A guided city walk is an excellent way to explore Stavanger's many hidden treasures. In the company of the city's connoisseurs, we will prick up our ears and let ourselves be surprised by the stories that lurk in the city's streets.
Discover Old Stavanger consisting of 173 wooden houses from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This is Europe's largest collection of wooden houses and Stavanger has received several awards for the preservation of Old Stavanger. This residential area bears the stamp of residents who are proud of their houses and gardens - here most houses are decorated in summer with lovely seas of flowers and trimmed gardens - most houses are small and painted white. We pass modern Upper Holmegate - the street where all the houses are painted in bright colours. Here you will find special niche shops, cafes and art stores. Further, we pass Valbergtårnet - a former lookout tower for the city's watchmen that was built in the years 1850-1853, and Stavanger Cathedral - the only Norwegian cathedral from the Middle Ages that has retained its original architecture, and the only one that has been in continuous use since 1300 -the number. Close by stands the famous statue of Alexander Kielland - one of the great writers in Norwegian literature.
We hear useful and unhelpful anecdotes about Stavanger's stagnation and progress. From the formation of the city, through the industrial eras with herring and canning, up to today's modern oil city - this is the tour that shows the breadth of past and present.
