Preikestolen or Kjerag?

Preikestolen if you have one day and moderate legs, Kjerag if you want a real mountain day and the boulder. Kjerag is the harder walk by a clear margin, and the thing waiting at the end of it asks you to make a decision Preikestolen never does.

Preikestolen distanceAbout 8 km round trip

Preikestolen time4 to 5 hours

Preikestolen climbRoughly 350–500 m

Kjerag distanceAbout 9.8 km

Kjerag time6 to 8 hours

Kjerag climbAbout 460 m, three steep pitches

The walks

Preikestolen is about 8 kilometres there and back with roughly 350 to 500 metres of climbing, and 4 to 5 hours is honest for an average walker including time on the plateau. The path is built: stone staircases, boardwalk over the marsh, and long stretches of boulder field where you place every foot. It is about an hour from Stavanger.

Kjerag is roughly 9.8 kilometres with about 460 metres of climbing over 6 to 8 hours. Those numbers look close to Preikestolen’s and the experience is not: the route goes up in three distinct steep climbs with no gentle start, so you are working from the car park. The summit is 984 metres.

What is at the top

At Preikestolen, a flat plateau of roughly 25 by 25 metres, 604 metres above the Lysefjord, with no railing. You walk onto it and you are there. At Kjerag, Kjeragbolten: a boulder of about five cubic metres wedged in a crevice over a drop of some 984 metres, which you step onto, without gear, if you decide to. Most people photograph it and a good number choose not to stand on it, which is entirely reasonable.

Choosing

What works

Preikestolen for a single day from Stavanger or a ship in port
Preikestolen if anyone in the party is unsure about distance or knees
Kjerag if you have done a full day on rough ground before and enjoyed it
Kjerag if the boulder is specifically what you came to Norway for

Worth knowing

Kjerag is a longer season risk: the road and the walk are seasonal in practice
Kjerag has serious BASE jumping accidents most years, though not among walkers
Preikestolen is much busier in July and August: the crowds page
Neither has a railing, and neither can promise you a view

If you only get one

Preikestolen, and not because it is better. Because it is an hour from the city, because the transport exists, and because 4 to 5 hours fits inside an ordinary day where 6 to 8 does not always. The practical side is on getting out from Stavanger and how long it takes. If you have two clear days and good weather in both, do both, Preikestolen first, and see how your legs feel on the second morning.

The wider set is on the top hikes page and the famous rocks page.

Local tip

Do Preikestolen first even if Kjerag is the one you want. It is the cheaper lesson in what Norwegian trail surface does to unfamiliar ankles, and the descent will tell you honestly whether the longer day is a good idea.

What there is to book

Not the trail. Nobody sells a ticket to Preikestolen and nobody can, so anything you pay for is something else: the ride out of Stavanger, the guide who walks it with you, or the boat that shows you the cliff from the water. Which of the three you actually need is set out on the bookings page and in the comparison.

Check dates & book

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Frequently asked questions

Which is harder, Preikestolen or Kjerag?

Kjerag. Roughly 9.8 km and 6 to 8 hours with three steep climbs and no warm-up, against about 8 km and 4 to 5 hours.

Can you do both in one trip?

Yes, both are in Rogaland. Do Preikestolen first and judge the second day by how the descent went.

Do you have to stand on Kjeragbolten?

No. Plenty of people walk up, look at it and decline. Nothing about the hike requires it.