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The Lysefjord

The Lysefjord is the southernmost of the biggest fjords in Norway. The 40-kilometre-long fjord is flanked by steep mountains, some more than 1,000 meters.
Written by
The Fjord Tours team
2 min readUpdated: Oct 29, 2026
Panoramic view of Lysefjord at sunset with Preikestolen cliff towering above deep blue water.
The Lysefjord is not only long and narrow, it is in places as deep as the mountains are high! Only 13 metres (43 feet) deep where it meets the sea near Stavanger, the Lysefjord drops to a depth of over 400 metres (1,300 feet) below the famous Pulpit Rock.
The two most well-known sights in the Lysefjord are the Pulpit Rock (Preikestolen) and Mount Kjerag. The Pulpit Rock is located in Forsand municipality and towers 604 metres on the northern side of the Lysefjord.
Mount Kjerag is located on the southern side of the Lysefjord in Rogaland. On the western part of the plateau there is a 5 m³ boulder, wedged in a crevice 1,000 metres above the fjord.

Facts about The Lysefjord:

  • The Lysefjord is approx. 40 kilometres in length
  • It is up to 422 metres deep, but shallows to only 13 metres near Oanes and Forsand. The Lysefjord is thus a typical sill fjord in which the sill itself was created by the ice approx. 10,000 years ago
  • The Pulpit Rock and Mount Kjerag are the most well-known sights in the Lysefjord
  • It is the southernmost of the biggest fjords in Norway and surrounded by high mountains

Discover the famous Norwegian fjords

Norway has an incredible number of fjords. Get to know some of our favorite fjords here!
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Panoramic view of Lysefjord at sunset with Preikestolen cliff towering above deep blue water.
The Lysefjord
The Lysefjord is the southernmost of the biggest fjords in Norway. The 40-kilometre-long fjord is flanked by steep mountains, some more than 1,000 meters.
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The Romsdalsfjord
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