Stavanger With Kids: Museums and Playgrounds

November 5, 2026

Stavanger works well for families on wet days because its museums are close together and children are cheap or free. The harder part is the outdoors: the famous cliffs and mountains are demanding, and the North Sea beaches are cold and exposed. All prices are in Norwegian kroner (NOK).

Norwegian Petroleum Museum and Geoparken

The Norwegian Petroleum Museum at Kjeringholmen 1a sells a family ticket for two adults and three children at 420 NOK. Children aged 4 to 16 pay 60 NOK, and under 4s are free. From 1 June to 31 August it opens daily 10:00 to 19:00, and in the rest of the year Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 16:00 and Sunday 10:00 to 18:00 (museum site ).

Beside it, Geoparken is a free playground built from pieces of oil-industry equipment by the architects Helen and Hard. It is a good place to let children run before or after the museum.

MUST museums

One adult day ticket at 170 NOK covers all open Museum Stavanger sites on the same day, and everyone under 18 is free. IDDIS, in Gamle Stavanger, covers the canning and printing industries through exhibitions and activities. The Norwegian Children’s Museum is part of Stavanger Museum on Muségata 16. The Maritime Museum on Nedre Strandgate 17 to 19 sits in the harbour warehouses. See Museum Stavanger for the full list and hours.

Jernaldergården and Sandnes

Jernaldergården, the Iron Age Farm at Ullandhaug, is a reconstructed farm run by the University of Stavanger’s Museum of Archaeology. Adults pay 100 NOK, a family ticket is 200 NOK, and children and students are free. It closes for the winter half of the year, so check the opening season at uis.no first.

Vitenfabrikken, the science centre in Sandnes, is a short train ride south of Stavanger and is run by Jærmuseet. Check Jærmuseet for prices and hours.

Outdoors with children

Preikestolen has no fence at the edge, so children must stay close and away from the drop, and the trail is about 7.6 km return with roughly 330 to 350 metres of climbing. Kjerag involves chains and steep granite and is not a family hike. A fjord cruise on the electric catamaran from Rødne lasts 3 to 3.5 hours and avoids the climbing, though it is long for small children. The Jæren beaches, Solastranden and Borestranden, face the open North Sea with strong waves, wind and cold water, so keep children out of the surf.

Stavanger has no zoo or aquarium, and there are no trams, so getting around means Kolumbus buses and boats.

Look at family activities in Stavanger for guided options.