Offbeat Landmarks: Exploring Around Stavanger

This book is not a guide book. These already exist, and there seems little reason to add another book describing the most popular local sites to the pile. Instead, it's a collection of curiosities and oddities. It visits places that tourists don't often see, or looks at familiar sites with a new slant. Stavanger is a town rich in history, and traces of events long past are here for us to see today. There is so much here in Stavanger that this little collection is not even close to being a comprehensive history or geography of the region: those may be found in the local library.

The chapters in the book describe things that I noticed. A different person would have noticed different things, and written a different book entirely. That is really the point of the book: I hope that in finding out about some of my favorite places and stories, readers will be inspired to explore for themselves.

There are suggestions for excursions within each section. I have tried to avoid paid-for attractions as these tend to be well advertised and easier to find, although several of the local museums are included. It is my hope that these will act as a starting point for many more excursions, leaving the best question of all: what will you discover?