Stavanger, Norway: An Unexpected Destination for Awesome Street Art

July 21, 2011 at 4:45 PM | by JetSetCD | Comments (0)

New York, Berlin, Paris, Rio de Janeiro...Stavanger? it's true; Norway's second city is a hot spot for international street art, and it's something we never would have guessed until we stepped off Cunard's Queen Victoria and into the center of the city, with walls sporting Shepard Fairey and Banksy.

Stavanger seems a sleepy town, but first impressions are usually deceiving as we know all too well. It took about 10 minutes of meandering the (literally) vibrant streets before we found a store called "SHIT" and a bohemian coffeeshop packed with locals keen to tell us where to find free WiFi and where to walk to see the best graffiti.

If you've got several days in Stavanger, you'd be able to take in art by the majority of the world's greats, since the city invites different big names in street art to the annual Nuart Fest, providing them with prime wall spots for making striking images.

If you've only got a single day, however, the best is all in the center of the old city, no more than 20 minutes away from the piers. If you're visiting in the next three weeks, you'll even catch the first full-fledged indoor street art exhibit: Outside In, which has original, framed pieces from a huge variety of artists...all for sale (if you've got a few hundred to thousands to drop) and all right next to the bow of any other visiting cruise ships.

Disclosure: We traveled to Norway onboard the Queen Victoria as a guest of Cunard, but all images and opinions are entirely our own.

[Photos: Cynthia Drescher for Jaunted]

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