Our weekend in Bergen
In October 2025, myself and Polak continued our tradition of experiencing at least one new European city a year; This year, that city was Bergen. Situated in the heart of Fjordland in the west of Norway, it's not the biggest city we'll visit, but it's bustling with life, has an amazing cultural heritage, and is by far one of the most beautiful place we will ever visit.
We're spending 4 days here, so I'm writing this blog as we go.
Day 1...
Arriving on Friday from Aberdeen (direct flights are available, and it only takes an hour to get here!), and after some initial confusion around the transport tickets we'd bought, we made it into Bergen around lunchtime.
We spent the first few hours, while waiting for access to our accommodation, wandering the city center, discovering, among others, a multitude of museums, wonderful coffee shops, the University campus, and the waterfront, where we stopped for the world's most expensive burger and a pint.
Seriously, £10+ for a beer. Crazy!
After settling in to our very comfortable apartment in the South side of town, we hiked up to Tippetue viewpoint after dark, being rewarded with a stunning view of the whole city. Hard work with a sore back, but worth it!
Day 1, 16.5km later, successfully completed.
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Last updated
31-01-2025
Day 2...
We're back at the apartment after another brilliant day exploring Bergen, and another 11.5km trekked across the city. There were, unsurprisingly, several highlights today, including but not limited to:
The Rozenkrants tower - billed as Norway's most important renaissance monument, the tower dates back to the 13th century, and has been rebuilt several times over the centuries. It's a fascinating tour, with loads of narrow corridors, steep stone stairways, and wonderful views over the harbour and city from the roof. Entrance is approx. £10 per person.
Souvenir shops - always going to be highlight, surely?! There loads of souvenir shops around the harbour and Bryggen.
Bryggen - To be honest, if it wasn't for its location overlooking the harbour, Bryggen would not stand out from the rest of the city, but it does have a lovely location, especially when viewed from across the water, and the buildings are beautifully coloured and maintained. Wonderful to walk past.
Ulriken Cable Car - We'd planned to leave this for the evening in the hopes of another amazing sunset; the weatherman, however, is clearly a liar and it was actually quite wet when we got to the top. Nevermind though, we bided our time in the comfortable cafe at the top of the cable car, and eventually found a window to head up the peak itself. This was stunning, the views all round from Ulriken are incredible, and there are plenty of hikes available starting from the cafe, some of which end up all the way on the North of town.
Anyway, tired now, well deserved beer in hand, and sleep coming soon!
Day 3...
We're back in the apartment, and things are starting to hurt... Another 11km walked, and a 2nd and 3rd mountain explored... but the result is sore legs, sore knees, and sore feet. That said,.yet another fantastic day seeing more and more of this wonderful city. Today we saw:
Floyen - We decided to take the funicular up the hill (us being old men and incapable of walking uphill today). The views of Bergen from the top rival those from Ulriken, and there is plenty to experience up top too, from the Cafe and Souvenir shop to the troll garden, local friendly goats and, for the younger kids, multiple playgrounds. We did walk down through the Tippetue forest; so peaceful, green and alive!
Egon Restaurant - We got back into town famished, and found a great restaurant just off the harbour area, where I had the best Brisket of my life, and Lukasz enjoyed fresh Trout. Outside of the food, the restaurant itself is very rustic noir; dark wood & soft lighting used to great effect!
Octopus Rock - After recovering with an afternoon nap back home, we decided to trek up to Octopus Rock, a pretty random attraction, literally just an octopus carved into a rock halfway up Lovstakken hill to the South of town, but one that afforded us yet another angle of the city from on high. It really never disappoints!
On the way down we decided to visit our friendly local bakery and coffee shop (Godł Brot), unaware that our route would take us through what can only be described as the Bergen Ghetto - barely an electric car to be seen!
We're now stuck on the couch, sore from head to toe, but immensely satisfied with our experience so far... Bring on tomorrow, where we'll be using public transport only - no hiking allowed! 😜
Day 4....
Well, I'd say we left the best for.last! Day 4 has been brilliant, thanks mostly to our final planned activity, a cruise up the Osterfjord to Mostraumen, which has been so brilliant. Highlight upon highlight, including ancient wooden churches, fish farms, massive skyscraper cliffs, and suspension bridges; as the cruise went further up the Fjord, and the best at the end, Mostraumen and it's waterfalls; as far as beauty spots go, this one ranks right near the top. To top.it.off, we had delightful company in the cabin, and I even managed to have a nap on the return leg!
Earlier we'd started the day as we planned, mostly - we only walked 5km today, deciding to walk into town around lunchtime, and visited our favourite bakery one last time while waiting for our cruise.
We then finished the day in style, visiting the Magic Ice bar, which can be found towards the South west end of the city - it's a bit pricey at £22 per person, including a drink, but it's pretty interesting sitting in an industrial freezer, on an Ice bench with a solid ice table, and having a really warm poncho and gloves to not freeze to death while enjoying said drink!
So for the last time, We're watching reruns of Top Gear on Freeview and enjoying one last beer (or tea, in Lukas's case). Tomorrow morning it's back home, but Bergen will stay in my heart for a long time to come!
