I arrived with one rule: don't complain about the rain. Bergen gets 230 rainy days a year. If I'd wanted sunshine, I'd have gone to Spain. I wanted fjords, fish, and that particular shade of Nordic grey that makes everything feel like a Bergman film. If you're exploring the region, Tromso is Norway's Arctic capital further north.
Bergen delivered. Here's how it went.
Flight from Oslo landed at Bergen Flesland Airport at 2PM. The Bybanen light rail from the airport to the city center took exactly 40 minutes and cost 40 NOK — about $4. Not bad for Norway. If you're exploring the region, Reykjavik is another Nordic gateway to dramatic landscapes.
Dropped bags at the hotel near Bryggen and immediately walked to the Floibanen funicular station. The 6-minute ride to Mount Floyen (95 NOK return) took me 320 meters above the city. And look — I've seen a lot of city views from a lot of high places, but Bergen from Floyen in late afternoon light is something different. The harbor below, the red and yellow rooftops, the seven mountain peaks surrounding everything, the fjord water reaching into the distance. If you're exploring the region, Copenhagen is the Scandinavian capital most visitors fly through.
I walked down instead of riding, saving 40 NOK and getting 45 minutes of forest trail through pine and birch. There are carved wooden trolls hidden along the Troll Forest path. I'm 34 years old and I found every single one of them. If you're exploring the region, Edinburgh is another atmospheric northern European city.
Dinner was fish soup at the fish market. 130 NOK for a massive bowl of creamy, chunky, honest soup with bread. The king crab legs at the next stall were 300 NOK and looked incredible, but I was saving that for later.
Weather report: Overcast with light drizzle. Honestly, atmospheric.
Woke early and hit Bryggen wharf at 7:30AM. The UNESCO-listed wooden buildings were practically glowing in the grey morning light — red, yellow, ochre, each one leaning slightly from centuries of settling. The alleyways behind the facade are like time tunnels. Workshops, galleries, the smell of old wood and salt air.
The Hanseatic Museum (95 NOK) was small but fascinating. The recreation of a merchant's quarters — dark rooms, hard beds, strict rules about fire (these wooden buildings burned down multiple times) — made medieval trading life feel viscerally real.
Afternoon: walked to the KODE Art Museums. The 150 NOK ticket covers all four buildings, and I spent a surprisingly engaging three hours bouncing between Edvard Munch paintings, Norwegian folk art, and a contemporary photography exhibition that I stumbled into by accident and loved.
Evening: found my way to a brown bar on a side street — dark wood, quiet regulars, a local beer from 7 Fjell Bryggeri on tap. 100 NOK for a pint. I know that sounds steep, but after a while you stop converting and just accept that Norway runs on different currency math.
Weather report: Rain from 11AM to 3PM, then sun broke through for 90 minutes. The locals around me reacted to the sunshine like it was a celebrity sighting.
Booked the Mostraumen fjord cruise — 3 hours, ~600 NOK, departing from the fish market. This was the right call. The full Norway in a Nutshell tour (1,700+ NOK) gets more attention, but Mostraumen threads through narrow channels where waterfalls tumble off cliff faces and the boat has to navigate turns so tight the captain honks the horn before rounding them.
I stood on the deck the entire time. Got soaked by both rain and waterfall spray. Didn't care.
Back in Bergen, I treated myself to the king crab legs at the fish market. 280 NOK for a generous portion. Ate them on a bench overlooking the harbor, cracking shells with my hands, juice running down my forearms, seagulls eyeing me with criminal intent.
Totally worth it. But the waiter's advice was right — one serving is enough for two people. I was uncomfortably full.
Weather report: Heavy rain all morning, clearing in the afternoon. The fjord in rain is actually more dramatic — mist hanging in the valleys, waterfalls at full volume.
Checked yr.no (the Norwegian weather service — bookmark it, it's more accurate than any other weather app for Scandinavia) and saw a rare clear day forecast. This was my window for Mount Ulriken.
The cable car (200 NOK return) takes you to 643 meters — nearly double Floyen's height. The views from the top station were panoramic in the truest sense: city below, fjords stretching to the horizon, snow-dusted peaks in the distance.
I seriously considered the Vidden trail — the 5-6 hour ridgeline hike from Ulriken to Floyen — but I was solo, the trail has exposed alpine sections, and even on this "clear" day, clouds were forming on the peaks by noon. The safety advice was clear: don't attempt in fog, rain, or strong wind. And tell someone your route.
I walked for an hour along the ridge instead, then turned back. Even that hour was enough to understand why Bergen residents consider their seven mountains sacred territory.
Afternoon: visited Troldhaugen, Edvard Grieg's home, 8 km south of center by bus. His composing hut — a tiny wooden room at the lake's edge — still holds his piano. There was a lunch concert in the on-site hall included with my 120 NOK admission. Grieg's music played in the house where he wrote it. That's not something that happens every day.
Weather report: Clear until 2PM, then clouds rolling in. This was, according to locals, an exceptionally good day.
No itinerary. No museum tickets. No funicular. Just Bergen.
Morning: coffee and a cinnamon bun at a cafe in Skostredet, the street art neighborhood. Walked the murals, took photos. Bergen's street art scene is genuinely impressive and almost entirely ignored by tourist guides.
Midday: wandered the backstreets behind Bryggen. Found a workshop where a woman was hand-carving wooden spoons from birch. Bought one for 180 NOK. She showed me her technique and we talked about Bergen weather for ten minutes. "You get used to it," she said. "Or you move to Spain."
Lunch at Mathallen Bergen — the food hall that's less tourist-oriented than the fish market. Better prices, same quality, actual locals eating there.
Afternoon: walked the entire harbor loop from Bryggen past the Nordnes peninsula. Sat on a bench and watched fishing boats and cargo ships move through the port. Thought about how Bergen has been a port city for over a thousand years and how the Hanseatic merchants who built Bryggen would recognize the harbor's shape even if nothing else looked familiar.
Evening: last dinner at Enhjorningen, a restaurant in a 300-year-old building on Bryggen. Grilled halibut, local beer, candlelight, rain tapping on ancient windows. 380 NOK for the fish alone. Norway expensive? Absolutely. Worth it? In this moment, yes.
Weather report: Rain all day. I didn't open my umbrella once. I wore my waterproof jacket and walked through it.
Without hesitation. Bergen isn't a city that dazzles on first sight like Paris or dares you like New York. It earns you slowly — through the rain, through the fish soup, through the morning light on Bryggen's wooden walls, through the funicular rides and the fjord mist and the quiet mountain trails.
Bring rain gear. Bring a budget that can handle Norwegian prices (seriously, bring extra). Bring five days if you can spare them. And bring the willingness to love a city that rains 230 days a year and somehow smiles through every single one.
| Expense | Cost (NOK) | Cost (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Floyen funicular (return) | 95 | ~$9 |
| Ulriken cable car (return) | 200 | ~$19 |
| Bergen Card (24h) | 340 | ~$32 |
| Mostraumen fjord cruise | 600 | ~$57 |
| Fish market fish soup | 130 | ~$12 |
| King crab legs | 280 | ~$27 |
| Local beer (pint) | 100 | ~$10 |
| Casual dinner | 300-400 | ~$29-38 |
| Supermarket lunch | 60-80 | ~$6-8 |
| Airport light rail | 40 | ~$4 |
