Hit the high spots if you dare

TENTATIVELY, I wriggle on my tummy towards the edge of the rock, legs firmly clamped to the stone ledge, and peer over. Below there’s a 600-metre sheer drop into the clear blue water of the fjord – a view that may not be for the faint-hearted, but is worth the two-hour steep hike my legs are complaining about.

I’m on the top of Pulpit Rock, otherwise known as Preikestolen, above Lysefjord in western Norway and one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Stavanger area.

To reach Preikestolen, visitors first need to take a short ferry ride from Stavanger, to Tau, and then jump on a bus to the youth hostel that marks the start of the well-signed hiking route.

The walk up to Pulpit Rock isn’t easy and was made far more difficult by torrential rain on the day I visited. But it’s worth the price of tomorrow’s aching calves to see the tremendous sight of the plateau jutting above the water.

I discovered the tale of six Spanish tourists being blown off the top to be an urban myth. In fact this dramatic precipice has an unblemished accident record.

I’m braver than some – others in the group stood with their backs glued to the wall, as far from the edge as possible. But I was not taking any chances and gazed with a mixture of horror and admiration at the those who sat gaily with their legs dangling over the drop.

From the top of Preikestolen it’s a lengthy hike, slipping and sliding down the trails in the pouring rain, back to the youth hostel where our group was rewarded with well-earned hot drinks and waffles.

For those whose last experience of a youth hostel was on a school trip years ago – perhaps involving dingy dormitories with the smell of musty walking boots and rotting waterproofs, the accommodation at Preikestolen will be a very welcome surprise.

The Preikestolen Mountain Lodge won the annual building award from the Norwegian government in 2009 and it’s very easy to see why. It’s a modern, environmentally-friendly two-storey lodge made from natural materials and with eco-friendly features. It’s an architect’s dream and a cosy place to relax after a day in the mountains.

All 27 en-suite rooms are simply designed, with natural slate floors to the showers and fixtures and fittings made from reclaimed wood. No televisions, kettles or radios, but there is a restaurant serving up traditional Norwegian food and breathtaking views of the Lysefjord – which looks especially beautiful by night under a clear, starry sky.

Stavanger and its surroundings will appeal to those who like to combine outdoor activities with the comforts of city life and it’s an hour’s flight from Newcastle so handy for Yorkshire holidaymakers.

Stavanger is Norway’s fourth-largest city but has the feel of a quiet harbour village and none of the grimy and frenetic atmosphere of an urban centre. It boomed following with the 1969 discovery of oil in the North Sea when it became the on-shore centre for the oil industry.

Narrow, winding streets and pretty squares are set around a picturesque harbour where tourists will spot an Antony Gormley sculpture similar to those on the beach at Crosby on Merseyside.

One clear sign of the oil link is the petroleum museum, a fun and ultra-modern, hands-on interactive experience for families, where children can pretend to be divers carrying out complex tasks under the ocean, or helicopter pilots landing on an oil rig.

One side of the harbour is home to a clutch of upmarket bars, where tourists getting to grips with their krone will gasp at the drink prices and decide that just one glass of wine is more than enough.

Taxes on alcohol have always been high and today a bottle of beer costs upwards of £8. It means that there’s none of the stag party culture seen in many other pretty European cities. The bars are instead the haunt of the well-heeled, who will savour one drink rather than knock back six.

On the other side of the harbour is Stavanger’s old town, a maze of picture-perfect painted cottages dwarfed by the huge liners that pull into the harbour behind them.

In and among the cobbled passageways of the old town is one of the city’s quirkiest attractions – the curiously beguiling sardine canning museum.

Visitors can learn about Stavanger’s herring-based history on tours run by the enthusiastic Yorkshire-born museum director Piers Crocker, getting the chance to see the old smoking ovens or try speedily packing tiny rubber sardines into real-sized tins.

For a meal out with a difference, a short boat ride from the city harbour takes diners to “Flor & Fjære” – a picture-perfect landscape thought to be the most northerly palm island in the world, where guests can walk in the lush gardens before enjoying a slap-up dinner.

Flor & Fjære came into existence after Åsmund and Else Marie Bryn bought a farmstead in 1965, on a windswept island in the North Sea, and built themselves a small cottage. Åsmund Bryn moved to the island due to poor health but, as his condition improved, he planted pine trees as windbreak for the property and started designing a small garden.

The family opened the garden and restaurant in 1995 and now two boat trips a day are organised, leaving Stavanger at noon for lunch and 5pm for dinner.

Stavanger and its surroundings offer a great challenge to hikers keen to explore the dramatic Norwegian landscape.

It’s also worth a hop across the North Sea for a peaceful city break with a difference, where top-class bars and restaurants meet old-world charm in a largely undiscovered area.

Getting there

Jeni Harvey travelled to Stavanger with Norwegian airline, Widerøe, which flies four times weekly from Newcastle, with return fares from £62 each way, including taxes and charges. www.wideroe.no

She was a guest of Stavanger Region and stayed at Pulpit Rock lodge. www.turistforeningen.no/preikestolenfjellstueww.turistforeningen.no/preikestolenfjellstue and the Comfort Hotel Square www.comfortinn.com/hotel-stavanger-norway-NO114