The Gateway to the Fjords, Bergen is a beautiful UNESCO World Heritage City in Norway. It is an ideal starting point for visiting the amazing Fjords and hence termed as ‘The Fjord Capital’. Needless to say this amazing city is surrounded by the beautiful seven mountains and of course Fjords. It’s a small city and you can cover most of its attractions on foot. Despite its small size, there are plenty of things to do here. Hiking, devouring the beautiful surroundings, exploring its history, cruising the fjords or simply enjoying the world renowned seafood, Bergen will surely surprise you.
Arrival
The newly revamped Bergen airport had just inaugurated the same day we arrived. It was modern and spacious. Buying our dinner from the airport itself, we then picked up our car and headed straight to our stay. Our excitement was quite high as it was our first visit to a Scandinavian country. The roads were not that busy but even in that dead of the night we could see the outlines of the mountains and hear the sound of the water.
As we were on a road trip, we had split our stay in Bergen. We had booked two nights at the beginning and one night at the end of the trip. The first two nights were booked at this really cute duplex house/ apartment called Skansen house. It was quite a unique experience to stay in this traditional wooden house. It offered ample space and amenities. Off Road parking was available as well. Last night at the end of our trip was booked at this very urban Nordic hotel called Zander K. It was very conveniently located as well.
Bryggen Hanseatic Wharf
Next Morning the weather did look a little gloomy the moment we stepped outside. Our first stop of excursion was no doubt the iconic Bryggen.
The Bryggen is an old Hanseatic Wharf first established in the 14th century. Most of the picturesque wooden buildings have been rebuilt following a fire in 1702. Still this area is quite charming to wander around. These buildings are home to cafes, boutique shops, hotels and restaurants. You can also take a 90 minutes guided tour of the Bryggen to learn more about its history. Bryggen is a vital focal point of Bergen and deservedly is a UNESCO world heritage site. Try and catch Bryggen during different times of the day. The light plays so nicely with its outer appearance.
The downpour had already begun as we were wandering around Bryggen. The cute boutique shops and cafes were amazing and we could not help buying some souvenirs.
Mount Floyen
The next excursion spot was Mount Floyen. We took the Floibanen funicular to the top.
You can even hike up to the top in around one hour and down in 30 minutes. The views were indeed spectacular. The sun gleaming through the dense clouds presented such a phenomenal spectacle. The light was striking and the fjords engulfed with mountains looked amazing. We had a little bit of walk around and then a coffee break in the lovely cafe up there.
Rest of our first day was lost in heavy downpour. We came back to our hotel and enjoyed some takeaway late lunch. In the evening we had a lovely dinner at a restaurant called Olivia. We hadn’t booked in advance so there was a bit of waiting time in the gruelling rain for a while. But in the end the food was good.
Not to Forget
Stressing the obvious again 🙂 Bergen being one of the wettest cities of Europe, so dress up accordingly. Not just above, it rains sideways, diagonally and below too 😉 Bergen is the only place where we saw umbrellas crashing under the rain and snapping like matchsticks. That’s why nice rainwear will come as a huge blessing here. I honestly loved the neon raincoats locals were sporting in Bergen 😉
Charming Bergen
The next morning we got lucky as the sun was shining brightly signalling a beautiful day.
We quickly got ready so that we could take some nice shots of the city in the sun. We were due to leave Bergen that day for our road trip in the Fjords. And we came back to Bergen after our ten days round trip. During our two and a half day stay in Bergen, we enjoyed spending time in the market square and Lake Lungegard. There are plenty of museums in Bergen which can provide you an excellent insight into the lives of the German merchants from the Hanseatic league.
We were bit restricted by the heavy downpour during our stay in Bergen so we took this sightseeing bus tour to see more excursions even though from outside only.
Bergen Card
If you are planning to do a lot of sightseeing in Bergen, visit museums and probably do any day trip then its worth investing in a Bergen card. You can find it here. This card allows you to travel free on Bergen’s Light Rail and Buses, along with discounted admissions to museums, excursions and tours. You can purchase this card for 24, 48 or 72 hours depending upon your stay.
Museums in Bergen
There are plenty of museums in Bergen you might want to check out
- Hanseatic Museum – Depicting the life of Hanseatic merchants in the 18th century.
- Kode– A large museum for art, design and music in the Nordic region.
- Leprosy Museum– This one covers the story of three leprosy hospitals of Bergen between 1850-1900.
- Bergen Maritime Museum– Being a maritime city, this museum covers the marine history of Bergen. You can also see a Viking ship here.
In the end
We are in Love
Bergen absolutely captivated us. Though it’s the second largest city of Norway, it has still managed to retain its small town magic.
We were absolutely blown away by the night time view of the city from Mount Floyen. It was less crowded and the twinkling lights of the city appeared otherworldly against the horizon and water.
We focused our trip more on enjoying nature, walking around the charming streets and taking in the beautiful surroundings. Basically, all the things which are free and don’t need any planning in advance. We won’t deny that the Norwegian natural beauty and landscapes had this major pull over us and it did remain dominant throughout our trip, and Bergen was no exception.
