|
STAVANGER is something of a survivor. While other Norwegian coastal towns have fallen foul of the precarious fortunes of fishing, Stavanger has grown into one of Norway's most dynamic economic powerhouses. Fish canning and its own merchant fleet brought initial prosperity, which shipbuilding and the oil industry have since sustained. It's a brash, breezy, international sort of place, with a sprinkling of interesting attractions and a good bar and restaurant scene, and well worth a day or so before moving on to the fjords or Oslo. The old town, Gamle Stavanger , near the international ferry terminal, is of greatest appeal, a pristinely preserved area of wooden warehouses, narrow clapboard houses and cobbled streets that were once home for seamen and merchants. There's a good museum here, the Canning Museum , Ovre Strandgate 88 (mid-June to mid-Sept daily 11am-4pm; early June & late Sept Mon-Thurs 11am-4pm; rest of year Sun 11am-4pm; 40kr), located in a reconstructed sardine-canning factory; it gives a glimpse of the industry that saved Stavanger from decay in the late nineteenth century and smokes its own sardines on the first Sunday of every month and every Tuesday and Thursday from mid-June to mid-August - and very tasty they are too. Beside the harbour, on the main square, Torget , there's a bustling daily market, while the streets around Skagen , on the jut of land forming the eastern side of the harbour, make up the town's shopping area. It's a bright mix of spidery lanes, pedestrianized streets and white-timbered houses covering the area once occupied by medieval Stavanger. At the top stands the spiky Valberg Tower , a nineteenth-century firewatch, from where there are sweeping views over the city and its industry. The only relic of medieval Stavanger is the twelfth-century Domkirke (mid-May to mid-Sept Mon-Sat 11am-6pm & Sun 1-6pm; rest of year Wed-Sat 10am-3pm, Sundays only for service at 11am; free), on the fringes of Torget, whose pointed-hat towers signal a Romanesque structure that's suffered from several poorly conceived renovations. The church overlooks Breiavatnet , a pretty little lake right in the middle of the city. The Norwegian Petroleum Museum at Kjerringholmen is also worth a visit to understand the importance of the industry for Norway's recent history (June-Aug daily 10am-7pm; rest of year Mon-Sat 10am-4pm & Sun 10am-6pm; free).
Your Tip for Stavanger
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Stavanger - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Stavanger - visit the main Stavanger forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Stavanger webguide section below! Thanks.
|
