Lodging:
We loved the location of this hotel and the breakfast, however our room was very small! Overall, I definitely recommend this hotel, but would spring for a bigger room.
Clarion Hotel Bergen Airport (stayed here our last night before departure)
Probably as good of an airport hotel as you could hope for! Just a 5 minute’s walk to the terminal (and the tram that goes into the city). Clean & comfortable room and great breakfast. Recommended if you want to stay by the airport ahead of your flight (and bookable using Chase credit card points)!
Activities:
Rode the Fløibanen funicular up the hill for great views of Bergen, and some nice paved walking/hiking trails.
Walked around the Bryggen area (old wooden buildings dating from the 1700s), there are some tourist shops/cafes, a pleasant area to spend a couple of hours.
Walking tour (we did one through AirBnb, it was good enough but not the most amazing walking tour I’ve ever been on). I wanted to check out this one, but it was all sold out.
We also spent some time in the big mall downtown, not the most culturally enriching activity but was a good way to pass some time on our last day before our dinner plans!
Eats & Drinks:
Cafes
Kaffemisjonen - good coffee spot close to the center of town
Daily Pot - Apparently this is #1 on TripAdvisor, it’s a casual and healthy spot with bowls and soups, we had a yummy lunch there!
Løvetann cafe - Located a short walk outside the most touristy part of the city center, they had brunchy food and salad, in a cute neighborhood. A nice spot for lunch.
La Taqueria - My boyfriend was really curious to try tacos in Norway but as you might expect they were not the best tacos we’ve ever had.
Dinner spots
Fresco Hallen- This spot, inside the elegant Hotel Bergen Børs has recently opened. Beautiful dining room, great cocktails, and tasty dinner!
Damsgård - This was a steakhouse, of everywhere we ate in Bergen we felt this was the only place that seemed overpriced. We went there as it was close to where my local friend lives, but it’s not worth going out of your way for.
Spisekroken - Very cute tiny spot with a small menu, but was the only place we ever saw chicken on a menu in Norway! All three of us ordered the chicken and it was delicious, tasted like a Thanksgiving meal :)
Bars
No Stress bar- Cute and cozy spot with inventive cocktails
Dark & Stormy - Possibly trying too hard to be Instagrammable, but we enjoyed some tropical beverages here on our last night.
Note on transit to/from the airport:
Taxis from the airport to Bergen center are very expensive! We paid $90 for ~11 miles of driving, about a 20-25 min. drive.
If you don’t mind a longer commute, the metro is only about $5 per person, and takes about an hour and runs every 15 min (we took it twice, it was as clean and pleasant as you’d expect)
We never took an Uber, but looked at prices and they were about $60 to/from the airport.
Our first stop was Bergen, which has a great combination of natural beauty and historical old buildings.
Selfie by the Bergen waterfront
We arrived late at night our first day, so went right to bed to rest up for our next day’s adventures! We started with a delicious and plentiful breakfast at our hotel, and then set off for some slightly better quality coffee and some exploring.
Right in the city center, there’s a funicular that we took up, to enjoy beautiful views of Bergen from above.
Views from the top of the funicular
We were also pleasantly surprised to discover several paved easy hiking trails, it was so cool to get out into nature just steps from the city. We opted to walk down from the top, where we saw tons of school groups- what a fun field trip!
Nature at your fingertips in Bergen!
From here, we wandered around, Bryggen, a historical and touristy area of the city based around buildings that originally housed fish traders. Today it’s mostly souvenir shops but was charming nonetheless.
Beautiful Bryggen
Years ago, on a trip to Argentina, I met Lars- a native Norwegian who gave me tons of tips for our trip! We were lucky enough to hang with him several times on our trip, pestering him with all our Norway questions and enjoying some fun restaurants and bars together.
Dinner with Lars in the beautiful restaurant Fresco Hallen
Our second day in Bergen, we got to experience the city’s characteristic rainy weather. Not ideal for a walking tour, but we survived thanks to our waterproof clothing. We learned about the history of Bryggen and its Hanseatic traders, and learned a bit about modern-day Norway.
Surviving our walking tour
After lunch in a cute neighborhood a bit outside the center, we had a jetlagged-induced nap! Well-rested again, we met up again with Lars and his friend for another fun dinner at a Norwegian steakhouse (who knew!).
Picturesque houses in Bergen
Our final day, we packed up our bags and took the convenient metro out to the airport to get our rental car (Hertz was extremely disorganized, very surprising to us as most things in Norway seem to run much more smoothly!).
From here, we set out for our road trip adventures! Our first stop was Tyssedal to do the famous Trolltunga hike!