Two days exploring Bergen, Norway (sample itinerary)

“This is the best day of the trip so far,” Dad said, multiple times during our first full day in Norway. “By a factor of about 10.”

What was not to like? He was in his motherland for the first time ever!

Defying expectations, Bergen was warm and sunny.

Because we arrived two nights before we needed to board our Havila Coastal Voyage, we had plenty of time to check out all Bergen’s sights: the Bryggen old town, Bryggens Museum, the fortress, the fish market, the Fløibanen funicular, and — best of all — a tiny museum known as the Resistance Room.

Feel free to copy my relaxed two-day Bergen itinerary!

What to do on your first day in Bergen

If you only have one day in Bergen, stick to the itinerary we followed on our first day: Bryggen Walking Tour, fortress, fish market, Bryggen Museum, Fløibanen.

But if you have even a partial second day, this section is followed by more ideas for things to do in Bergen.

We visited Bergen at the start of our Havila Coastal Voyage to Kirkenes. At the end of our second day’s itinerary, we picked up our bags from the hotel and headed to the Jektevik Terminal to board the Havila Castor. 

Bergen itinerary stop 1: Bryggen

Erik, Toth and I had a walking tour of the Bryggens Museum and the UNESCO World Heritage Bryggen historic area at 11 a.m. So we met in the lobby of the Moxy Bergen at around 10 to head down there via bus.

(Ideas on more centrally located places to stay in Bergen before boarding your Havila or Hurtigruten voyage.)

Strolling over to the bus stop was no problem, but a bus didn’t come as soon as we expected it. Once we finally got aboard, it was a short ride. I used my credit card to pay for our two senior tickets, two adults and one child. I sat next to a toddler, and enjoyed learning some Norwegian words, notably, “Bybussen!” (“city bus”)

We hopped off the bus in front of the historic, colorful buildings that feature on every Bergen postcard. This is Bryggen, aka the Hanseatic Wharf. These buildings, we would learn during the Bryggen walking tour, are reconstructions of the ones that once housed Hanseatic League stockfish warehouses.

Before the tour, we needed coffee. We found a delicious latte — and a waffle for Toth — at Kafe Kaf.

We explored the warren of cobblestone streets behind the facades. We popped into genuinely old buildings with low doorways, mostly housing souvenir shops.

Then it was time for our walking tour. You can read my description of the walking tour, called “Bryggen Guiding,” here.

During our tour, Mom and Dad explored Bryggen on their own. When our tour was over, we found them enjoying their tea and coffee at a sidewalk cafe.

Bergen itinerary stop 2: the fish market

The fish market, a short walk from Bryggen along the waterfront, is inside a series of tents. Walk through and check out the displays of shellfish and fresh fish on ice, as well as dry sausages — moose, reindeer and whale.

Take a table at one of the many restaurants inside the Fish Market. Some are open to the waterfront, while others are protected by plastic windows.

The five of us spent about $250 on lunch and drinks. What we ate:

• prawns appetizer
• a fish skewer, with chunks of different kinds of fish
• whale steak (tasted similar to beef)
• a small portion of king crab

Bergen itinerary stop 3: The Fortress

After lunch, walk over to the fortress, taking in the waterfront vibe. On a nice day, you may see folks kicking back on anchored boats, having champagne and lunch. Watch for sauna boats!

The fortress sits at the opposite end of the harbor from the Fish Market. Entering the fortress is free, and it was fun to just look around at the old stone buildings.

We poked our head into the Rosenkrantz Tower ($14 per person). The sign promised a medievel dungeon. But the staff warned us that there were lots and lots of stairs inside, so we skipped it. This castle was the home of the last Norwegian royal court based Bergen, under King Eirik Magnusson.

We couldn’t explore the whole fortress; a large section was blocked off for a live performance of the musical Mama Mia! It was fun to see people streaming in to see this. It was also interesting that the spectators left item that apparently weren’t allowed inside — water bottles, umbrellas and a few bags — just piled up on the fortress cobblestones. I guess people really don’t steal in Norway.

Bergen itinerary stop 4: Bryggens Museum

Since our walking tour tickets allowed Erik, Toth and I to re-enter the Bryggens Museum for free, we decided to go back.

