Kjerag tours from Stavanger

What Kjerag tours run from Stavanger?

Five tours reach Kjerag on foot: three day hikes from $214 to $244, an overnight trip with Preikestolen at $1,077 and a three-day Lysefjord hike at $1,615.

All five start in Stavanger at about 7:00. The last column tells you the most: how long you spend walking, out of a long day in a vehicle.

Two more trips sell well in Stavanger and look similar in search results: the Lysefjord RIB safari and the hybrid boat cruise. Both are good boat trips. Neither goes anywhere near Kjerag.

Which Kjerag tour should you book?

Book Lysefjorden Adventure if price and hotel pickup matter most, Fjord Hikes if you want the best-rated guide, and the overnight trip if you also want Preikestolen.

• The default pick: the Lysefjorden Adventure hike. The cheapest guided day at $214, rated 4.6 from 173 reviews, and the guide collects you from any hotel or Airbnb in Stavanger.
• The best-reviewed: the Fjord Hikes small group, 5.0 from 52 reviews. $22 more, the Øygardstøl parking fee is paid and the guide is licensed.
• The newcomer: Lysekammen's local guide day at $244. Shorter on paper (9 hours), bigger groups (up to 15), and no reviews yet.
• Both big hikes: the overnight trip does Preikestolen on day one, sleeps in Lysebotn and climbs Kjerag fresh on day two.
• A proper trek: the three-day hike adds the 4,444 wooden steps at Flørli. Cancellation here is free only up to 3 days before, not 24 hours.

Skip the boats if Kjerag is the point. And skip any guided day at all if you are not fit enough: the guide can slow down, but the climbs stay the same. How hard Kjerag really is has a home test.

What is the difference between Lysefjorden Adventure and Fjord Hikes?

Both run 11-hour days with eight hikers at most. Fjord Hikes costs $22 more, pays the parking and drives through Hunnedalen; Lysefjorden Adventure picks up anywhere in Stavanger.

On the trail the two days look alike. The differences sit in the details:

Lysefjorden Adventure reviews are mostly glowing about the guides, but not all. One 3-star guest wrote: "Basically we got a driver and a photographer." Fjord Hikes reviews praise the pace and warn about the clock: "The hike is intense and ther are less breaks as we need to return to Stavanger by 7." Neither is a stroll.

A licensed guide, the trailhead parking paid and eight hikers at most. Rated 5.0 by every reviewer so far.

★ 5.0 · 11 hours · from $236

Explore the Fjord Hikes small group → Tour details

Is the Lysekammen Kjerag tour any good?

It is too new to tell: no Viator reviews yet. It is the shortest guided day (9 hours) and the only one with groups of up to 15.

Lysekammen runs a black minibus from Stavanger and asks for strong fitness. Meals are not included, as on every day tour. The listing ages run from 3 to 80, but the age bands are a booking form, not advice: under-tens on the Kjerag chains are a hard sell for any parent.

A 9-hour day is two hours shorter than the others. With about five hours of driving, that leaves less slack on the mountain. We'd book it if the other two are full on your date, or if you like being early to a new operator.

What do Kjerag tours include, and what don't they?

Transport from Stavanger and a guide on every day tour. No lunch on any of them, and no gear.

• Included everywhere: the round trip by van or minibus, about 2.5 hours each way, and a guide on the trail.
• Parking: Fjord Hikes lists the Øygardstøl parking fee as included. The fee is about NOK 300 a day for a car.
• Food: none on the day tours. Pack lunch, snacks and at least 1.5 litres of water; you can refill at the stream in Storedalen. The Kjerag café at the trailhead is open in season, and Fjord Hikes stops there for 5 minutes.
• Meals: the overnight trip includes breakfast, lunch and dinner; the three-day trip includes two of each.
• Not included: boots, rain gear, gloves and tips. What to wear for Kjerag has the list.

Is a guided tour worth it, or should you go on your own?

Alone it costs NOK 995 by express bus (about $100) or a hire car plus NOK 300 parking. A guide costs $214 and up, and earns it on the chains and in poor weather.

The Go Fjords Kjerag Express Bus leaves Stavanger at 7:45 and comes back from the trailhead at 16:30, NOK 995 return for adults and NOK 525 for children. It runs June to September only, on weekends in June and September and on Tuesdays, Thursdays and weekends in July and August. Miss the 16:30 and you are stuck at the top of a mountain road.

The trail is T-marked and well walked in July. If you hike a lot, you won't need a guide on a dry summer day. Pay for one if you are new to steep rock, nervous about heights, travelling outside the bus season, or the forecast is mixed. One guest put it plainly: "I wouldn't recommend doing it without a guide". Another couple wrote that without the guide's help, "my wife would not have made the trip." Full options in Kjerag without a car.

Do Lysefjord cruises or RIB safaris go to Kjerag?

No. The sightseeing boats from Stavanger turn at the Hengjanefossen waterfall, roughly halfway up the fjord. Kjerag sits at the far inner end, and the boulder can't be seen from the water.

The Rødne fjord cruise, the RIB safaris and the hybrid boat all follow the same route: past Fantahålå, below Preikestolen, to Hengjanefossen and back. The only boats that sail on to Lysebotn below Kjerag are the summer car ferry and the year-round Kolumbus boats from Lauvvik, which take about 2.5 hours. From the deck you see Kjerag's north wall. Not the boulder.

A boat makes a good rest day after the hike. The RIB safari is two fast hours with warm suits included.

Not Kjerag, but a great rest day: two hours below Pulpit Rock to the Hengjanefossen waterfall, warm suits included.

★ 4.9 · 2 hours · from $150

Explore the Lysefjord RIB safari → Tour details

When should you book a Kjerag tour?

Book two to four weeks ahead for July and August. Every day tour cancels free up to 24 hours before, so booking early costs nothing.

Groups are capped at eight on most tours, so a popular Saturday fills fast. Guided days run from late May, when the Lysevegen road opens, into October; the 2026 Lysefjorden Adventure calendar still showed dates in mid-October. Tours run in most weather. If the guide calls it off for storm or snow, you get a new date or a refund. One guest had the evening-before version: "The company cancelled our hike the evening before. Rebooked for the day after." Leave a spare day in your Stavanger plans.

Season dates for next year are in the 2027 season post, and the full cost of each route in Kjerag parking and costs.

Frequently asked questions