Today we are wrapping up our time in Norway with our Bergen travel diary. After our fjord cruise in Flåm, we took a bus to Voss (home of the water, haha) where we changed to a train to head to Bergen. We definitely spent half of our time in Norway on trains, but honestly the views from the train windows were so amazing we didn’t care.
We arrived into Bergen after a long day of travel, so we headed straight to our hotel to drop off our bags, and then went out for a bite to eat before crashing for the night.
We stayed at the Magic Hotel in Bergen and it was fabulous. In stark contrast from our rustic room the previous night in Flåm, the Magic Hotel is ultra modern, sleek, and fashionable. The hotel has only been open about 6 months, so everything is very clean and brand new.
Upon recommendation from a member of the hotel staff, we headed down the street to Bien for dinner, after being told they have the best burgers in Bergen. I would recommend making a reservation if you plan to visit, although they were able to accommodate us without a reservation which made three very hungry travelers extremely happy.
The next morning we woke up and headed to the fifth floor of the hotel, to their on site restaurant, to indulge in the complimentary breakfast buffet. All of our hotels in Norway had complimentary breakfast which was a very nice perk. And we’re talking extravagant breakfast buffets. Not some measly dry pastries that some hotels in the states try to pass off as an acceptable breakfast.
The restaurant offers amazing panoramic views of the city and the surrounding mountains.
After breakfast we headed out to explore Bergen. We only had about half a day, as we had to catch our train back to Oslo in the afternoon, but we managed to hit the highlights.
It rains almost daily in Bergen. It’s kind of like the Seattle of Norway. Luckily it wasn’t a constant heavy rain, but there was a good hour where the rain was heavy and it was so windy that our umbrellas kept flipping inside out.
We popped into some stores to do a little shopping (our favorites were Ting and Røst) and hide from the rain, and then headed to Bryggen to check out the iconic wooden buildings by the harbor. Fun fact, this area was used as the inspiration for the city of Arendelle in the Disney movie Frozen.
The other thing we wanted to be sure to in Bergen was Fløibanen. The Fløibanen is a funicular railway that connects the city centre with the top of the mountain of Fløyen. At the top you can take a mountain walks and be treated to magnificent views of the city. That is, if you have better luck with the weather than we did. We were warned when we bought our tickets that there was no view at the top due to the weather, but with our time restriction we headed up anyway, still wanting to experience it.
The 8 minute ride is an experience in itself. At the top there is a playground, a restaurant (only open in the summer) and a little shop and cafe where you can grab a coffee and a snack.
Up at the top of the mountain we were literally in the clouds and unfortunately couldn’t see any part of the city. But if you miss out on the views like we did, you can catch the views on their live webcam on a clear day.
After descending back to the city from the clouds, we walked around a little more, popping into any shops that looked interesting, before grabbing a quick bite to eat and heading to the train station to catch our 7 hour train ride back to Oslo.
We loved Bergen, but wish we had a little more time there to truly get to explore. We’ll just have to go back!
You can see more from our trip to Norway in our Oslo and Flåm travel diaries, and in our travel vlog below.
-Ash xx
