Bergen is Norway’s second-largest city and the classic base for exploring fjord Norway, with a compact center that’s easy for tourists to cover on foot. It’s best known for the UNESCO-listed Bryggen wharf, Bergen’s former Hanseatic trading quarter, where the tight alleyways and wooden buildings make the city’s history feel close-up rather than museum-distant. Many visitors use Bergen as a launch point for fjord cruises and guided day trips, then come back to a city that’s strong on seafood and culture.

Ride the Fløibanen funicular up to Mount Fløyen for a sweeping viewpoint over the city and surrounding mountains. Back at street level, the Fish Market is an easy browse for local flavors, while Kode is a major stop for art, design, and music in the Nordic region.


Bergen

Hardangerfjord has orchards on steep hillsides, snowcapped peaks reflected in wide water and some of the best hiking in Norway.

The Bergen Card covers public transport, museum entry, and a handful of restaurant discounts across Bergen and the surrounding region.

The Bergensbanen is a 470 km train line between Oslo and Bergen which takes about seven hours, climbing to 1,237 metres at its highest point.

Bergen is small. You can walk from one end of the centre to the other in twenty minutes. But still it´s easy to waste time by crossing the same ground several times.

Bergen wraps itself around a single harbour. This makes choosing where to stay simple, you will stay in or close to the city center, but where?

Bergen has three Michelin-starred restaurants, a legendary hot dog stand that's been grilling since 1946, and a 96-year-old fish cake recipe that was once shipped weekly to Norwegian embassy staff

The Norway in a Nutshell route connects Oslo and Bergen through some of the most dramatic scenery in northern Europe. Trains, mountains, fjords, all in 2 days.

Explore the locations



Bergen Harbour and Fish Market
3
Skip the outdoor stalls
Bergen Harbour
Bryggen
3
Beyond the waterfront facade - insider tips
Bryggen in Bergen
Opus 16 Hotel Bergen
3
Quiet luxury in a former bank
Opus 16 Bergen
Skostredet Hotel & Spa
3
Japandi design in Bergen
Skostredet Hotel Bergen
Bergen Børs Hotel
3
Grand history, grand design
Bergen Børs Hotel
Fløibanen and Mount Fløyen
3
Funicular, hiking and Bergen´s best views
Fløibanen in Bergen
Home Hotel Havnekontoret
3
A 1920s port office with free food
Home Hotel Havnekontoret
Charmante Skostredet Hôtel
3
Bergen's moody Parisian fantasy
Hotel Charmante Bergen
Thon Hotel Rosenkrantz Bergen
3
Sleep central, eat free
Thon Hotel Rosenkrantz Bergen
Ulriksbanen
3
Views, hikes and fine dining
Ulriksbanen gondola in Bergen
Kode Art Museum - Lysverket
2
Bergen's best art collection
KODE Lysverket art museum in Bergen
Kode Rasmus Meyer Collection
2
Munch in a mansion
Kode Rasmus Meyer museum in Bergen
Troldhaugen Edvard Grieg Museum
2
Grieg's lakeside home
Troldhaugen
Zander K Hotel
2
Concrete cool near Bergen station
Zander K Bergen Hotel
Bryggens Museum
2
Medieval Bergen underfoot
Bryggen Museum
Grand Hotel Terminus
2
Bergen's 1928 railway grande dame
Grand Hotel Terminus Bergen
Home Hotel Bryggen
2
Free dinner saves your budget
Home Hotel Bryggen
Hotel No13
2
Dead centre of Bergen
Hotel no 13 Bergen
Klosterhagen Hotel
2
A real home in Bergen's quietest neighborhood
Klosterhagen Hotel Bergen
Thon Hotel Orion
2
Right on Bryggen without the chaos
Thon Hotel Orion
Clarion Hotel Admiral
2
Wake up facing Bryggen
Clarion Hotel Admiral
Det Hanseatiske Hotel
2
16th-century atmosphere
Det Hanseatiske Hotel Bergen
Kode Permanenten
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Bergen's craft and silver trove
KODE Museum Bergen
Kode Stenersen
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Bergen's contemporary art hub
Contemporary art at Kode Stenersen museum in Bergen

Top things to do


Insider pick
Bergen's harbour is a compact, walkable waterfront where centuries-old Hanseatic timber buildings meet an active working port. Get there early in the morning before the cruise crowds arrive.
Insider pick
A preserved Hanseatic trading wharf where narrow wooden alleyways behind the facade hold artisan studios, small galleries, and centuries of layered architecture.
Insider pick
A six-minute funicular ride from Bergen's center to a 320-meter summit with panoramic views over the city, fjords, and islands, plus direct access to a network of hiking trails.
Insider pick
A cable car ascent to 643 meters with panoramic views of Bergen, the fjords, and surrounding islands on clear days, plus access to the five-hour Vidden hiking trail to Fløyen.
The third-largest Munch collection in the world, displayed in a 1916 mansion where you can see his paintings without fighting a crowd.
Troldhaugen is where Norway's most famous composer lived and worked for 22 years, and the concert hall built into the hillside still runs recitals of his music with the lake he composed beside as the backdrop.

Best hotels


Insider pick
A family-owned boutique hotel with real heritage, exceptional beds, and one of Norway's best hotel breakfasts, right in the centre of Bergen. A small exhibition about the composer's life sits on the lower level. Live piano at breakfast.
Insider pick
A brand-new design hotel with a Michelin-starred sushi restaurant on a great Bergen street. The aesthetic is Japandi: Scandinavian minimalism crossed with Japanese wabi-sabi. Light wood, neutral tones, low-profile furniture. Spa opened in January 2025.
Insider pick
A beautifully converted 1862 stock exchange at the absolute dead center of Bergen, with one of Norway's best hotel breakfast rooms. Pinstriped wallpaper, herringbone parquet, houndstooth upholstery. Details that nod to the financiers who once worked these floors without hitting you over the head.
Insider pick
A 41-room boutique hotel with genuine personality, an outstanding à la carte breakfast, and one of Bergen's best locations. Charmante goes full 19th-century Parisian drama. Deep jewel tones. Patterned wallpapers. Velvet upholstery. 41 rooms, each uniquely decorated.