Havila and Hurtigruten’s ships set out for their journey up Norway‘s lacy coast from the Jektevik Terminal in Bergen. You should arrive in Bergen at least one day before boarding your Hurtigruten or Havila Coastal Cruise — or any other cruise.
But where should you stay in Bergen before boarding your cruise?
Right off the bat, I’ll tell you that I do not recommend the charming and comfortable hotel where I stayed before our Bergen-Kirkenes cruise. Why not? I’ll tell you at the end of this post.
But first, know that Bergen is not just an embarkation point for your Norway cruise. Bergen is a fascinating historic city with lovely sculptures, beautiful neighborhoods to stroll, informative museums, a scenic funicular ride and delicious seafood. Don’t rush right from the Bergen Airport to the Jektevik Terminal! Stay a day — or more — and get to know Bergen. (I especially recommend the Bryggen Walking tour, which includes entry to the Bryggens Museum and the Schøtstuene.)
In this lodging guide, I’m sharing my experience staying in Bergen and my insight as a travel expert on where to stay on your trip to Bergen, especially if you’re there at the start (or end) of a Havila or Hurtigruten coastal cruise.
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Top places to stay in Bergen before boarding a coastal cruise
There’s a good reason that everyone recommends you stay overnight in the departure city before boarding a cruise. If your flight is late, you don’t want to miss embarkation! Ships wait for no one. Staying an overnight in Bergen also gives you a better chance of starting your cruise with your checked baggage in hand.
Besides, Bergen is a charming and historic city with at least one to two days’ worth of sights to see.
Bergen has plenty of hotels, as well as a few VRBOs and other rental properties. And Bergen has great transportation options to get you from any neighborhood to the Jektevik port, where the Havila and Hurtigruten ships depart. Still, I would not recommend booking just anywhere in Bergen. This post will go through the most fun and convenient Bergen neighborhoods for a pre-coastal-cruise stay, and highlight a few ideal properties to stay in. We’ll look at hotels and VRBO rentals. (I also love staying in HomeExchanges, but most HomeExchange hosts don’t want to host guests for just one night, so we’ll skip that option in this post.)
Lodging in Bryggen near Bergen’s main historic sights
Especially if you have only one night in Bergen, I recommend staying in the central historic district: Bryggen. You’ll be on the waterfront, so you can watch the sauna boats and other vessels cruise along. Staying in this compact area, you can easily walk to Bergen’s top attractions: The Bryggens historic buildings (I recommend the Bryggen walking tour) and Bergen’s museums. You can easily also walk to the Fish Market and the funicular to Mount Floyen.
One highly rated hotel in the heart of Bryggen is the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel. It’s so perfectly located in the row of old wooden warehouses that my parents ended up spending the morning at one of the Radisson’s sidewalk tables, enjoying their coffee in the sunshine. I also like the fact that Radisson Hotels has loyalty points, so you could save up Radisson points for your Bergen pre-cruise stay. Of course, staying right in Bryggen isn’t going to be the budget option: A standard room will run you $250 or more.
Bryggen isn’t really a residential neighborhood, so you don’t see home rentals or home exchange properties right in the historic walk area. But there are a couple of private homes you could stay in pretty close to Bryggen. This two-bedroom apartment, listed for under $200 a night, is right next to Bryggen. It has great reviews (if you have limited mobility, note that the second bedroom is only accessible via spiral staircase).
Stay in the city center, Torgallmenningen before your Havila cruise
If you’d rather get a taste of Bergen life instead of focusing on history, consider one of the many hotels right downtown. Torgallmenningen is Bergen’s main square, and there you can find lots of shops, cafes and churches. You’re still a short walk or rail ride from Bryggen’s historic sights as well.
If I were to stay in Torgallmenningen, I would consider the Bergen Børs Hotel. Why? The building is the old stock exchange, and the cavernous lobby looks absolutely gorgeous! If you can’t stay there, at least stop in to take a look.
Like many Scandinavian hotels, the Bergen Børs puts on a lavish and nutritious breakfast spread that will probably hold you over until your dinner reservation on board your ship.
