Southern Norway
I personally checked the water area many times and described in detail by our instructor and columnist Alexey Romanov
The Buknafjord region, in my opinion, is one of the best for cruising in Norway in moderate conditions. Of course, the off-season can be a bit harsh, but most months of the year this is the perfect place. Especially if your boat is heated. Then it is possible in February — tested in person. Let's go through the main points that I recommend visiting.
Stavanger is one of the oldest cities in Norway, which several times became a major center of the region and fell into disrepair. Right now, this is the era of a major center, based on the status of the kingdom's oil capital. For this reason, the Oil Museum has been built here, which, it seems, can be docked at. But we don't dock at the museum, but directly at Stavanger's central square because we can.
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Of course, walking (walking!) you'll go to the famous “To Swords in Stone” — a 1983 monument dedicated to the Battle of Havrsfjord (c. 872 AD), where Harald Horfagre defeated other kings, creating a turning point in the history of Norwegian unification. Thanks to Harald and sculptor Fritz Red — photos with the Swords in the background are easily liked by anyone else on Instagram. There is a bus there and back for the faint of heart.
Stavanger is not only cultural, but also one of Norway's party centers. Waterfront parties can easily last until 6 a.m., so set up for Zen in advance or join the party. However, if you threaten to rebel, the captain will drive the yacht to the next door, quieter marina.
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Lysefjord — Rogaland Gate, topped by a grand bridge. I personally have never seen anything more beautiful than a fjord aboard a sailing yacht. Wait a minute though... Tomorrow... No, no, let's not get ahead of ourselves. You'll walk along the vertical walls of the fjord and see the famous Preikestolen Rock (“Preacher's Pulpit”) from the water. Contrary to popular belief, this is far from being a dominant feature of the terrain — all the mountains and walls in the fjord are huge. Sometimes it feels like you're in a room so huge that no one but giants could create it.You can get so close to the waterfalls here that the stream will flow directly onto the deck — the fjord walls go vertically into the depths, and you can literally go into large crevices on a yacht, I did it all.
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Visiting Lysefjord, Victor Hugo wrote the book “Sea Workers”, in which he described it in some detail. And in general, there is a large article about him on Wiki — read it.
Lysefjord has three parking lots. With amenities — marina Lusefur It is located right at the entrance to the fjord, being an excellent base for raiding inland by water and starting hiking in the mountains. You can get up lag at two berths outside the marina, or wherever they recommend. Right on one pier, there is a cafe and shop, as well as a large galvanized aquarium, where fishermen release their most intricate catch in the morning. Aquarium inhabitants can be incredibly strange.
You can ask the shop/cafe/pier owner to call a minibus to the Preikestolen trail, and the driver himself can be asked to shoot his phone and call him to go back. That's crap money for the whole team. The host is cool, so don't forget to pay honestly for the shower and laundry — he keeps them in excellent condition, and baking in the morning with coffee on the dock overlooking the fjord is the best thing that can happen in the morning at a pier overlooking the fjord.
Parking lot Fljorli — It is not known why you could stand here, but people are different. It's actually an old sawmill and power station converted into a hipster campsite. It even has a pub and the longest wooden staircase in the world (4,444 steps). There are only no people who would use this, so they should call in advance to be open about anything. In addition, the depths at the pier here are designed for inflatable mattresses, so only one side with an experienced skipper can log in, and the other one, with a more sensitive skipper, can log to him.
Parking lot Lysebotn — an adequate marina at the very end of the fjord. At sunset and in the morning when the weather is clear, the view of the fjord makes you want to cry, and especially impressionable people can crap with happiness. For this reason, the locals were so busy that in 2019 there were no toilets here yet, there was electricity in the marina, then there was no electricity, and it was completely unknown where and who turned it on. Plus, only base jumpers live here, so it's no use talking to them at all — they're not with us anymore. However, it was also unclear where to carry the money, so they did not carry it anywhere. Over the years, the situation may have changed in both directions. By the way, it feels good here from the ferry pier.
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Entering the marina requires close attention to the depth — there are pebbles closer to the shore wall. In the marina itself, you need to carefully choose a place. I used to stand at the end of the central pontoon because it's closest to the entrance and is 41 feet long enough for a yacht. The rest of the ankle boots are designed for shorter motorboats. You can also stand in front of the marina at the old ferry dock. If you don't need a new one, you'll wake up to a Norwegian mat.
Shtetl Wickevaug on Rennesøy Island, it is considered quite modern and even fashionable, of course, in Norwegian categories. Let's just say that there is a cafe and a barber shop right on the pier, and there is a nightclub within walking distance. But most of the photos from the scene show forest, cliffs, and water.
I'm brazenly getting up here to the pizzeria. If seats are occupied, look nearby — the marina is large by Norwegian standards. Here we make a short trekking trip to the top of a local mountain that covers Vikevag from the easterly winds. There we will find the Scandinavian Iron Age sanctuary, which served as a place of rituals and burials.
