Scandinavia with Kids: Stavanger, Norway

July 02, 2019

Scandinavia with Kids: Stavanger, Norway

Stavanger is the one place I wish we'd spent more time. There are some epic hikes in this area and we might have been able to do one if the weather had cooperated. But maybe it's better we save something for a potential trip when the kids are older and we wouldn't have to wear them both on our backs for a 6 hour hike.

**One tip for long car trips abroad: Most countries have local attractions marked by roadway signs. In Europe I've noticed they're often brown. You can search for attractions along the way of your planned road trip to find somewhere to have lunch or spend an hour or two to run off some energy. Here is a link to Norway's tourist attraction map. I usually take the spots I'm interested in and star them on my Google map ahead of time for ease on the road.

Day 9: Drive to Stavanger, Swerd I Fell

From Bergen, it was ~5 hours for the 200km trip driving + 2 ferry rides. It was actually quite nice to have the ferry rides to break up a travel day.

We stopped for lunch just before a big bridge and Andrew and E found a small path that lead to some big rocks with a good view for our lunch.

Had to pull over to take this photo on our drive. The terrain was very different than it was in Bergen.

We got to Stavanger about 30 minutes before we'd planned to meet my friend from my first term of university and his family, so we made a detour to a Swerd I Fell for a photo op and to stretch our legs.

My friend's family lives two minutes from a small inlet and the kids were able to play at nearby playgrounds and in the water before dinner. I could definitely get used to this type of life! Stavanger (and this neighbourhood in particular) was definitely built with young families in mind.

Day 10: Beach Day

Even though the weather prediction was cold and rainy we decided to head to Borestranda public beach. It was fun seeing our two kids interacting with our friends' two kids with only minimal ability to communicate with one another (Yes, No, Come). They had a lot of fun together!

Day 11: Drive to Oslo
After what felt like an awesome but short visit (to us) with our friends, we found ourselves driving a very scenic and mountainous route (with a one-lane road for both directions at times) to Oslo.

Stopped for lunch at a Silversmith tourist stop that wasn't yet open for the summer. But it had picnic tables overlooking a river with some neat buildings with wood carvings.