Geiranger Fjord and The Pulpit Rock (Preikestolen in Norwegian) are the must see places in Norway, because they are Norway's most spectacular natural tourist attractions.
I went to Geiranger Fjord, via Oslo (capital of Norway) then take a 55 minute flight from Oslo to Ålesund (a strikingly beautiful coastal town Northwest of Oslo), then use Ålesund as my base (leaving 9am and returning 7pm same day) to travel to Geiranger Fjord by public buses/boats (cars carrying ferries). This is a very scenic route that most tourists take. Below is the panoramic view of Ålesund from Fjellstua.
What is most famous about Geiranger Fjord is the myriad photos we see on postcards, travel brochures, etc showing people standing on a protruding cliff with Geiranger Fjord in the background, but then most tourists find this cliff elusive, as they cannot find it. Below is the picture showing me standing on the edge of that cliff. To get there, one needs to hike up from the village to the viewing platform (well beyond the museum) it takes half to 1 hour to climb, the cliff is hidden but is somewhere behind or below the viewing platform.
Preikestolen, also known in English as The Pulpit Rock, is a massive cliff 604 metres (1982 feet) above Lysefjord. The top of the cliff is approximately 30 by 30m (85 by 85 feet), almost flat. But to get to the top of this rock, one must hike a very rocky and challenging terrain 3.8 km (2.4 mi.) long from the parking lot of the lodge. In average, it takes 2 hours to hike up for fit people with sturdy hiking shoes, and coming down is also 2 hours hike due to the dangerous and steep terrain. One cannot sit like me (pictured below) on the edge of the rock if one takes a boat to see the rock from below through Lysefjord. In case you were horrified or concerned, the girl in the background wasn't committing suicide, she was just elated to be on top of the Rock (but there had been cases of people jumping off the cliff deliberately to end their lives).
Then you can hike further up to see the rock from high up, it takes another half an hour to hike.
To get the Pulpit Rock, one needs to fly to the city of Stavanger (from Oslo or other Scandinavian capitals or Amsterdam), then take a ferry to Tau, then by bus to Preikestolen Lodge (24km from Tau township). There is no public bus service from Oct 1 to Apr 30. The hike is not recommended in winter and spring when there is snow and ice, and the track is treacherous and slippery. Best season to hike the trail is from May to September. Sturdy shoes, warm clothing and rain gear are recommended for the hike, as it is cold even during summer and rains a lot in this region (the picture above was taken on 30 September 2012).
I went to Geiranger Fjord, via Oslo (capital of Norway) then take a 55 minute flight from Oslo to Ålesund (a strikingly beautiful coastal town Northwest of Oslo), then use Ålesund as my base (leaving 9am and returning 7pm same day) to travel to Geiranger Fjord by public buses/boats (cars carrying ferries). This is a very scenic route that most tourists take. Below is the panoramic view of Ålesund from Fjellstua.
What is most famous about Geiranger Fjord is the myriad photos we see on postcards, travel brochures, etc showing people standing on a protruding cliff with Geiranger Fjord in the background, but then most tourists find this cliff elusive, as they cannot find it. Below is the picture showing me standing on the edge of that cliff. To get there, one needs to hike up from the village to the viewing platform (well beyond the museum) it takes half to 1 hour to climb, the cliff is hidden but is somewhere behind or below the viewing platform.
Preikestolen, also known in English as The Pulpit Rock, is a massive cliff 604 metres (1982 feet) above Lysefjord. The top of the cliff is approximately 30 by 30m (85 by 85 feet), almost flat. But to get to the top of this rock, one must hike a very rocky and challenging terrain 3.8 km (2.4 mi.) long from the parking lot of the lodge. In average, it takes 2 hours to hike up for fit people with sturdy hiking shoes, and coming down is also 2 hours hike due to the dangerous and steep terrain. One cannot sit like me (pictured below) on the edge of the rock if one takes a boat to see the rock from below through Lysefjord. In case you were horrified or concerned, the girl in the background wasn't committing suicide, she was just elated to be on top of the Rock (but there had been cases of people jumping off the cliff deliberately to end their lives).
Then you can hike further up to see the rock from high up, it takes another half an hour to hike.
To get the Pulpit Rock, one needs to fly to the city of Stavanger (from Oslo or other Scandinavian capitals or Amsterdam), then take a ferry to Tau, then by bus to Preikestolen Lodge (24km from Tau township). There is no public bus service from Oct 1 to Apr 30. The hike is not recommended in winter and spring when there is snow and ice, and the track is treacherous and slippery. Best season to hike the trail is from May to September. Sturdy shoes, warm clothing and rain gear are recommended for the hike, as it is cold even during summer and rains a lot in this region (the picture above was taken on 30 September 2012).