Locals say that fishing is great in the archipelago of nearby islands, so if you're into this type of meditation, fishing rods, jars and marine life await you. I haven't tried it myself, so I can't confirm it. If you have a lot of time, I recommend skipping this parking lot and using it only as a jump-start if you don't want to go any further and need to spend the night somewhere.
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City Skudeneshavn it is famous for being built up mainly with classic Scandinavian houses, having the appearance of a traditional fishing village since Norway's independence, only a hundred times more. This is Microcirculation. You only need to get up here in Old Skudeneshavn (marked here). But if you make it to the Boat Festival, you'll have to get up wherever they put it — everything is packed. But the festival is also carbon monoxide. In addition to the fact that Skudeneshavn is beautiful in itself and its harbour is full of wonderful places for photographing and meditating, there is a very unusual and tragic attraction within an hour's walk from the city.
Fort Sureneset It was built by the German army in 1943 to control the sea routes around Haugesun and Stavanger, and to enter the Karmsun Strait. His guns hit 21 kilometers both at sea and deep into the mainland and archipelagoes. Today, the fort is in excellent condition, except for the traces of World War II shelling. All rooms are accessible to visitors, and given the fort's strategic purpose, the command center offers beautiful views of the North Sea. Take your thermoses and sandwiches with you and go to the toilet before the walk — it's surprisingly small at the fort, so let's leave it that way.
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Island Bucchioya — reconstruction of a Viking village on the site of an ancient settlement. Nearby, on Carmjoy Island, lies Avaldsness, the land of the first Norwegian kings. Up the path, you'll find one of the oldest stone Gothic cathedrals — St. Olaf's Cathedral (13th century, his mother) and the underground museum of local excavations, which discover more medieval buildings every year. The cathedral has a classy, sociable young priest.
You can approach Bucchioya from the south or from the north. From the north, the parking lot is more closed, but reconstruction boats sometimes stand there and the pier may be a little short. From the south, two boats will lag on both sides for what to do — tested.
The northernmost point of the route may or may not be if you are not striving for Scandinavian urbanism Haugesund — the historical capital of the region. Here, at the end of the 9th century, Norway was first united into a kingdom under the auspices of King Harald Horfagre, as evidenced by historical monuments, including Harald's own grave. Haugesun is an ancient but very modern and cozy city that connected its life with the sea and started its urban career as a herring fishing center. By the way, Marilyn Monroe's dad was born here, and in honor of this, the beautifully lit Haugesun waterfront is decorated with a small sculpture by a movie star.
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You can dock at the Scandic Maritime Hotel for money, with access to the hotel's showers, toilets and saunas, or a little further north across the bridge, on a free waterfront with no amenities, but also in the city.
A couple of tips
You can shop in a big store; contrary to the stereotype, it is not expensive and even cheaper than in the Mediterranean. Just remember: Norwegians love stocks. Buy products at promotions, these are price tags in different colors. And check with employees for promotions! promotions! promotions! The cheapest products at the lowest prices at a Norwegian chain store are like good products at Russia's Perekrestok. Don't be afraid to take department store brands and cheap sausages — they're very, very normal.
Norwegian price tags always show the price per package and the cost per weight; you can always compare the weight costs of different manufacturers and choose the most profitable one! Norwegian Shotkaker meatballs or any Meatball Form Factor! It's delicious, it lasts a long time and is worth the crap, especially at a promotion. It should be eaten with mashed potatoes and cranberry/cranberry jam.
Brown soft cheese in briquettes — you want to eat kilotons until they drag you away. Vegetables in Arab stores are neither better nor cheaper than vegetables in chain stores. Booze is sold only in special stores, only on weekdays and only at certain times. You'd better just forget it. Norwegian shawarma is crap in most kebabs, but pastries in bakeries can be divine. I'll show you one in Haugesund, near Scandic.
Cigarettes cost as much as if you smoke an iPhone. Take it with you.
Norwegian words and phrases:
- gu dag (good afternoon)
- gu morn (good morning)
- gu quell (good evening)
- so (thanks)
- tusen takk/tuck, skal duu ha (thank you very much)
- hi (hello)
- Haluu (hello)
- ha de (for now)
- ha de bra (all the best)
- Vyashegu (pajalsta! in response to thanks)
- värsogu — if you want to pass for a Bergen resident in Haugesund, they love it
- ya (yes) nay (no)
- yay snokker ikke noshk (I don't speak Norwegian)
- yay snokker engelsk (I speak English)
- I am a snokker Russian (I speak Russian)
- I am a fostor ikke (I don't understand)
- faan in helvete! (this is a fierce mat! it can only be used as a last resort when fasting and prayer no longer help)