Stavanger
Municipality · Rogaland
About Stavanger
Old Stavanger's white wooden houses, the Norwegian Petroleum Museum and Utstein Abbey, a medieval monastery on Klosterøy by Mosterøy.
What to do and where to stay in Stavanger
Places to stay are run locally, with no hotel or campsite chain behind them.
1Gamle Stavanger (Old Stavanger)History & culture
173 white wooden houses from around 1800 on the west side of Vågen harbour, several with the flat-topped 'Stavanger arch' on the roof.
West side of Vågen harbour, around Øvre Strandgate · 30–60 min walk · all year
2Norsk Oljemuseum (Norwegian Petroleum Museum)History & culture
Harbour-front museum on Norway's oil and gas, from how it formed to life on a platform, with a 4 m rescue-net slide and a section on climate.
Kjeringholmen, Stavanger harbour · 1.5–2 h · all year
3Utstein kloster (Utstein Abbey)History & culture
Norway's best-preserved medieval monastery, built in the 1260s on what was a royal estate in the 1000s, half an hour's drive from Stavanger.
Klosterøy, bridged to Mosterøy (former Rennesøy) · 1 h · mainly summer; check dates
4Sverd i fjell (Swords in Rock)Sight
Fritz Røed's three giant bronze swords, unveiled by King Olav in 1983, mark the battle of Hafrsfjord that is said to have united Norway.
Møllebukta, Hafrsfjord, Madla · 20–30 min · all year
5IDDIS – Norsk Hermetikkmuseum (Canning Museum)Local oddity
Old sardine cannery in Old Stavanger where you can taste oak-smoked sprats on smoking days, from the time the city was a canning capital.
Øvre Strandgate 88, Old Stavanger · 45–60 min · all year
6Stavanger domkirke (Stavanger Cathedral)History & culture
Anglo-Norman cathedral traditionally dated to 1125 with a Gothic choir from after a 1272 fire, reopened after a 2015–2024 restoration.
By Breiavatnet lake, city centre · 30 min · all year
7Jernaldergården (Iron Age Farm), UllandhaugHistory & culture
Three reconstructed houses from about AD 350–550, built on the remains of a real farm, with fires on the hearths and staff in period clothes.
Madlamarkveien 152, Ullandhaug, 3 km from the centre · 1 h · Daily 2 May–end of August, 10–16; closed in winter
8RennesøyhodnetHike
Easy 5.7 km heath walk on Rennesøy to a 234 m top with views in all directions, past old peat bogs and stone-post fences from the 1920s–30s.
Rennesøy, from Vikevåg, Sel or Hegglandslia (Østhusvik) · 2–3 h (5.7 km) · all year
9Fargegaten (Øvre Holmegate)Local oddity
A street of small shops and cafés painted in bright colours to an artist's colour plan, the idea of a local hairdresser to revive it.
Øvre Holmegate, between Kirkegata and Østervåg · 15–30 min · all year
10FisketorgetFood & drink
Seafood restaurant and fish shop on the harbour where the fish soup and shrimp sandwich have been on the menu since it opened.
Strandkaien 37, Vågen harbour · 45–60 min · all year