While we were getting Mom and Dad’s tickets, Dad made a friend. Sebastian, a young museum curator, happened to be a scholar of oral traditions. He expressed specific interest in the Norwegian disaspora. Sebastian listened attentively to everything that Dad had to say about growing up with Norwegian immigrants as grandparents, and he tried to answer Dad’s questions.

Sebastian asked us in return if we really said “Uff-da!” in Wisconsin and we laughed about that. Mostly as a joke, we explained. He said the celebration of this phrase among Norwegian Americans was puzzling to Norwegians, since he himself would consider it an old fashioned and stilted thing to say.

Dad would probably have rather kept chatting with his new friend all day instead of going into the museum, but eventually we dragged him away. I wanted to show him the “Gyda says go home” runestick. 

We all enjoyed the museum for an hour or so. Then we shopped in the gift shop while Dad rested on the stairs and his friend showed up to chat some more. After we left, Dad said he wished we could invite Sebastian back to the hotel with us for dinner. I was really happy Dad had made a connection.

Bergen itinerary stop 5: Mount Fløyen 

Then we strolled over to the Fløibanen and bought tickets (round trip NOK145/$15 per adult, NOK75/$8 per child, NOK100/$10 for seniors).

The car you ride in resembles a ski resort gondola. You sit on benches facing one another, with each bench seating about five people.

I thought the ride would be really scenic, but you don’t actually see much fromo the Fløibanen. The view comes when you disembark at the top.

At the top of the Fløibanen, you can stand at the edge of a large paved platform and take in all of Bergen.

We could see the park and fountain in the center, the harbor split by the Nordnes peninsula, the sea, some islands at the periphery of the city, and woods to the inland side.

It was all just stunning, especially in the sunshine. Off to one side, a safe distance down the hillside, a bee box buzzed with honeybees.

Buy yourself some ice cream or a beer, and relax at one of the tables near the railing. After a busy day, it felt nice to sit back, enjoy the view and chat.

What to do on your second day in Bergen

If you are lucky enough to have even a partial second day in Bergen, here are some itinerary ideas.

In this section, we’ll look at what to do in Bergen after you have already explored Bryggen, taken the Bryggens Guiding walking tour, visited the Bryggens Museum and theSchøtstuene, the fortress, the fish market and the Fløibanen funicular.

If you are taking a Havila or Hurtigruten cruise out of Bergen, these are things you could do on embarkation day, before you head to the Jektevik Terminal to check in at around 4 p.m.

Bergen itinerary stop 6: Walk around the city center and Nordnes

While my parents enjoyed the buffet breakfast at the Moxy Bergen, I took myself on a solo walk around Bergen.

I started smack in the middle of Bergen’s sentrum, at Smalungeren Park, which has a five acre lake, Lille Lungegårdsvannet, with a spurting fountain in the middle (you can see this from Mount Fløyen). I visited a bakery at the edge of the park, Godt Brod.

I admired statues on a building that turned out to be the courthouse.

A young man leaned his bicycle against the wall of a shop across the street and went in. I marveled that these people live in a modern city yet don’t have to lock up their bikes.

I was actually trying to walk to the Jektevik Terminal, just so I could scope the place out before our 4 p.m. check-in for our Havila Coastal Voyage. I headed in the right general direction — toward the water — but I accidentally ended up in the charming neighborhood of Nordnes, a peninsula that separates Bergen’s Hanseatic wharf area from the ferry terminal.

Discovering Nordnes was a happy accident! I saw lots of cute houses and historic buildings, I saw so many cool statues!

Also in Nordnes, I saw the The National Aquarium, with lots of families outside. An employee with a megaphone was telling the crowd something in Norwegian. Probably: “Look at all these fish!”

I enjoyed lots of little Bergen scenes — folks hiking a trail down to the water, a playground with the mountains looming in the background, another fort I didn’t know existed:

I finally arrived at the Jektevik Terminal (Jekteviksterminalen), and crossed a huge parking lot to the embarkation building. Most of Bergen is pedestrian-friendly, but there are some busy roads and wide open spaces around the ferry terminal.

There were families here, sitting on piles of luggage. Inside, a couple of ladies in uniforms smiled when I asked if this was where we could check in for the Havila Castor. Yes, they said, but not until 4 p.m. First they had to process the ferry from (or to?) Denmark.

