The most expensive city in Norway? Holiday in the oil boom town of Stavanger!
Stavanger in southern Norway is the fourth largest city in the country with almost 122,000 inhabitants. It was founded in 1125, when the construction of the cathedral church began, which still stands on the shore of the small city lake Breiavatnet and is considered the most important sacred building in Norway next to the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim.
In 1633 two thirds of Stavanger burned down, including the old medieval city. In 1684 another great fire broke out, causing such devastation that it was decided to lay down the city completely. It was rebuilt in 1690, but a series of fires again ravaged the city, the worst of them in 1716, 1766, 1768, 1833 and 1860. This is why the historic old town is “only” around 300 years old.
Old Stavanger
The old town, “Gamle Stavanger” is located on a peninsula and consists of around 170 lovingly restored white wooden houses with old gas lanterns and beautifully decorated windows and doors. The oldest were built in the early 18th century and are listed monuments. The picturesque district is now a tourist attraction with small shops, galleries, pubs, restaurants and cafes.
Oil Boomtown Stavanger
Due to oil discoveries in the North Sea off Stavanger in the early 1970s, the city experienced an enormous boom. With prosperity, the commercial building floors of international and Norwegian corporations grew and soon Stavanger became the most expensive city in the country.
You can find out everything about the oil boom, the formation of oil, how it is extracted and used and how Norway has changed since the oil was discovered in the interactive Oil Museum, which opened in 1999 on the Kjeringholmen quay north of the centre. Children can move the drill themselves on a reconstructed oil rig or get “to safety” using a rescue net.
Excursions around Stavanger
The surroundings of Stavanger offer a variety of unforgettable nature experiences, all within easy reach: fjords, mountains or the open sea. An absolute must is the light green, two kilometer wide Lysefjord east of Stavanger.
With its steep mountains, including the famous Prekestolen, the rock that rises 600 meters vertically out of the Lysefjord, it is one of the most beautiful destinations in southern Norway. Anyone who dreads the tedious, three-hour walk to the platform of the rock and who is not free from giddiness can also marvel at the rock from below on board an excursion boat.
The most beautiful sandy beach in Norway
Not only is there the most majestic fjord, but also Norway’s longest sandy beach, Solastrand, which is just a few kilometers outside of Stavanger. The Sunday Times ranked it among the six most beautiful beaches in the world in its Best Holidays 2004 article. Here you can sunbathe, swim, kite fly or surf. The lighthouses on or near the coast are open to tourists, some even offering accommodation and meals.
The only canning museum in the world
In 1873, Norway’s first canning factory opened in Stavanger. The only canning museum in the world, the “Hermetikkmuseet” in the old town, tells the story of the time when Stavanger, with its fifty canning factories, was the world’s largest location for the canning industry, with a lovingly presented wealth of cans.
In the museum you can learn all about the production of canned sardines, which was Stavanger’s main industry until the Second World War. The last sardine was canned here in the 1950s and the last canning factory closed in 2002. On Tuesdays and Thursdays in the summer you can watch how sprats are smoked in the canning museum.