Preikestolen

Preikestolen is a mountain formed like a huge pulpit towering over the Lysefjord in Rogaland, Fjord Norway. There is a crack between the plateau of Pulpit Rock and the mountain, and it is said that on the day seven sisters marry seven brothers from the Lysefjord area, the plateau will tear itself away from the mountain and fall into the fjord, creating a huge wave that will destroy all life in the surrounding area. You've been warned. There is a well prepared track from Preikestolen Mountain Lodge to the top of the 604-metre-high mountain plateau. Expect to spend four-five hours hiking from the lodge to the top and back down, and allow an hour or two to spend on the plateau. 

The tourism at the site has been increasing, around 2012, the plateau was each year visited by between 150,000 and 200,000 people who took the 3.8 km (2.4 mi.) hike to Preikestolen, making it one of the most visited natural tourist attractions in Norway. In fact, there were so many tourists during the summer season of 2012 that a project to improve the path up to the cliff is currently under way.

The old local name of the natural attraction is Hyvlatonnå (English: Planned Tooth). The name Prekestolen (without i) is a newer invention, around the year 1900 the lokal tourist organisation, Stavanger Turistforening wanted to promote the place for trekking and thus gave the place a more telling name. It has later on been adapted by the local community, and since the official form of Norwegian in the area is Nynorsk, the ihas been added, hence the official name is now Preikestolen.

In early April 2013, a project started to improve the path up to Preikestolen as the old one is so small that it often causes "delays", and at some points on the path its sometimes impossible to get through. The new path is expected to be completed during the Autumn of 2013 or early 2014.

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Lofoten

Lofoten is the archipelago to the west in the ocean, north of the Arctic Circle. The principal islands are Austvågøy, Gimsøy, Vestvågøy, Flakstadøy, Moskenesøy, Værøy and Røst. The southernmost part of Norway's largest island, Hinnøy, is also in Lofoten.

The total land area amounts to 1,227 square kilometres. The road distance is almost 170 kilometres from Fiskebøl near Vesterålen in the north to Å in the south, where the E10 ends. This road is a national tourist route. From Lofotodden, at the south end of Moskenesøy, the air distance is more than 60 kilometres to Skomvær, the southernmost point in Lofoten.

The first people came to Lofoten about 6,000 years ago. Lofoten's Stone Age inhabitants survived on fishing and hunting in an area which provided good living. All of Lofoten was covered by large pine and birch woods at that time. There were deer, bear, wild reindeer, lynx and beaver, and the sea was full of fish, seals and whales.

Agriculture developed early, and grain was harvested in Lofoten as early as 4,000 years ago. The Viking Era saw the emergence of several large chieftain seats. Tofts from a Viking chieftain seat have been found at Borg on Vestvågøy Island, containing the largest Viking banquet hall ever found in any country. The building was 8.5 metres wide and as much as 83 metres long. A reconstruction of the building has been raised, and the Lofotr Viking Museum at Borg opened in June 1995.

The Lofoten Fisheries gained importance early. King Øystein considered these fisheries to be of such significance that he, as early as 1103, built a church in Vågan, which at that time was the base of the Lofoten Fisheries.

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