Preikestolen, Kjerag or Trolltunga 2026: Which Hike First

Booking choice: The two-day Preikestolen and Kjerag trip, 2 days. Book this Tour details

Preikestolen, Kjerag and Trolltunga are the hikes that fill Norwegian travel feeds. Two of them share a fjord: Preikestolen near the mouth of the Lysefjord, Kjerag near its inner end above Lysebotn. Trolltunga is in Hardanger, much further north.

They are very different days out. Here are the numbers side by side, what each hike is like, how to get there, and the order we would do them in.

The quick answer

Preikestolen is the easiest: about 8 km and 4 hours, 40 minutes from Stavanger. Kjerag is demanding, about 10 km and 5 to 6 hours with chains, and only reachable in summer. Trolltunga is 20 to 27 km and 7 to 12 hours, about 4 hours' drive from Stavanger. Do Preikestolen first.

How do Preikestolen, Kjerag and Trolltunga differ?

By length and effort: Preikestolen is a half day, Kjerag a full and steep day, Trolltunga a very long one.

Figures below are from official sources: Visit Norway and Fjord Norway for Preikestolen, Fjord Norway for Kjerag, and Visit Norway for Trolltunga. Sources disagree on Kjerag's summit height, which is given as 1,084 m and as 1,132 m.

	Preikestolen	Kjerag	Trolltunga
The drop	604 m above the fjord	Boulder above a 984 m drop	About 700 m above the lake
Round trip	About 8 km	About 10 km	20 km from P3, 27 km from P2
Time	About 4 hours	5-6 hours	7-10 hours from P3, 8-12 from P2
Climb	About 500 m in total	570 m height difference	Long, steady climb
Grade	Medium	Demanding, with chains	Long and demanding
Hike alone	May-October	Summer, while the road is open	June-September, experienced hikers
From Stavanger	About 40 minutes by car	Summer express bus	About 4 hours by car

Which is the easiest of the three hikes?

Preikestolen, by a wide margin.

Visit Norway calls Preikestolen by far the easiest of the three. It is shorter than Kjerag, has no chains, and follows a built path with stone steps. Fit adults with no mountain experience manage it in summer.

It is also the most crowded. Go Fjords puts Kjerag at about 65,000 to 70,000 hikers a year, against roughly 300,000 for Preikestolen.

Stone steps on a mountain trail — Preikestolen's built stone steps make it the gentlest of the three.

What is the Kjerag hike like?

Steep and exposed: three hard climbs on bare granite, with chains to hold in several places, ending at the Kjeragbolten boulder.

The hike starts at Øygardstøl, high above Lysebotn. Fjord Norway gives about 10 km round trip, 5 to 6 hours and 570 m of height difference, with chains in several places. Go Fjords allows 6 to 8 hours.

Kjeragbolten is a boulder wedged in a crevice above a 984 m drop to the Lysefjord. Stepping onto it is optional, and plenty of hikers just watch. The plateau itself, with the Nesatindane ridges, is worth the climb without it.

How do you get to Kjerag from Stavanger?

In summer only, by express bus to Øygardstøl, by car via Sirdal, or by ferry to Lysebotn.

The road from Sirdal down to Lysebotn opened in 1984 and is closed in winter, from October to May or June, according to Fjord Norway. From Lysebotn, the Lysevegen road climbs 27 hairpin bends to the trailhead.

Go Fjords runs a summer express bus from the Stavanger bus terminal to Øygardstøl, giving about six hours at the trailhead. It is a long day: Kjerag needs a whole one, where Preikestolen leaves you the afternoon.

Both Lysefjord icons with a guide: Preikestolen on day one, a night in Lysebotn, Kjerag on day two.

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What is the Trolltunga hike like?

A very long mountain day: 20 to 27 km and 7 to 12 hours to a rock tongue 1,180 m above sea level.

Trolltunga is near Odda in Hardanger. Visit Norway gives 27 km and 8 to 12 hours from P2 Skjeggedal, or 20 km and 7 to 10 hours from P3 Mågelitopp, reached by shuttle. From June to September experienced hikers can go alone; from October to May it is guided only.

From Stavanger it is about four hours by car, according to Trolltunga.com. That rules out a day trip. Sleep in Odda or Tyssedal and start early.

Small lake among granite slabs in the mountains — Long stretches of high, open plateau are part of the Trolltunga day.

Which should you do first?

Preikestolen. It is the shortest, the closest to Stavanger, and a fair test of how you handle Norwegian granite and weather.

If Preikestolen leaves you tired, Kjerag will hurt and Trolltunga is a stretch. If you finish it with energy to spare, Kjerag is the natural next step: same fjord, much bigger drop.

Keep a spare day for weather on any of them. Do not hike if strong wind, heavy rain or fog is forecast, and on Kjerag and Trolltunga, a forecast change can mean a long walk back in bad conditions.

Can you combine Preikestolen and Kjerag?

Yes, on two days: on your own from Stavanger, or as a guided trip with a night in Lysebotn.

The two-day Preikestolen and Kjerag trip listing states a guided Preikestolen hike on a quiet trail, a 2-hour cruise along the Lysefjord, dinner and a night in Lysebotn, then the 27 hairpin bends to Kjerag and a guided 5-hour hike before the drive back. Groups stop at 8.

Doing it yourself, Go Fjords says to allow at least two days in Stavanger. Preikestolen on the morning bus, Kjerag the next day on the express bus, both while the Lysebotn road is open.

Two days, two Lysefjord cliffs and a night at the fjord's end, with the driving done for you.

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How many days do you need for all three?

At least four, plus a spare day for weather.

Stavanger works as the base for Preikestolen and Kjerag; Odda or Tyssedal for Trolltunga, about four hours north. That is one day for each hike, one for the move, and one in reserve.

Squeezing all three into three days is possible on paper and miserable in practice. One wet day and the plan collapses. If time is short, do Preikestolen and Kjerag and save Trolltunga for a trip to Hardanger.