when cruises are in the city, most cruises start their hike at 11:00 and leave the parking area of Preikestolen Mountain Lodge by 15:30.
- The trail is well marked with with a red T on stones, indicating that you are on the right way and also with information boards as to where you are along the hike. Due to the amount of people visiting now try to keep to the right of the trail so the lines can advance. Use courtesy and common sense, everyone has the potential to fall and hurt themselves. I did three weeks ago, don't underestimate the terrain, slippery when wet applies.
- If you have transportation a late afternoon hike 17:00 is very good, there is light until late in the evening. (Parking fees of NOK 150 applies all day, there is credit card terminals to pay).
- Help the environment and take alternative and affordable transportation methods TIDE busses tickets NOK 300 round trip can be hired on the Stavanger pier to Tau (Fiskepiren) or the option of BOREAL busses and ferry will cost you around NOK 275 please read links for more information .
- A longer drive but shorter ferry (15 min) is the option Lauvik, this is a very nice scenic route
- Wear proper shoes (hiking boots are best) and layers of clothing, consider rain as the predictable weather. Norwegian summers are not really hot. Bring a snack or some food, water. Women: A small backpack works better than a personal purse, don't wear heals or cute shoes, terrain is stony, uneven, you ankles could get hurt.
- Go up beyond the pulpit rock, just before entering the area of the pulpit rock you will see an indication for the possibility of climbing higher, you will notice people already up there, takes 10 minutes more but the views are outstanding and less crowded.
Finally I encourage every tourist
to PLEASE take their trash back with them. It is a pity to see that people are trashing these places more and more. I hope that more debate will happen in regards to stricter rules on the preservation of Norwegian nature vs massive tourism, and in restriction of the use of drones. Everyone is worth the experience but not at the cost of environment deterioration and safety.
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| Lysefjord, Views from above Preikestolen Approx 4:30 AM June 2016 |
My first trip to Preikestolen in 1998 was beautiful and painful, I hated the hike, the rain, the cold (I was a flat asphalt and desert child). My then Norwegian boyfriend who later became my husband wanted me to see it, he coped with my complaining, and he was right, I needed to experience it, it is perhaps one of my favorite memories of us of that year when I travelled around the world to see things the only way I could afford it, working on a cruise ship, the year I found a love that brought me here to this beautiful land. We met in the caribbean three months earlier, he was also working in the cruise ship but only for a few weeks as an independent contractor for a swedish company. He saw me during the day when I had gone down to the crew bar to collect my crew bar salary. I was a receptionist/purser (my main job) during the day, and an amateour hobby crew bartender during the night. The crew bar was empty and I was talking to the boss when he then entered there and saw us, he smiled and introduced himself and as he held my hand to greet me he immediately took it to his nose and sniffed it, then he said "Perfect, you don't smoke". 
