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Old May 30, 2015, 3:45 pm
  #6  
SuperDudley
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 333
Originally Posted by ianmanka
Just wanted to share my experience going from Oslo to Stavanger and onward in one day --

My friend and I took the 10:25 PM night train from Oslo to Stavanger, arriving around 7 AM the next morning. We opted to upgrade to a sleeper compartment. Oddly, this train has a "playground" car, which has a padded room and plastic tunnels, like a mini McDonald's PlayPlace without a ball pit. I woke up early the next morning to find a man propped inside, so you could buy a regular ticket if you'd like to take that approach.

Sleeper keycards are picked up from the conductor in the Cafe Car.

Arriving in Stavanger Central station, there's a money exchange place (FOREX BANK) which doesn't open until later (I think 9 AM). We picked up snacks at the Kiwi supermarket (opens at 7 AM), left out of the train station and up the hill to the left. We also picked up ready-made sandwiches from the 7-Eleven attached to the bus depot (make a right coming out of the train station).

You can walk down to the ferry depot in about 10 minutes time, not too many hills, so even with all the stops, you can still make the first ferry at 8 AM if the train is on time. The ferry terminal is nicely appointed, and has luggage storage lockers: 60 NOK for the largest one, big enough to hold 2 carry-on suitcases + 1-2 backpacks, 50 NOK for a slightly smaller one -- 1 carry-on + small backpack. The terminal also has pay toilets (10 NOK, coins only). There was a guide from the ferry/bus company (marketed as Tide Reiser) selling roundtrip all-inclusive tickets for 250 NOK per person (cash and card accepted) outside the terminal at a folding table. These included roundtrip ferry tickets and roundtrip bus tickets. We opted to buy them individually throughout, as we heard there were multiple bus companies and wanted to keep our options open, should we want to depart at a time when a company wasn't running.

The company that manages the terminal is different than the Tau ferry, so they cannot sell tickets to you at the window. You purchase the tickets on-board from a roving salesperson who checks tickets (if purchased in advance as part of the package) or sells them to you outright. 49 NOK pp each way to Tau (cash and card accepted), about a 20-30 minute journey. For seats, walk to the opposite end of the boat from where you boarded for the best views, as there are nice picture windows there with comfortable seating.

Upon arrival in Tau, only the Tide Reiser branded bus was waiting (at the ferry we took, there were supposed to be two competing companies waiting). Fare was 85 NOK per person each way, or a slight price break if purchasing round trip (I want to say 160 NOK pp). I had read elsewhere that the bus was cash only, but it seems as if they have transitioned to card only.

Arriving at the parking lot/lodge about 20-30 minutes later, there is the main lodge with restrooms, a gift shop which opens at 10 AM (it didn't open at that time when we were there), plus a few other buildings we didn't explore.

The trail took us about two hours to hike. It might have been faster had it not been raining, making the rocks slippery. The weather was cloudy at the top, so we waited about an hour (eating our lunch) for it to clear. The wind blew some of the clouds away, so we got some time to take photos at the top. Overall, we spent about 2-3 hours at the top. The hill trail was still covered in snow, not to mention the rain from earlier running down the trail.

The way down also took about two hours. We boarded the next bus at the parking lot (again, the Tide Reiser company). The driver said "they prefer card," so maybe they are supposed to accept cash as well, but strongly discourage passengers from doing so.

The bus arrived with 10 minutes to spare before the next ferry, and we arrived in Stavanger at around 5 PM. We had an SK flight SVG-CPH at 9:20 PM. We wandered about the city, stopped for a truly excellent kebab at Sofra Kebab House before boarding the bus to the airport (110 NOK pp, cash and card accepted), a short 30 minute ride. This small airport with big international aspirations (in the midst of a large renovation project) took a minute to clear security, and the flight departed about 20 minutes early because all passengers were at the gate.

To belatedly answer the OP's questions in a roundabout way, Oslo-Stavanger-another city is definitely doable in a day, as long as you are efficient in your travels. Looking forward to going back on a clear day!

Thank you this is great information. I'm still working on my Norway itinerary.
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