Our list of must-sees and dos was short for Bergen. Get some good views of the city, walk through the fish market and Bryggen, maybe eat a reindeer hot dog and some fresh sea food. With just a few major things on our list it ended up being a very flexible, relaxing day. My grandparents met us in Bergen after a long flight from California and were total troopers; jet lag and all!
We stayed in a beautifully refurnished Airbnb home that was built in 1791 and located in a historical area of central Bergen. Staying in this neighborhood was a real treat because we were able to get a small glimpse into local living. Bergen has to be one of the cleanest cities I’ve traveled to in Europe. I rarely saw garbage in the streets and you get the sense that everyone respects not only their own space, but communal space as well. It’s also one of the most expensive cities I’ve ever traveled to. We were shocked when we bought a few groceries one night that added up to a weeks worth of Irish groceries.
We spent the morning walking through Bryggen, arguably the main attraction in Bergen. Listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the wharf area and buildings were first built in the 12th century and have been rebuilt several times due to fires. While it was interesting to walk through the buildings, it was overcrowded, and I think I enjoyed the view of the historic buildings from across the water more than up close.
We had bad weather during our morning in Bergen so we found the reindeer hog dog stand (I couldn’t bring myself to eat reindeer!) and then hid in a bar and watched all of the cruise ship crowds make their way to the Fløibanen (tram). After witnessing the crowds, I would say a better time to make your way up to Mount Fløyen by the Fløibanen is mid-afternoon. By then the weather cleared up and the crowds were gone which gave us plenty of time to relax on top of the Mountain and enjoy the view. Matt and I walked down instead of taking the tram which was a great way to get some steps in!
After making our way down we headed to the fish market for some fresh sea food. We ended up at one of the stalls called Seaside and gobbled down some salmon, crab, and mussels.
Something we must share is the fact that we were not able to buy any wine that night to enjoy in our Airbnb. We stopped by the local market and were very disappointed to learn that you can only buy wine and spirits from specific stores and they all close around 6pm…beer did the trick for us but poor Grannie didn’t have a drop of anything that night. Lesson learned!
Continue reading about our Norway travels in our blog about our road trip from Bergen to Aurland!