Weekend trip to Bergen

Last weekend I finally traveled to Bergen. I have only heard good things about the city, except that the weather can be a bit rough, but that you cannot do anything about so just to accept and pack suitable clothes. I flew over there from Stockholm with Scandinavian airlines and it took just above one hour. Then a short ride with the airport bus and I was in the city center. If you go there by air, make sure to book a window seat because the approach is stunning. Norway has the rumor of being expensive but to be honest I do not think it is so expensive anymore like it was five year back in time, at least not compared to Stockholm. I completely fell in love with this city and here is why.

Cozy cafes all over the place

I didn’t booked a hotel with breakfast so every morning I went out for breakfast. One morning I found the amazing travel café and shop, Chillout. The other day I was up to early so just grabbed a yoghurt and coffee from Deli d Luca and sat down in the harbour to eat before my hike. Bergen has numerous cute coffee shops worth a visit.

Wooden houses

I just love wooden houses. That really reminds me about the west coast style and in Bergen I got a lot of them. Unfortunately it is not the best thing when a fire hit a place and Bergen has in the past been severely hit by a few fires with major destructions of the city. But still you will find a city filled with beautiful houses to look at. Perfect I would say!

Green areas and flowers

Unlike Oslo where I do not really like the city center Bergen was my style. It was green and filled with a lot of nice flowers, small parks, nice houses and outdoorisch. It didn’t felt big but international which I like. A lot thanks to all crusing ships but there was a lot of travelers all around from both near and far. At least now in August when I visited.

Going around

Due to the quite small size of the inner city it was easy to get around. I was using my feets but you could also go by tram, bus or rent bikes. My favorite mean of transport, the scooters had not reached Bergen at this time otherwise I would have done my sightseeing by scooter. Anyone else that loves those electric scooters?

Urban nature around the corner

I went to Bergen mainly because I like to go to Norway for vacations and the beautiful nature. I have heard so much good things about the city and when I needed a hiking vacation, the weather forecast indicated good weather and the mountains is just in the city center I finally went there. During my three days in the city I walked a lot. More details about the hiking routes I tried are to come.

Streetart

Did you know that Bergen is famous for all its street art? I love street art. Actually I think Bergen reminds me about my favorite Hong Kong – maybe thats why I really liked the place. Beautiful nature, street art, nice places, international vibe and just a nice place. Hong Kong but 1 hour away instead of 11.

UNESCO world heritage

The wooden houses in Bergen harbour are listed as a world heritage. The place called “Bryggen” is touristic but worth a visit. If you want you can sit down and have overpriced “boller” (the norwegian style bun’s) there if you wanna be less touristic and have a better view I would say, buy a bolle and bring it to the other side of the harbour to enjoy it.

Sunsets

Do you also love watching sunsets? In August the sunset is around 10 pm in Bergen and even later in July. I was really lucky and got two out of two colorful sunsets during my weekend. In the touristic part of the city there are a lot of bars for being a city of the relatively small size as Bergen to have a drink or food to watch the colors sparkle.

Visiting Bergen

If I would like to go back to Bergen? yes. To hike Trolltunga is on my bucketlist but that needs a full weekend since it takes a while to drive (like 3-4 hours without stops) and the hike itself 12 hours. Then I wanna see the Sognefjord and kayaking there is on my list. The city center and the hikes at Floyen I managed to see in one weekend so that I do not have to do again since there are so many other great places to explore. How do you feel about that, going back to an old place you really liked and do the same thing again or go and see a new place? Next up on my Norway exploring list is Lofoten and Trondheim, Trysil, Hemsedal. And of course, Svalbard!

/ Pernilla that loves to explore nice places in the world