Bergen
Wooden warehouses on the wharf, mountains on three sides, weather that arrives without asking. The country's old western capital.
We come into Bergen the long way: the Bergensbanen across the Hardangervidda plateau, eight hours of birch and lake and bare rock, then a slow descent into rain. The city has been a major port since the Hanseatic League. Bryggen — the row of crooked wooden gable buildings on the wharf — is what most people picture, and it is somehow exactly that and also more: a working set of shops and studios that smells like creosote and salt.
What we plan to do here
- Walk Bryggen end to end in the morning, before the cruise crowds.
- The Fløibanen funicular up Mount Fløyen for the view.
- Fish market for an obscene amount of crab.
- Bergen Kunsthall — Norwegian contemporary art done right.
A small fear
It rains on Bergen 240 days a year. We are bringing the better jackets.
Before the trip, we learned…
Pre-trip research that ties to this place. See all Discover entries →
- Place guide
Eat · Buy · Do in Bergen
A walking-shoe city of seven mountains, fish stews, hand-knit wool, and whatever Bergen Kunsthall is exhibiting this month.
- buy
A Norwegian wool sweater, the real one
The traditional lusekofte and Setesdal sweaters in proper Norwegian wool — what to look for and where to find them in Bergen.
- do
Up Mount Fløyen, slowly
The funicular up, the trail down — the easiest way to put the city in proper perspective.
- eat
Fiskesuppe at the source
Bergen's creamy fish soup — fish, vegetables, and a base of cream and white wine. The local lunch by default.
- Guide
Bergen — Eat, Buy, Do
A walking-shoe city of seven mountains, fish stews, hand-knit wool, and whatever Bergen Kunsthall is exhibiting this month.
Journals from Bergen
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