Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(
51 86 87 88;
www.tidereiser.no
; adult/senior & student/child Nkr360/280/250;
departures
noon late May-late Aug, noon Sat Sep-late May)
ROUND TRIPS TO KJERAGBOLTEN
From mid-May to late August Tide Reiser also runs 13½-hour bus-boat-hike return trips to
Kjeragbolten (Nkr490), which can otherwise be difficult to reach. It includes a five-hour
return hike.
Preikestolen
The sight of people perched without fear on the edge of this extraordinary granite rock
formation is one of Norway's emblematic images. Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock), with aston-
ishingly uniform cliffs on three sides plunging 604m to the fjord below, is a freak of
nature, which, despite the alarming crack where it joins the mountains, is likely to be
around for a few more centuries. Looking down can be daunting, but you won't regret the
magical view directly up Lysefjord. It's quite simply a remarkable place, a vantage point
unrivalled anywhere in the world.
As with many of Norway's natural attractions, there are no fences or barriers of any
kind. While the rock receives over 200,000 visitors a year, there has only been one acci-
dental fatality, in 2013. That said, do take all due care even if other people seemingly
don't. For those with vertigo, even watching other people dangling limbs over the abyss
can make the heart skip a beat. Rocky trails lead up the mountains behind, offering more
wonderful views.
The two-hour, 3.8km trail up to Preikestolen leaves from Preikestolhytta Vandrerhjem.
It begins along a steep but well-marked route, then climbs past a series of alternating steep
and boggy sections to the final climb across granite slabs and along some windy and ex-
posed cliffs to Preikestolen itself. The steepest sections are at the beginning and in the
middle parts of the trail and can be challenging for the unfit.
The area also offers several other fabulous walks - the
Vatnerindane ridge circuit
(two
hours),
Ulvaskog
(three hours), the
Refsvatnet circuit
(three hours), the summit of
Mosli-
fjellet
(three hours) and even a two-day hike all the way to
Lysebotn
- all of which are ac-
cessible from the Preikestolhytta car park. For more information on possible routes and
