How to Get to Preikestolen from Stavanger: Bus, Car or Boat
The hike to Preikestolen starts at Preikestolen Parking, next to Preikestolen BaseCamp and the mountain lodge, on the far side of the water from Stavanger. By road it is about a 40-minute drive from Stavanger and a 10-minute drive from Jørpeland, through the Ryfylke tunnel under the fjord. You no longer need a ferry, and every route ends at the same car park, where the walk to the plateau begins.
In the main season most people without a car take one of two express buses from central Stavanger, run by Go Fjords and by Pulpit Rock Tours, which take about an hour. Out of season the direct buses stop, and the usual answer is a local bus to Jørpeland and a short taxi ride. You can also arrive by boat as part of a Lysefjord cruise-and-hike, or let a guide handle the whole day. This guide sets out each option, what it costs as published by the operators, and the details that catch people out.
Where the hike actually starts
All the routes in this guide finish in the same place, so it helps to know what is there.
- Preikestolen Parking (P1) is the main car park and the bus stop. When it is full, drivers are directed to a second car park at Moslimyrå (P2).
- Preikestolen BaseCamp sits beside it. It rents clothing and equipment, has a café and restaurant, and offers several kinds of accommodation, including the mountain lodge that opened in 2008 and the older tourist cabin.
- Toilets are only at the parking area. There are none along the trail, and no rubbish bins either.
The car park and the trail are looked after by the Preikestolen Foundation, a non-profit set up by local municipalities and landowners. The parking area is staffed all year, and the staff are the people to ask about trail conditions on the day.
The options at a glance
| Way in | Leaves from | Time to the trailhead | When it runs | Price as published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Go Fjords express bus | Radisson Blu Atlantic, Olav V’s gate 3 | About 1 hour | April to October | NOK 550 adult return |
| Pulpit Rock Tours bus | Stavanger bus terminal, Jørpeland, Forsand | About 50 minutes | March to early November | From NOK 498 |
| Your own car | Stavanger, via road 13 | About 40 minutes from Stavanger | All year | Parking NOK 275, plus tunnel tolls |
| Cruise-and-hike (Rødne) | Strandkaien, Stavanger | Boat to Forsand, then bus | May to October | NOK 1415 adult |
| Local bus and taxi | Stavanger city centre | Bus no. 100, then about 10 minutes by taxi | The low-season fallback | Fares vary |
| Guided hike with pickup | Your hotel or the cruise port | Included | All year | Varies by operator |
Prices and timetables are as published by the operators and the regional tourism board when this guide was written, in October 2026. They change from season to season, so check before you go.
By express bus from Stavanger
Two companies run direct buses from central Stavanger to Preikestolen Parking. Both go through the Ryfylke tunnel, both drop you at the start of the trail, and both leave you to hike on your own: these are transfers, not guided tours.
Go Fjords Preikestolen Express Bus
The Go Fjords bus leaves from Olav V’s gate 3, the meeting point outside the Radisson Blu Atlantic Hotel in the centre of Stavanger. The operator gives the journey as about 1 hour and lists its season as April to October; the regional tourism board’s listing says April to September, so treat October as a shoulder month and check the booking calendar.
The timetable follows the season. Preikestolen365, the trail managers’ site, sums it up like this:
- April, May and September: two morning departures, at weekends.
- June: two morning departures.
- July and August: four daily departures. In the busiest summer weeks they leave at 08:00, 09:00, 10:00 and 11:00, with matching afternoon returns.
A typical day on the 09:00 bus looks like this: you reach the trailhead at 10:00, the return bus leaves at 15:00, and you are back in Stavanger at 16:00. The tourism board’s listing puts it simply: with the express bus you have five hours to complete the hike, which is enough for most people, breaks included.
Fjord Norway’s listing gives the round-trip price as NOK 550 for adults and NOK 275 for children aged 0 to 17. Tickets are sold online only — not on board — and the time slots are fixed: the operator does not guarantee a seat on a different departure from the one on your ticket. The buses are fully electric, and in high summer the popular departures often sell out weeks ahead.
Pulpit Rock Tours
Pulpit Rock Tours is the bus service listed under Boreal Travel AS. It departs from Stavanger, Jørpeland and Forsand, and its stops include the Radisson Blu Atlantic on Olav V’s gate and Stavanger bus terminal (stand 2), as well as Jørpelandsvågen and Forsand quay. The ride from Stavanger takes about 50 minutes. Fjord Norway lists prices from NOK 498.
Its season is longer and its timetable denser than the Go Fjords one. For 2026, Preikestolen365 lists:
- March and April: two morning departures.
- 1 May to 19 June, and 14 September to 4 October: six daily departures.
- 20 June to 13 September: nine daily departures.
