Bergen Norway

If you want to tour the fjords then Bergen is the place to go. Besides Fjord tours, there is plenty to do in Bergen and on the surrounding islands.

Highlights of Bergen include Ole Bull Fountain, The Magic Ice Bar, The Fish and Flower Market, Lille Lungegårdsvannet, Bergenhus Fortress, Bryggen, and the Fløibanen.

The Fløibanen is a funicular train that goes straight up the mountain to a huge park with mountain lakes, trails, and restaurants. The trip takes 5-8 minutes and is very steep, but well worth the time. We hiked around the trails and took some excellent pictures of Bergen from here.

Our hotel, The Clarion, was right beside Bryggen, the historical medieval town made of boathouses. Bryggen has been ravaged by many fires as it is made entirely of wood. The fire of 1702 reduced the city to ashes, but they rebuild it using the original foundations. There are many shops and restaurants in this area and it is the most popular by far.

There are several boat tours that leave from Bergen. The first one we took was a trip south to Rosendal to tour the Barony. In 1658 Norway’s wealthiest heir married a danish nobleman and they were given this farm where they built their house which was finished in 1665 and last inhabited in 1927. The tour includes a salmon lunch in the gardens. While there, a theater group was performing Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

From the Barony, we traveled back through the fjords to Bergen.

The other tour was took was north through the fjords to the Moustramen waterfall. Being that it was mid-summer, the waterfall was not at its peak in volume, but the boat ride through the fjords was well worth it.

There are many restaurants in Bergen to choose from and all that we visited were excellent. One that stood out was the steak house Matborsen, where if you order a steak, it comes out medium-rare on a lava stone so you may slice it and cook it to your desired wellness.

Bonus: If leaving Bergen for Oslo, I’d suggest going by train and riding in Komfort class. It takes about 5 hours and the scenery is incredible as you travel along the mountain tops for much of the trip.