Bergen Travel Guide | My Life Trips

Bergen

Information

Bergen is a city on Norway’s southwestern coast and the second largest city in the country. It’s surrounded by mountains and fjords, including the country’s longest and deepest fjord, Sognefjord. The most characteristic part of the city is Bryggen, which features colorful wooden houses on the old port, once it was a center of the Hanseatic league’s trading empire. Bergen has a population of 280.000 inhabitants and the whole metropolitan region 420,000. The port of Bergen, is Norway’s busiest, in terms of both freight and passengers, with over 300 cruise ships a year visiting Bergen and bringing nearly a half a million passengers, a number that has doubled in the last 10 years. Bergen is a city that you will instantly love, and in our opinion, is one of the most beautiful cities in Scandinavia and of course Europe.

The Norwegian currency is the Norwegian Crown and 10 Norwegian Crowns equals to 1,05 Euro . For the latest updated exchange rates visit the XE Currency Converter page.

What To See...

Bryggen

The most characteristic point of Bergen is of course the stunning Bryggen! Unchanged for many centuries, Bryggen will take you to another era and will surely fascinate you all times of the day. There is no visit in Bergen without going to Bryggen obviously…

Hanseatic Neighborhood

This Hanseatic neighborhood just behind Bryggen take you back in time and offers you a tremendous experience as you can walk to its well kept alleys.

Floyen

The funicular leading to Floyen hill is one of Bergen’s most famous attractions and surely offers you an incredible panoramic view of the city. Your ride with the Floiban cable car is a unique experience that you definitely have to experience if you are in Bergen. The ticket costs 95 crowns per person round trip and runs until 11 o’clock in the night.

Bergen Fish Market

In this market you will find the freshest fishes in the city and you will also be able to try them if you want. The Bergen Fish Market is one of the most famous markets of Scandinavia and definitely deserves a visit.

Bergen Fortress

The Fortress of Bergen is one of the oldest stone buildings all over Norway, and nowadays it is used to host many music festivals and various other events. The fortress is right at the entrance of Bergen’s new harbour and the admission to its external areas is completely free.

St. John's Church

This very beautiful church with the unique color is located a few meters away from the central square, in the Sydnes district and is surely worth a visit, as it also offers a completely different view of the city of Bergen.

Nordnes Neighborhood

The most charming neighborhood of Bergen in our opinion. Incredibly beautiful, with stone paved streets, small alleys, colorful wooden houses and a gracious ambience. Nordnes neighborhood is located on the opposite side of the harbour and is definitely a place that you will adore. Just wander through its alleys, relax and enjoy the magical city of Bergen.

Bergen Central Square

The largest square of Bergen is the meeting point for locals and one of the most commercial streets in the city. Without being something remarkable, it certainly deserves a visit.

Nearby Excursions

Norway is a vast country, that you will really need months to explore. Bergen is located in a relatively isolated location and if you want to get to know some of the indescribable beauties of Norway, then you should go north east to the most famous fjords of the country, such as Sognefjord, Geirangerfjord, Aurlansfjord and many others, but you will need several hours of driving to reach them, even though the distance is not that long.

If you can’t rent a car, which is the ideal scenario, then you can book one of the cruises that are organized from the Bergen port to many parts of Norway at very high prices of course. Our opinion, if you don’t have a car, is to enjoy this stunning city as much as possible and discover every corner, because it really worths it. There are many nearby excursions that you can do in the surrounding area, such as a hiking trip at the top of Ulriken that will give you some incredible views of the city.

What To Eat

We are constantly talking about how expensive Norway is, in case you want to eat out in a restaurant and of course in Bergen things are not better. Extreme prices, which unfortunately our own low budget, does not allow us to try various restaurants in the city. We were lucky enough to book an amazing home at a great price, that offered us all the comforts. So we preferred to cook our daily meals in the fully equipped kitchen of the house, that we had rented, and all we had to do is to buy everything we need from the supermarkets downtown.

In the few times we ate something outside the house, we found an awesome bakery with tasty delicacies at Bryggen, in the city center, called Baker Brun Bakery. Enjoy your coffee along with some of the delicious cakes or the traditional cinnamon rolls in the most beautiful part of the city.

How to move

Bergen is an incredibly friendly city for the traveler, who will surely enjoy it anyway. As always, our opinion is, that the best way to know a city well is to walk. Bergen is not a small town, but most of the points of interest and attractions are close to the harbor. If you stay outside the city, in a suburb, then it would be better to use the bus which is a pretty good solution and relatively cheap. The ticket costs 37 Norwegian crowns per person for one route. Bergen Airport is about 30 minutes away (18 km) from the city center and is easily accessible by car or bus.

Where to stay

Accommodation in Bergen is very expensive and unfortunately your options are very limited, if you want to stay in the city center. The choice that we mentioned in our article ” Norway on a budget ” for the traditional wooden cottages, which are much more cheaper, unfortunately in Bergen does not exist, as it is a modern city with many hotels and a lot of tourism. After a long search, we found an amazing apartment just 4 kilometers from the center of Bergen, which gave us everything we need (fully equipped kitchen, 2 bedrooms, bathroom, etc). Also the very kind hosts was a huge plus, as they really helped us to everything we needed. Its price was 65 euros per night and it was a really good value for money. If you want to stay in the center of Bergen, you have to pay around 150-200 euros for one night at least for a standard double room. You can make your reservations via Booking.com

Booking.com