- 10 October to 1 November: two morning departures, at weekends.
The operator’s own estimate for the walk from BaseCamp to the plateau and back is 3–5 hours, so plan your return bus with that range in mind rather than the fastest figure you have read.
Rules that apply to both buses
- Buy online, in advance. Neither company sells tickets on the bus.
- Come back with the company you went with. Tickets are not transferable between operators, so a Go Fjords ticket will not get you onto a Pulpit Rock Tours bus home, or the other way round.
- The bus does not come with a guide. It stops at Preikestolen Parking and you hike the trail on your own.
Driving: road 13 and the Ryfast tunnel
Driving is the most flexible option and the easiest way to start at dawn or late in the evening. The car park is about 40 minutes from Stavanger and 10 minutes from Jørpeland by road; Preikestolen BaseCamp gives the trip from Stavanger as 30–40 minutes.
The route is straightforward. Follow road 13 through the Ryfylke tunnel. When you come out at Solbakk, continue towards Jørpeland and Preikestolen on road 523. Three kilometres past Jørpeland, follow the signs and take the exit to Preikestolen Parking.
From other directions:
- From Forsand, cross the Lysefjord bridge, turn right and follow the signs towards Jørpeland and Preikestolen for nine kilometres.
- From Tau, follow road 523 to Jørpeland and Preikestolen.
- From Bergen, Preikestolen365’s directions send you, like drivers from Sandnes and Kristiansand, along road 13 and through the Ryfylke tunnel.
The tunnel itself
The Ryfylke tunnel is part of the Ryfast road project, and it is worth knowing what you are driving through. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration describes it as the world’s longest and deepest undersea road tunnel: 14.3 km long, going down to 292 metres below sea level. It opened on 30 December 2019.
Ryfast is financed partly by tolls, so expect a charge on the way through. Toll rates change; check the toll operator’s current prices before you drive.
Parking at Preikestolen
The car park is run by the Preikestolen Foundation, and the fees fund the car park, the toilets and the upkeep of the trail. As published by the foundation:
| Vehicle or stay | Fee |
|---|---|
| Car, more than 2 hours | NOK 275 |
| Motorcycle | NOK 100 |
| Bus | NOK 1,200 |
| Any stay of less than 2 hours | NOK 40 |
| Less than 15 minutes | Free |
You pay after your hike, at the machine before you leave, by card or electronic payment. Overnight guests at Preikestolen BaseCamp park free. Electric car charging is available.
A few rules matter more than the price:
- The car park is open 24 hours a day, all year. You can arrive in the dark for a sunrise hike.
- You may not sleep in your vehicle. Camping is not allowed at the car park either; Preikestolen Camping is a few kilometres away.
- It fills up. The two car parks hold up to 1,000 cars and 20 tour buses, and the busiest period is 8 am to 4 pm, especially at weekends and in June, July and August. If both are full you may be sent to an overflow waiting zone, or asked to turn around and wait a few hours. The foundation’s suggestion is to use the time to look around Jørpeland.
If you are driving in summer, the simplest way to avoid the queue is to avoid the peak: arrive early in the morning or come for an afternoon start, which the long Norwegian summer evenings make possible.
What happened to the ferry to Tau?
You may still read advice to take the ferry from Stavanger to Tau and a bus from there. That route belongs to the years before the tunnel.
Before Ryfast, the two ferry links between Ryfylke and the Stavanger area were Stavanger–Tau and Lauvvik–Oanes. Ryfast was planned as a ferry-replacement project, and the road authority notes that it made it possible, for the first time, to travel between Ryfylke and Stavanger without a ferry. The buses to Preikestolen now go through the tunnel instead.
There is still a boat to Tau. Kolumbus runs a passenger-only express boat from Stavanger that calls at Tau; it does not take cars. It runs all year, but the tourism board’s advice is to read the timetable carefully. From Tau, road 523 leads on to Jørpeland and Preikestolen, so you would still need a taxi for the last stretch. For almost everyone, a direct bus or a car is simpler.
Out of season: bus no. 100 and a taxi
The direct buses do not run in the low season. Preikestolen BaseCamp’s advice for that period is:
- take bus no. 100 from Stavanger city centre to Jørpelandsvågen;
- then take a taxi from Jørpeland to BaseCamp, about 10 minutes.
Preikestolen365 says the same thing in fewer words: in winter, public transport is limited and a taxi is the recommended option. The tourism board also suggests a regular Kolumbus bus to Jørpeland and a taxi from there.
The bus-and-taxi route gets you to the trailhead, but winter is the season when the trail itself is the harder part. BaseCamp counts the winter season as October to April, when the path is often covered in ice and snow, and the tourism board recommends going with a guide in winter. Our guide to the Preikestolen hike explains what that involves.
