The six-hour hike from the cruise terminal

Six hours door to door, starting at the Stavanger Cruise Terminal. A bus out through Ryfylke, a local guide for the walk, a small group, and back to the quay. This is the shortest of the guided options and the only one designed around a ship’s day in port. It is also the best-reviewed hike on the site, which is why it carries the booking button on nearly every page here.

GetYourGuide rating4.8 out of 5

Reviews467

Duration6 hours door to door

StartsStavanger Cruise Terminal

GroupSmall group

On footAbout 8 km, 4 to 5 hours

Why six hours is the number that matters

Doing Preikestolen independently from a ship is about an hour out, four to five hours of walking, and an hour back. Call it six hours minimum against a call that typically runs eight to ten. It fits, and it fits with no margin at all, which is the whole argument for a tour that owns both ends of the day: a missed bus is a missed ship, and a bus that belongs to your tour waits for you. The arithmetic in full is on the cruise ship page.

The drive goes out on Highway 13 through the Ryfylke Tunnel, which opened at the end of 2019 and replaced the old car ferry from Stavanger to Tau. If a guidebook or a forum post tells you to catch that ferry, it is out of date, and that matters more than it sounds: people still plan their whole day around a boat that no longer runs.

What the guide actually does

Not navigation. You cannot get lost on this path in summer. What a guide does on a busy day is set a pace that the slowest person in the group can hold, and keep an eye on the descent, which is where tired people come unstuck. Two reviewers put it plainly: Susanne found the transport punctual and comfortable and the local guide friendly, and Filomena said the hike was made easier by the guide, Max, who stayed with the group the whole way. That second one is the useful review. Staying with the group is the job.

Included

Round-trip transport from the Stavanger Cruise Terminal
The drive out through the Ryfylke Tunnel and back
A local guide for the whole walk
A small group
Six hours door to door, built to a ship’s clock

Not included

Any kind of trail ticket, because no such thing exists
Boots, waterproofs and warm layers — see what to wear
Meals, unless the booking page says otherwise for your date
Hotel pickup: that is the seven-hour version
The weather, the view, or a plateau free of cloud

What works

The shortest guided option, and the one sized for a day in port
Starts at the terminal, so there is no taxi and no guesswork
4.8 across 467 reviews, by far the largest sample of any hike here
A guide who walks at the group’s pace rather than the front-runner’s
Removes the one real risk of doing it alone from a ship: the return timing

Worth knowing

Six hours is still most of your day ashore
You walk the main trail, which in July is a busy one
No pickup from your accommodation, so town-centre hotels only
Four to five hours on uneven ground is the part people underestimate

Local tip

Do not judge the walk by the first twenty minutes. The stone staircases near the start are the steepest part and they flatter nobody. The middle section over the boardwalks is where you get your rhythm back, and the last stretch along the fjord edge is almost level. People who turn round early almost always turn round too early.

4.8★★★★★467 reviews6 hrs

TerrainStone steps, boulders, boardwalk, bare rock

ClimbingRoughly 350 to 500 m, depending how you count the dips

GroupSmall, with a local guide

SeasonSnow-free months

SuitsCruise passengers and anyone on a tight clock

Book this hike

Live availability is below. Our longer write-up sits on the review page, and if you would rather be collected from your hotel, the pickup version trades an extra hour for a lie-in.

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Frequently asked questions

Where does it start?

At the Stavanger Cruise Terminal, which is also where most ships berth. The berths and the timing are set out on the cruise ship page.

Is six hours enough for Preikestolen?

It is enough and no more: an hour out, four to five walking, an hour back. The walking time itself is broken down on this page.

How hard is the hike?

Moderate, and longer than people expect. The difficulty is the uneven ground, not the height: how hard it really is.

Do I need boots?

Above-ankle waterproof boots are the standard advice here and I would not walk it in trainers after rain. See what to wear.

What happens if the weather turns?

The plateau is often in cloud and nobody can promise you a view. What the rain does to the rock is described on the rain page.