Rogaland

Rogaland is a county in West Norway. Rogaland is a highly varied area from the sandy beaches and flatlands at Jæren, to the jaw-dropping cliffs of Lysefjorden, to charming lakes of Ryfylke and the barren uplands within.

Regions

Ryfylke

Towns

• 1 Bryne
• 2 Egersund Is the largest town in southern Rogaland.
• 3 Figgjo
• 4 Kleppe
• 5 Haugesund, approximately 2 hours from Stavanger and 3 hours from Bergen (in Hordaland).
• 6 Kopervik
• 7 Skudenes
• 8 Hellvik
• 9 Ogna
• 10 Sandnes
• 11 Sola
• 12 Stavanger, the largest town in Rogaland. Well known as an oil-town. Due to the oil, the town is very international. The town also has the newest university in Norway (founded in 2004).

Other destinations

• 1 Karmøy An island close to Haugesund. Karmøy means "the island that gives shelter from the open sea", known for the Vikings. It is this route that gave Norway its name ("the way to the north").
• 2 Orre

Understand

Rogaland is the county on both sides of the wide Boknafjorden, as well as the valleys, uplands and smaller fjords to the east. The county consists of several distinct parts. Stavanger is the main city and sits on the northern end of the Jæren flatlands. Stavanger together with adjacent towns Sola, Sandnes and Randaberg is the third largest urban area in Norway. Jæren is, by Norwegian standards, an unusual wide flatland and one of Norway's best agricultural districts. Jæren has wide sandy beaches (also unusual for Norway) and no the Jæren coast is not fragmented by islands and fjords. South of Jæren is the district of Dalane (literally "the Valleys"), including Egersund and hinterland.

Islands in Boknafjorden and narrow fjord branches within belongs to the Ryfylke district. This inner area is very rugged and partly fragmented fjords, lakes, gorges and valleys, Lysefjorden with Pulpit rock is particularly famous. At the same time there is relatively even upland/mountains known as Ryfylkeheiene above the deep valleys and fjords.

North of Boknafjorden is the Haugalandet district. Haugalandet is peninsula fragmented by small fjords as well as Karmøy island connected to Haugesund by bridge. Haugesund is the town of Haugalandet and Haugesund airport is on Karmøy island.

Get in

By plane

Stavanger airport (SVG ^IATA), is an international airport. Flights to Amsterdam, Bergen, Copenhagen, Kristiansand and Oslo. As well as other destinations. Haugesund airport (HAU ^IATA), has among other, scheduled flights to Oslo, Copenhagen (Summer only) and Gdansk.

By train

NSB operates trains from Oslo over Kristiansand to Stavanger. Eight hours.

By bus

Bus from Oslo to Haugesund, on Nor-Way busekpress. Nine hours. There is also bus from Bergen to Haugesund and Stavanger.

By boat

West Norway can be reached by Fjordline ferry from Hirtshals in Denmark, to Stavanger and Bergen. There are also more frequent Color lines ferries from Hirtshals to Kristiansand, from where you can travel by car or train. Hirtshals is reached by DSB train.

By car

From Oslo to Stavanger, use E18. From Oslo to Haugesund, use E134. From Germany to Stavanger, take the car ferry from Hirtshals, as described above.

Get around

By train

Local trains Stavanger-Sandnes and Stavanger-Egersund, operated by NSB.

By bus

Local buses, tickets and info by Kolumbus.

By car

At some places car ferries need to be used. They have a fee, usually of NOK 50-100. They go 1-2 times per hour and don't need booking.

See

• The Lysefjord with the Kjeragbolten.
• Pulpit rock - Preikestolen.
• Jæren- A very "non-norwegian" area. A lot of people associate Norway with mountains and fjords; you'll find a very flat area called Jæren, south of Stavanger. Most of this area is Norway's most important farming land. Places like Bryne, Nærbø and Vigrestad are places you can visit here. In Nærbø you'll also find the museum Jærmuseet, which is based on the farming history in the area.
• Dalsnuten and few peaks around. Major hiking routes start from Gramstad.
• Melshei - hills and forest hiking. The main route has a light winter/night time
• Stokkalandsvatnet - beautiful hike around lake
• Møgedalsholen - hiking area along Figgjo river
• Hommersåk - a start point for many hiking routes in the area

Eat

Rogaland specialities: Komla, smalaføtter (sheeps feet) and smalahove (sheeps head), pinnekjøtt (meat from lamb), lapskaus (a soup mostly found in Jæren).

Drink

Melkebaren

Megleren Øl & Vinstue Sandnes

Petite

Stay safe

Rogaland has a low crime rate. You should have no problems if you take the usual precautions. Main dangers are the narrow, bending roads and the sea.