By boat: the Lysefjord cruise-and-hike
The most scenic way in is not by road at all. Rødne Fjord Cruise sells a combined day that sails up the Lysefjord past the foot of Preikestolen and then takes you to the trailhead by bus.
From May to September the boat leaves Strandkaien in Stavanger at 10:00 and reaches Forsand quay at about 12:30. A bus run by Rødne’s partner, Boreal/Pulpit Rock Tours, takes you on to Preikestolen BaseCamp. The hike there and back takes about 4 hours, and the return bus leaves BaseCamp at 18:15, taking about 45 minutes to Stavanger. In high season there are several return buses. In October the boat leaves at 11:00 and the return bus at 19:15.
The price as published by Rødne is NOK 1415 for adults and NOK 970 for children aged 4 to 15, free under 4. The hike is self-guided and the whole day lasts 8–9 hours. Dogs are not allowed on this tour. Our guide to the Lysefjord cruise and Preikestolen covers the cruise itself and the winter version with a guide.
With a guide, or from a cruise ship
Guided hikes with pickup
If you would rather not deal with timetables at all, guided hikes collect you in Stavanger. A private guided hike listed by the tourism board offers hotel and cruise port pickup and normally lasts 6–8 hours including transport from Stavanger, with no previous hiking experience required. In winter, guided groups leave early: one guided winter hike picks up at 7:00–7:15 am for a drive of about 40 minutes to the trailhead.
The tours page lists the guided and transfer options you can book.
From a cruise ship
Stavanger is a compact port, and Preikestolen is a realistic shore excursion. Go Fjords points out that the cruise terminal is within walking distance of its departure point, that most cruise ships stay in port for 8–10 hours, and that the express-bus excursion takes about 6 hours in total.
The practical rules for cruise passengers are:
- Book the bus as soon as you know your port day. Morning departures are the ones that fit a ship’s schedule, and they sell out first.
- Pick a departure with a margin. On the 09:00 bus you are back in Stavanger at 16:00.
- Do not plan on a taxi as your fallback on a busy cruise day; with several ships in port, transport of every kind is under pressure.
Coming from Bergen
Bergen is a gateway to the fjords, but it is not a day-trip base for Preikestolen. The coastal express bus, Kystbussen (line NW 400), runs city centre to city centre between Bergen and Stavanger, with two ferry crossings included in the fare and travel time. Its express departures take around 4 hours and 20 minutes; regular departures via Haugesund take 5 hours and 25 minutes.
Add the transfer to the trailhead and a hike of around four hours, and the sensible plan is to spend at least one night in Stavanger or at BaseCamp, then take the bus or drive from there.
Planning the day around the hike
Whichever way you travel, a few timings shape the day:
- The hike takes about 4 hours there and back for most visitors, by the trail managers’ estimate. Allow more if you are slow on steep ground or want a long stop on top.
- The trail is busiest between 08:00 and 11:00. To beat the morning crowd you need to start well before 07:00, which in practice means a car. In June, July and August a late-afternoon start is the quieter alternative.
- From September to March the days are short. Start early and plan to be back at the car park before dark.
- The weather at the top is not the weather in Stavanger. There is often a chilly breeze on the plateau even in summer, and you cannot refill a water bottle on the trail.
If you are travelling by bus, the return time decides the shape of the day. Book a departure that leaves you comfortable margin rather than the earliest return, and check the timetable for your date before you go.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to get from Stavanger to Preikestolen?
About 40 minutes by car, through the Ryfylke tunnel. The express buses take about 50 minutes (Pulpit Rock Tours) to about 1 hour (Go Fjords) from central Stavanger to Preikestolen Parking.
Is there a bus to Preikestolen in winter?
Not a direct one. The express buses run in the main season only. In the low season, Preikestolen BaseCamp suggests bus no. 100 from Stavanger to Jørpelandsvågen and a taxi of about 10 minutes from Jørpeland.
How much does parking at Preikestolen cost?
As published by the Preikestolen Foundation: NOK 275 for a car staying more than 2 hours, NOK 100 for a motorcycle and NOK 1,200 for a bus. You pay at the machine after your hike.
Can I take the ferry from Stavanger to Tau?
The car ferry was replaced by the Ryfast tunnels. Kolumbus still runs a passenger-only express boat that calls at Tau, but you would need a taxi from there; the direct buses or a car are simpler.
Do I need to book the bus in advance?
Yes. Neither bus company sells tickets on board, and you must return with the same company. In July and August, book early.
Can I do Preikestolen from a cruise ship?
Usually, yes. Most ships stay in Stavanger for 8–10 hours, and the express-bus excursion takes about 6 hours. Book a morning departure in advance; the tours page lists the options.