Bergen

Introduction

Bergen

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Bergen is located along the westcoast of Norway and is the second largest city in the country with about 250,000 inhabitants.

Neighbourhoods

Sights and Activities

• Bryggen, on the Unesco World Heritage List.
• Fantoft Stave Church - A church built in the 12th century was taken to Bergen but it was burned down in the 1990s. It was rebuilt to exactly the same pattern.
• Mount Floyen - reachable by funicular near to the harbour and Bryggen.
• Gamle Bergen - museum of Old Bergen houses - which would simply have been demolished if not preserved here. Tours in English show the interiors.

Events and Festivals

Weather

Well, is there anything nice to say about the weather? Ok, there are dry days, but Bergen is known to have over 300 days with some rain (or snow) every year! Average highs are between 4 °C in winter and around 17 °C in summer, nights averaging around zero and 11 °C respectively. September to December is the wettest time, while April to June is relatively dry, but still about 17 days of rain, totalling over 100 mm a month (against almost 300 mm in September).

Getting There

By Plane

The Bergen Flesland Airport is located 12 kilometres from the city and receives mostly domestic and European flights. About 20 airlines serve the city, with most of them offered by Norwegian Air Shuttle and Scandinavian Airlines. Some of the main destinations include Oslo, Riga, Helsinki, Stockholm, Torshavn, Aberdeen, Reykjavik, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Copenhagen, London, Paris, Rome, Warsaw, Edinburgh and Nice.

To/from the airport
Flybussen runs between Bergen city center and Bergen Airport Flesland. A minibus service connects the airport to the Flesland quay west of the airport. From here boats bring passengers southwards to Stord, Austevoll, Haugesund, and Stavanger. Car rental agencies and taxi services are both readily available at the airport and there are over 3,000 long-term and short-term parking places.

By Train

The Oslo-Bergen line is famous for its scenery and is often used to reach Voss or Myrdal for the Norway in a nutshell tour. More about this at the Norway#Sights and Activities section.

By Car

By Bus

By Boat

Bergen is served by a number of ferry operators to different countries.

United Kingdom

• Colorline between Newcastle and Bergen.
• Fjordline between Newcastle and Bergen.

Denmark

• Smyril Line between Hanstholm and Bergen.
• Color Line between Hirsthals and Bergen.
• Fiordline between Hanstholm and Egersund/Bergen.

• Faroe Islands

Smyril Line travels further from Bergen to Torshavn on the Faroe Islands.

Domestic

• Domestic services include Fjordline which offers ferries between Bergen and Egersund.

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

By Foot

The city centre is quite compact. It is easily traversed on foot. There is a good and well stocked Tourist Information Office not far from the sea front, where you can get maps and all sorts of brochures and leaflets on tours and trips, including fjord tours/trips.

By Bike

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Budget

Mid-Range

Steens Hotel - although this is not far from the station, there is a steep hill so a taxi may be worth it.

Upscale

Work

Learn

• University of Bergen

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

Red mailboxes are found easily and post offices are plentiful, with opening hours on most being 9:00am to 5:00pm, with usually shorter hours on Saturday. Stamps can usually only be found at post offices although some popular tourist venues might carry them. Norway's postal system, "Posten", has a good website with a lot of English information including up to date prices and also details about the opening hours of the nearest post office. The most commonly sent format for travellers, letters and cards up to 20 grams, currently require the following stamps:

• Within Norway: 7 NOK.
• Within Europe: 9 NOK.
• Worldwide: 11 NOK.