After the Second World War the centre of Stavanger was due to be razed and rebuilt in concrete, a plan opposed by the city architect Einar Hedén.

So you can thank him for the preservation of Old Stavanger, a neighbourhood of more than 200 wooden buildings on little cobblestone lanes on the west side of the Vågen bay.

Most are sweet whitewashed weatherboard cottages, and many have restaurants and boutiques on their ground floors.

The area chosen for preservation used to be run down and a little sketchy but is now a desirable, upmarket neighborhood and a joy to explore on foot.

Lysefjord

Stavanger is the most convenient city if you want to experience the wonders of Lysefjord, lying an hour to the east.

Words don’t really do justice to the epic landscapes at Lysefjord, but on a boat trip you’ll have a front row view of majestic walls of rock, waterfalls and idyllic little islands.

The Stavanger-based Rødne Fjord Cruise company schedules tours all year round, and a typical trip will take between three hours and half a day.

One sight that will make an indelible impression is the Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock), a cliff-top 604 metres over the water.

It’s easier to climb than it looks and involves a bus ride and then a flight of stairs.

Needless to say the views from up here mind-blowing.

Stavanger Cathedral

In the Storhaug borough not far from the harbour is the oldest and best preserved cathedral in Norway.

It was first raised in the Romanesque style in thefirst half of the 12th century and then given an ornate Gothic chancel in the 13th century after a fire in 1272. Even now, it’s not hard to tell the understated nave apart from the theatrical choir.

Something you can’t help but notice inside is the lavish Baroque pulpit, which was carved by the Scottish craftsman Andrew Lawrenceson Smith in 1658. In the choir keep your eyes peeled for the soapstone baptismal font, carved with foliate patterns and multifoil arches at the end of the 13th century.

In the nave there’s also a group of original Romanesque capitals sculpted with animal motifs.

Stavanger Petroleum Museum

Approaching from the North Sea you could mistake the Petroleum Museum and its shiny metallic cylinders for an oil platform.

This is no accident, as the museum chronicles more than 50 years of Norwegian drilling in the North Sea.

Up-to-date and smartly designed, the exhibition has drilling equipment, submersibles, robots, a scale replica of an oil platform, and interactive displays to give a sense of life on board.

You can also find out about the technological leaps since the 1960s, and get to know the sophisticated underwater systems and state-of-the-art ships that will sustain the industry into the future.

Sverd i fjell (Swords in Rock)

On a peninsula poking into the Hafrsfjord in the Madla neighbourhood is a solemn monument recording a great naval battle.

After the Battle of Hafrsfjord, fought some time at the end of the 9th century the Viking chief Harald Fairhair was able to proclaim himself the first King of Norway, uniting a number of petty kingdoms under one ruler for the first time.

At 10 metres high, the monument is three bronze swords plunged into the rock and was designed by the sculptor Fritz Røed and unveiled by King Olav V in 1983. The largest of the swords represents Harald Fairhair, while the two smaller ones symbolise the vanquished pretenders.

The monument also represents peace as the swords are stuck in the rock and can’t be removed.

Øvre Holmegate

Up to 2005 this street on the east side of the Vågen was rather nondescript.

But as part of the “Kul Kultur” project Øvre Holmegate was totally revitalised after the local hairdresser Tom Kjørsvik proposed a way to transform it.

First it was closed off to road traffic, and then, using a colour scheme devised by the artist Craig Flanagan, the houses were painted in eye-popping colours.

They are shades of green, turquoise and pink, and on the back of the revival exciting businesses like trendy bars, cafes and boutiques have moved in.

Stavanger Maritime Museum

Up to 2005 this street on the east side of the Vågen was rather nondescript.

But as part of the “Kul Kultur” project Øvre Holmegate was totally revitalised after the local hairdresser Tom Kjørsvik proposed a way to transform it.

First it was closed off to road traffic, and then, using a colour scheme devised by the artist Craig Flanagan, the houses were painted in eye-popping colours.

They are shades of green, turquoise and pink, and on the back of the revival exciting businesses like trendy bars, cafes and boutiques have moved in.

Breidablikk Museum

Also managed by the Stavanger Museum AS is an elegant villa built in the Eiganes neighbourhood in the early 1880s.

It was commissioned by the rich merchant and ship owner Lars Berentsen, and prominent architect Henrik Nissen made the plans.

Breidablikk is designed like a Swiss chalet with exaggerated eaves, and has neo-Romanesque and Gothic influences.

A team of artists like painter and decorated Louis Anton Jacobsen worked on the interiors, which have a superlative standard of workmanship and illustrates the lofty lifestyle of Stavanger’s bourgeois in this period.

Nearly all of the decoration and furnishings are from the 1800s, while the layout of the surrounding English garden hasn’t changed.

Next to the house is a barn from 1852, containing agricultural tools and horse-drawn carriages from the period

Sola Beach

Stavanger can get temperatures above 20°C in July and August, and on clear, sunny days you could pack off for the beach at Sola.

Found 15 kilometres from the southeast of the city, this 2.3-kilometre arc of fine sand is also just a kilometre or two from the airport.

And while sunshine might not be guaranteed, one thing you can bank on is wind and so Sola Beach is a hit with kitesurfers and windsurfers.

On a walk you’ll stumble upon a German Second World War bunker at the southern end of the beach.

And also just in from the dunes on the south side is the Solastranden Golfklubb, an 18-hole links-style course, posing a challenge for its unpredictable breezes.

Skagenkaien

When summer arrives the street lining the east side of the Vågen is cleared of road traffic and becomes a lively pedestrian street with lots of outdoor seating and stalls for festivals.

Skagenkaien could well be the most vibrant nightlife street in the city, home to restaurants and bars in handsome wooden houses, mostly from the 19th century and punctuated by hotels.

One of the finest can be found at no.

16 and dates to 1770, with the Skjøna Skagen restaurant on its ground floor.