Bergen

When I was asked to speak at a conference in Oslo I immediately wondered if I could turn it into a work/holiday trip. There is only a direct flight to Oslo on specific days in September so I thought well rather than having a stopover in London why not stop somewhere else in Norway. Wideroe fly directly from Dublin to Bergen on the west coast of Norway.

Bergen is well known as the starting port for Scandinavian cruises and as the wettest city in Europe. It rains two thirds of the year in Bergen. When I arrived into Bergen it was well and truly raining. I arrived at my hotel Citybox Denmarkplass and had some dinner in their restaurant Jaja. I went for a walk to the local park but it was lashing rain. So much so there were more ducks wandering around the park in comparison to people.

On my first full day to Bergen I started the morning with a coffee and a Norwegian cinnamon bun.
I joined a walking tour with Jeff explaining about the past and present of Bergen. We learned that Bergen was the largest city in Scandinavia during the middle age but unfortunately 70% of the population died during the Black plague leading to the deterioration in the city's global power. Norway was also ruled by both the Danish and Swedish for decades until 1905 when they voted for independence. During this vote the Norwegians also voted to reintroduce their royal family however as there was no royal blood left so they asked the King of Denmark to allow his second oldest grandson to be the King of Norway. It was agreed and the prince became King Haakon VII of Norway before his Dad or brother became Kings of Denmark.

We walked through an area by the port called Bryggen learning about their famous wooden buildings. These wooden buildings are statement architecture of Norway although they can't build a fully wooden house now due to fire risk. We continued walking around Bergen through the narrow alleyways and streets getting some views over the city.

After lunch and a rain break I decided to hike up Floyen mountain as the rain had died down. Bergen is surrounded by seven mountains and Floyen is the most famous as there is a funicular cable car that goes up to the top. I decided to hike up through the trails and at the start it was lovely however very quickly the misty rain returned making visibility difficult. The hike is 3km and took about 40 minutes but as visibility was poor at the top I didn't realise that I had reached the viewpoint until I was 10 minutes past it. I decided to get the funicular back down the mountain to get out of the rain as quickly as possible. I got a glimpse of the view of Bergen while coming back down the mountain before the rain started again.

On my final day in Bergen I was able to get out for a short hike in between showers. I walked along a trail called Løvstien which had a wooden bridge that ran along the mountains while also giving a good view of Bergen and Floyen mountains. It was really nice getting out into nature and being able to appreciate Bergen's nature when the rain wasn't falling. Bergen was a lovely area to visit and there are plenty of hiking spots and cruises to explore in the area although you'd have to be prepared to get wet.Read more