Is Preikestolen accessible?
Being straight about the trail
There is no adapted route, no lift, no service road to the plateau and no assisted option. The path was built for walkers: Sherpa-built stone staircases, long stretches of boulder field where every foot is placed individually, wooden boardwalks over marsh, and then bare rock along the fjord edge. It is about 8 kilometres there and back with roughly 350 to 500 metres of climbing, over 4 to 5 hours. A description of every surface in order is on the trail page.
That rules out wheelchairs entirely and it rules out a good deal else. People with knees that dislike stairs, hips that dislike uneven ground, or any condition where four to five hours on rough rock is not realistic should not be talked into it by the photographs, which are taken from drones and boats and never show what you walk on. How hard it is is the honest version.
The boat is not a consolation prize
This is the part I want to insist on. The Lysefjord cruise goes up the fjord and passes 604 metres directly below the plateau, which means you see the thing people climb to stand on, as an object, from underneath. Walkers on top do not get that view and cannot. The boat is a fully electric catamaran with panoramic windows, a sun deck, leather seats and an audio guide in English and Norwegian, it passes Hengjanefossen and the Vagabond’s Cave, and it runs about three and a half hours from Strandkaien in Stavanger. It does not land, so there is no transfer onto rough ground at any point.
Who I send to the water rather than the trail
What works
- Anyone using a wheelchair, for whom the trail is simply not an option
- Bad knees, bad hips, bad ankles, or recent surgery of any kind
- Small children and the people carrying them: going with children
- Three hours in port from a ship: the port arithmetic
- February, and anyone who would rather sit down and look at it
Worth knowing
- The boat does not land, so you cannot get onto the plateau from it
- You see the cliff from below, which is a different picture from the famous one
- Fjord weather is fjord weather, and low cloud can hide the top from the water too
- It leaves from the city, so it does not combine with a drive to the trailhead
At the trailhead itself
The car park at Preikestolen Fjellstue is a normal surfaced lot with a fee, described on the parking page, and getting to it by road takes about 45 to 60 minutes from Stavanger. Arriving at the trailhead and looking up at the mountain is not much of a day out on its own, which is why I would put the time into the boat instead if walking is off the table.
If part of the group is walking and part is not, do the boat and the hike on the same day from opposite ends: the walkers go out to the trailhead, the others take the cruise from Stavanger, and both parties look at the same cliff from the two places it can be seen from.
What there is to book
The trail is free and there is no ticket for it. What is bookable is the Lysefjord cruise, which passes under the cliff and involves no walking at all, and the guided hikes that drive you out from Stavanger. Everything is listed on the bookings page.
Frequently asked questions
Is Preikestolen wheelchair accessible?
No. The trail has stone staircases, boulder fields and boardwalks, and there is no adapted route or vehicle access to the plateau.
How can I see Pulpit Rock without hiking?
From the water. The Lysefjord cruise passes 604 metres directly below the plateau and involves no walking.
Is there any assisted way up?
No. There is no lift, no service road and no assisted option on the trail.