Hugging the southern shore of the Gandafjord, Sandnes is a lively city south of Norway’s oil capital, Stavanger. It’s home to one of the country’s top science museums and a bear-themed amusement park and offers easy access to the picturesque lakes and windswept beaches of the North Sea.
Things to do in Sandnes
Sandnes was the birthplace of the 19th-century mathematician Niels Henrik Abel, with his pioneering achievements celebrated at the state-of-the-art Vitenfabrikken. In this interactive science museum, you can find out how much your brain weighs and get up close to some of Leonardo da Vinci's inventions before delving into the history of Sandnes in the second-floor exhibit.
Travelling with kids? Don’t miss a visit to the bear-themed Kongeparken, which is packed with family-friendly rides and amusement attractions. Get behind the wheel of a tractor in Little Grey Fergie Land and test your skills on the treetop zip lines, then experience the 125-kilometre-an-hour drop of the Stupet, Norway’s biggest drop fall.
Sandnes offers an ideal base for visiting Stavanger, a historic waterfront town that’s evolved into an international oil city. It’s home to excellent museums, including the history-focused Stavanger Museum and the Norwegian Petroleum Museum where submersibles and an escape chute are exhibited. You can get your retail fix along Øvre Holmegate before dining at one of Stavanger’s Michelin-star restaurants.
Getting around Sandnes
Sandnes is around 15 minutes’ drive from Stavanger Airport, which has flights to destinations across Europe. Regular trains connect from central Stavanger to the Sandnes Central railway station while buses travel to neighbouring towns and villages. The centre of Sandnes is compact enough to explore on foot.