Getting around Stavanger

Public transport

Stavanger and its environs are covered by an extensive bus, car ferry and Hurtigbåt passenger ferry network that is coordinated by Kolumbus (tel: 177, in Norway only; www.kolumbus.no).

There are frequent Hurtigbåt fast passenger boats to the islands of Byøyene, Usken and Hommersåk close to Stavanger. There’s also a ferry service to Vassøy, departing every hour from early morning until late in the evening. These boats leave from the Fiskepiren terminal in Stavanger.

Various kinds of travel cards and passes are available from Kolumbus. Short-term passes allow travel for one, three, seven or 14 days. You can load these onto a Kolumbus Card smartcard.

Taxis

There are many taxi ranks throughout Stavanger, but the two busiest are at the train and bus stations. Recommended taxi companies include Stavanger Taxi (tel: +47 5190 9090), Norges Taxi (tel: 08000, in Norway only) and Rogaland Taxi (tel: +47 5190 9000). Tipping is not expected, though most passengers round the fare up.

Driving

Driving round Stavanger is easy enough, though parts of the downtown core are pedestrianised. On-street parking is difficult, but not impossible, and there are several central car parks, including one behind the bus station and another beside the main harbour, Vågen. An electronic toll charge is levied on all vehicles entering the city via car number plates.

Car hire

Several car hire companies operate in Stavanger, including Avis (tel: +47 5171 8950; www.avis.com), Hertz (tel: +47 5165 1096; www.hertz.com) and Europcar (tel: +47 5153 8200; www.europcar.com).

Bicycle hire

Stavanger's tourist office, Domkirkplassen 3 (tel: +47 5185 9200; www.regionstavanger.com) has a small number of bikes for hire. Otherwise, in neighbouring Sandnes, you can rent bikes from Spinn, a cycle shop at Vågsgata 7 (tel: +47 5167 5310). The terrain in and around Stavanger is reasonably flat and easy to negotiate by bike.