Another highly recommended Torgallmenningen hotel is the Hotel Norge by Scandic. Some friends stayed there recently with a family of four and called it “pricey” but also said they liked it. They especially enjoyed the hearty buffet breakfasts that Scandic hotels are famous for.
If you’d rather have your own kitchen to prepare dinner, check out this one-bedroom Torgallmenningen VRBO with a rooftop terrace and an elevator. The light rail, or bybanen, is steps from the building’s front door. It’s highly rated by travelers and rents for about $200 a night.
Stay in adorable Nordnes and walk to the Havila terminal
While on a walk around Bergen in the morning before we boarded our Havila Coastal Voyage, I discovered a picturesque neighborhood on a peninsula jutting into the Bergen harbor. The neighborhood, full of colorful wooden houses and narrow streets sloping down to the water, is called Nordnes.
If I get the chance to return to Bergen, I’ll definitely stay in Nordness. For this neighborhood, my first choice would be a rental house! In fact, because it’s a residential area, most of the lodging in Nordnes is homes. This two-bedroom VRBO rental has an amazing view across the water of Bryggen. According to the listing, it’s only an 8-minute walk from the Jektevik Terminal where Havila and Hurtigruten ships board.
If you’d rather stick to a hotel in Nordnes, check out the Klosterhagen Hotel, which rents for $250 to around $300 a night. The Klosterhagen is in an old building that perfectly fits into the neighborhood, but each room has very modern showers and other amenities.
Stay near the airport if you get in late the night before your coastal cruise
Normally I don’t love to stay at an airport hotel, preferring to be walking distance from sights. But if you’re getting in late and just need somewhere to lay your head, there are plenty of hotels right by Bergen’s airport.
I would opt for the Thon Hotel Bergen Airport. Thon is such a reliable brand in Scandinavia! This particular Thon gets rave reviews for its cleanliness — and of course, for the famous Thon breakfast.
In the morning, you can take the nearby tram downtown, store your bags at a hotel or at the ferry port lockers, and explore Bergen before boarding the ship. I would not leave your bags at the airport Thon, since you’d just have to take a longer trip back to retrieve them before boarding your Havila or Hurtigruten ship.
Don’t stay in Årstad before your Havila cruise like I did
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the burough of Årstad. We stayed at the Moxy Bergen there, and the Moxy Bergen hotel (click for my review) itself was lovely. Friendly staff, a cute lobby/restaurant area for cocktails and breakfast (not included for all guests).
Årstad is just a little farther from the heart of things, especially if, like my dad, you can’t walk far. If you are open to long walks, the Moxy Bergen actually is walking distance from the Jektevik terminal. In fact, my husband and mom rolled our luggage there! Walking to Bryggen from Årstad would take about 36 minutes. But we took the light rail to Bryggen both days.
My main disappointment with staying in Årstad wasn’t so much having to take transit to Bryggen. It was just that when we wanted to stay around the hotel, it felt like there was no one walking around. It feels a little industrial or office park-ish. That said, you have a lovely waterfront and mountain view from inside the hotel.
How to use your time in Bergen before boarding a cruise
Boarding for Hurtigruten and Havila cruises begins at the Jektevik Terminal around 4 p.m. So if you arrive in Bergen the morning before your cruise, you should have more than 24 hours to explore the city. A sample itinerary:
- 11 a.m. land (just an example)
- 12 p.m. board Bybanen (light rail) Line 1 for central Bergen
- 1 p.m. ask your hotel for early check in, or store your baggage at hotel until check-in (the Moxy Bergen was able to check us in a little early, although the process was slow)
- 3 p.m. take the Floibanen funicular to the top of Mount Fløyen to get an aerial view of Bergen, and enjoy a beer or ice cream.
- 5 p.m. enjoy an early dinner at the Bergen Fish Market
- 7 p.m. have an early night at your hotel
- 8 a.m. breakfast at your hotel
- 9 a.m. store your bags at your hotel and head out to explore Bergen
- 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. check out Bryggen, including the Bryggen Museum.
- Don’t eat a late or big lunch, because you’ll want to enjoy your first dinner aboard your Havila or Hurtigruten ship!
- 3 p.m. retrieve your bags and take a taxi (or walk) to the Jektevik Terminal to check in for your cruise
You can find even more Bergen lodging options by searching below:
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