Notodden

Getting Here and Around

Stavanger's Sola Airport, 14 km (11 mi) south of downtown, is served by SAS, with nonstop flights from Oslo, Bergen, and Kristiansand, and London and Aberdeen in the United Kingdom, as well as Copenhagen and Stockholm. The low-cost airline Norwegian also has flights from Oslo to Stavanger, and some European destinations. Widerøe specializes in flights within Norway, but also fly to Newcastle from Stavanger. Note, however, that flights to and from Stavanger tend to change seasonally; before planning, check with the airlines to be sure the route you're eyeing is being flown when you're hoping to travel.

The Flybussen (airport bus) leaves the airport every 20 minutes. It stops at hotels and outside the railroad station in Stavanger. It then heads back to the airport.

Nor-Way Bussekspress runs regularly between Stavanger and Oslo (10 hours), Bergen (5 hours), and Kristiansand (4 hours).

The Sørlandsbanen leaves Oslo S Station four times daily for the 8½- to 9-hour journey to Stavanger. Trains travel the 3½-hour Kristiansand-Stavanger route throughout the day (five to seven trains daily). For information on trains from Stavanger, call Stavanger Jernbanestasjon.

Driving from Bergen to Stavanger along the jagged western coastline is difficult and requires a detour of 150 km (93 mi), or many ferry crossings. When reaching the greater Stavanger area, you'll find toll booths, typically charging NKr 15, dotted around the city. The area around the Kulturhus in the Stavanger city center is closed to car traffic, and one-way traffic is the norm in the rest of the downtown area. Stavanger taxis are connected with a central dispatching office; journeys within Stavanger are charged by the meter, elsewhere strictly by distance.

Public transport within Stavanger is operated by the bus company Kolumbus. It's more than adequate for getting you to the major sites and then some. There's reason to consider not bothering with the bus, though; the center of town is pedestrians-only in places, and if you're of average fitness you could easily rely on your own two feet all day.

For guided tours, though, some of the best are via bus. Two-hour bus tours leave for Lysefjord (and the popular Preikestolen) from Vågen daily at 1 between June and August. Rødne Clipper Fjord Sightseeing offers three different tours. FjordTours operates sightseeing and charter tours by boat. Tide Flaggruten links Bergen and Stavanger in four hours (passengers only). There are no ferries between the two cities.