R. Doug Wicker — Author

Stavanger, Norway

On August 25, 2017, Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas docked in Stavanger, Norway. Stavanger is located on the aptly named Stavanger Peninsula, and the Stavanger metropolitan area is the third most populace in Norway.

Stavanger City Bridge

Unfortunately, the sky was a dismal gray when we first disembarked,  but as you’ll see next week, the clouds eventually broke up to allow sunlight to stream through blue skies onto the city. Until then, we’ll just look as a dismal morning view of Stavanger.

MS Sandnes

Our morning in Stavanger was limited, as we were due to take a boat tour of the nearby Lysefjord, which you’ll see on Wednesday and next Monday.

Stavanger, Norway

If Stavanger so far appears a more modern city than others we’ve already covered in both this transatlantic and the preceding Baltic series, there’s a reason for that. While many of the city center buildings may date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, the city experienced explosive growth in the late 20th century. The impetus for this was the North Sea oil boom. there’s even a museum dedicated to this, the Norwegian Petroleum Museum:

Stavanger, Norway

Below is a photograph of the Stavanger City Bridge, which connects the old city center to the island of Grasholmen:

Stavanger City Bridge and Grasholmen

On Grasholmen you’ll find this rather impressive collection of private boats at the marina:

Grasholmen marina

Below is an interesting building. This is the old Stavanger Tollboden, which translates to ‘customs house’:

Stavanger Tollboden (the old customs house)

Next to the old customs house is the Victoria Hotel:

Stavanger Victoria Hotel

On Wednesday, and continuing through next Monday, we’ll take a boat tour of Lysefjord. Until then, I’ll leave you with one more image of Stavanger’s old city center:

Stavanger, Norway