Bergen was our main hub as we moved south, then east, then north. We always stopped in Bergen for a night before the next adventure. I completely fell in love with this city and would have loved to experience it for a few days in a row, rather than split up like I did. If you have a few days you can spend in Bergen, you definitely won’t regret it!

This city is extremely charming and quite walkable, too. If the distance is further than you’d care to walk, the light rail is easy to navigate and tickets last for 90 minutes. You can even purchase a 24 hour light rail pass, or if you’ll be there a few days, look into the Bergen Card. It gets you on the light rail and city buses for free, plus gives you discounts (and some free admissions) to museums. You can read up on the Bergen Card here.

One of the very first things I did in Norway was ride the funicular up to Mt. Floyen. As my luck would have it, it broke down at the second to last stop! We had the option to wait (with no estimate on how long it might take), or hike the rest of the way and catch it back down, provided it was in working order by then. For some reason, my friend and I thought it would be great to hike the rest of the way, after 30+ hours of no sleep and extreme jet lag. And you know what? 1 puff from the inhaler later, it wasn’t too bad!

You can hike this from the start, especially if you’re on a budget, it’s not particularly hard, but it is quite steep, so the lungs can get tired out easily. The funicular is a fun way to get to the top if you’re as exhausted as we were. There was a fun and interesting park at the top with unusual carvings and statues that we checked out.

There are such amazing views up here, the sun was starting to set and really just the perfect first day for me. For being known as an extremely rainy city, we were fortunate with beautiful sunny weather the majority of the time we were in Bergen. If you’re wanting to see these views, head to the funicular when you’re blessed with good weather. Hopefully it will still be that way when you get to the top! If it’s particularly dreary and you have time to see if it clears, I think it’s worth that extra wait. Of course if you’re on a stricter time schedule, that might not work for you.

The Fantoft Stave Church is so cool! This one is, in fact, an exact replica. The original was burned down in the 90’s. There is a fence around it, but it didn’t take away from the coolness at all.

It’s a pretty short walk from the light rail stop, though quite up hill on the way to it. I love that it’s surrounded by trees and walking paths. Even though the city is close by, it gives you a feeling of being much further in a remote area of a forest. I really enjoyed the peacefulness!

If you’re just there to see the church, this will probably be a quick stop. You could also pack a picnic and have a little meal nearby, if the weather is good. It’s definitely a good location for that.

Of course you’ll want to check out Bryggen. Unfortunately, when I was there, there was construction going on, so I couldn’t get that perfect shot.

But it’s still fun to explore the area, take a little stroll along the water, and check out the side streets. There are a lot of cute little spots around here that you might otherwise miss if you don’t check the area out on foot.

We really enjoyed our time exploring the area on foot, there are so many cute spots and cool architecture around.

Speaking of architecture, I have a thing for churches. I always want to photograph them and Bergen is full of really cool looking churches.

When you take off to explore on foot, there are a lot of cool buildings you’ll see along the way. I’m a huge advocate for exploring areas on foot because I feel like you miss too much if you rely heavily on busses, trains, etc.

Take your time exploring this beautiful and charming city, there is so much to see and a lot of fun things to do along the way. It’s also a great jumping point for day trips in the area, or overnight adventures. There are also plenty of vegan options in this city, if you’re needing plant based options.

I had an awesome time in Bergen and would absolutely love to go back one day!