Bergen

Bergen is the second largest and important tourist city in Norway. It is located in the western part of the country, in a fairly remote area. From 1217 to 1299 it used to be the capital of Norway, the seat of kings.

Curiously, the main tourist sites of the city are not associated with the heyday of the monarchy, but with more recent centuries. The Bryggen waterfront, which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1979, owes its appearance to Hanseatic merchants, unofficial rulers of the city.

Colorful wooden houses are a symbol of the city and the oldest medieval settlement of the country.

There's a lot of other wooden buildings in the city, such as McDonald's.




On the side of the bay opposite to Bryggen there's a beautiful district with wooden houses, don't miss it.






The Fish Market is located on the waterfront. We bought there some shrimp sandwiches and frozen fish cakes.

The city center is small, you can explore it in a half of a day. Next we went to the Fløibanen funicular (schedule) and rose to Mount Fløyen (320 meters). There's an observation deck at the top which offers a classic view of Bergen. Besides, a dozen of hiking trails start from the top station. They are well marked, but you can download additional maps here.




Next morning we visited the estate of Edward Grieg, a famous Norwegian composer. Even if you don't know who he is, you know his music that was used in hundreds of movies and cartoons. The most recognizable tunes are "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and "Morning Mood".





See the timetable and how to get there at the official website. We arrived early in the morning and walked alone. On the shore near the house you can see the morning scenery that inspired the composer. Beautiful, isn't it?












What else to see in Bergen and useful links:
Church in Fantoft (1170, map)
Open-air museum Old Bergen (map)
Manor Damsgård (map)
Aquarium (map)
Bergen Science Centre (map)
Bergen Card

More photos of Bergen:

Getting there: Bergen has its own airport, here you can see a list of airlines that fly there. There's a bus service from the airport to the city ($15, on weekdays the buses run every 20 minutes), the schedule can be found here. The Oslo - Bergen railway is the highest in northern Europe. Check out the train schedule and buy tickets here. Journey time is approximately 7 hours, ticket price from Oslo starts from $50. In Bergen you can also buy train tickets at the tourist information office (3 Strandkaien). List of Bergen bus companies. A schedule of ferries to Bergen is here.