Stavanger is a town that has been rich twice. First it was sardines, when canneries lined the harbour in the nineteenth century and the smell of smoke hung over the waterfront. Then in 1969 the Ekofisk oil field was found in the North Sea, and the sleepy fishing and canning port became the oil capital of Norway. Today around 120,000 people live in the city itself and it feels cosmopolitan, with offices, restaurants and a sizeable international community.
The old town is the part you will remember. Gamle Stavanger is a tight cluster of white-painted wooden houses from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with cobbled lanes, flower boxes and little gardens, and it is among the best-preserved wooden-house districts in Northern Europe. Nearby the cathedral dates back to around 1125, a solid stone building with a Romanesque nave that tells you the town is much older than the oil. The Norwegian Petroleum Museum, built in glass and steel on the waterfront, tells the other story in a surprisingly engaging way.
For a rider, Stavanger is a wet, windy, beautiful corner of the country. The weather comes in off the North Sea and rain is common, so a good waterproof is not a luxury. The surrounding landscape is gentle, with the low coastal plain of Jæren, long beaches and farmland to the south, and steep fjord country to the north and east. The Ryfast tunnels, opened in 2019, include one of the longest undersea road tunnels in the world, which cuts the trip to the fjord country, and you pay a toll for it. Tunnels here are well lit but long, so check your fuel, your visor and your gloves before you enter.
Fuel and services are plentiful, with stations in and around the city, and Sandnes next door adds more. Parking a bike in the centre is simple in designated bays, but the old town streets are narrow and best explored on foot.
The best months are late May to September, though be ready for changeable skies at any time. Start early, as the trip from here to Bergen and back, which this ride covers, is a very long day, and the ferry crossings along the way add time.