Bergen itinerary stop 7: The Theta Museum, aka The Resistance Room

I returned to the Moxy Bergen to help my family place our luggage in free lockers. Then we took the bus back to Bryggen. My parents had been reading about the Norwegian resistance in World War II, and I had an exciting surprise for them: I’d found out about a tiny museum upstairs of one of the Bryggen warehouses.

The Theta Museum, aka The Resistance Room, is the smallest museum in Norway! It’s the real headquarters of the Theta Group, a bunch of young people who hid out here and sent radio messages to England during the Nazi occupation of Norway.

Because it’s run by volunteers who make one-on-one presentations to small groups of visitors, the resistance museum is only open on certain days and times. On the day of our visit, a Sunday, the Resistance Room opened at 2 p.m. It costs about $8 per adult.

There isn’t a lot of signage pointing to the Theta Museum; if you weren’t looking for it, you probably wouldn’t happen upon it. The museum entrance is up one outdoor flight of stairs. From there, signs point up a steeper stairway to the tiny room.

Inside, you’ll find a coffee table surrounded by chairs and a couch that visitors sit on while a docent stands and tells the story. If you get there mid-presentation, the docent will probably catch you up on what you missed, after they finish the spiel.

The door of the room was rigged with an elaborate, homemade lock and alarm system. The small room held a desk with a typewriter, as well as some living supplies like a sink.

The curator told the story of the Resistance Room:

• The young people composed messages and worked on breaking codes here, but sent wireless messages from a different location so as not to give away their position.
  
• The room was reconstructed after the war, based on one of the student’s detailed drawings. The coffee table was original.
  
• The students would meet only in small groups, or come alone, to avoid bringing attention to the nondescript door.

All in all, we felt very lucky to have been in Bergen when the Theta Room was open. What a phenomenal piece of WWII resistance history!

It felt eerie to be in the very room where brave young Norwegians conspired against their Nazi occupiers, knowing all the while that getting caught would mean death.

I would highly recommend looking into a visit to the Theta Room!

Bergen itinerary stop 8: Bergenhus Fortress Museum

While the Theta Room is special and unusual, the Fortress Museum, aka the Festningsmuseum, is a pretty standard military museum. Not a must-see unless you’re really into that sort of thing.

The ground floor displays lots of photos of the Norwegian military after WWII but nothing about the Resistance.

The resistance exhibit, upstairs, displays code machines, soldiers’ personal belongings and more. Unfortunately, when we visited, the elevator was broken, so my father didn’t get to see the exhibit.

That was our itinerary for 1.5 days in Bergen: Several museums, a nice lunch at the Fish Market, a lot of walking, and a scenic funicular ride.

Bergen is such a nice little city! Like with most cities, my favorite part was just walking around.

Other ideas for your Bergen itinerary:

• Fjord cruise. We didn’t do this because we were about to board a six-day cruise up the Norwegian coast, which would bring us through Geraingerfjord, Trollfjord and many other gorgeous fjords. But if I were visiting Bergen as part of Norway in a Nutshell or just on its own, I would definitely include a boat tour. The four-hour Mostraumen Fjord Cruise is highly recommended.
  
• Hike Mt. Fløyen. Since we had older folks with us, we took the funicular both ways. But a lot of folks like to take the funicular up, then take a leisurely, one-hour walk down.
  
• Sauna boat. I loved jumping from a sauna boat into the fjord in Oslo, and I wish I had had the time for a sauna boat in Bergen.
  
• One-day Norway in a Nutshell trip to Flam. Cruise the UNESCO World Heritage Nærøyfjord, ride the Flåmsbana, the most scenic railway in the world — and be back at your Bergen hotel by bedtime with this 8-hour Flam tour. The operators cut a little time on this day trip by driving you to Gudvangen and picking you up in Voss, so that you only ride the train for the most scenic sections of the Norway in a Nutshell tour.
  
• Street curling?? If you enjoyed watching curling in the Olympics as much as I did, guess what? Turns out you can do curling at the Alltid Opplett bar in Bergen — without the ice.
  
• Ice bar. Did someone say ice? If you’ve ever wanted to check out one of those bars where everything is made of ice — even the glass you drink out of — here’s your chance at Magic Ice Bergen. (I happened to walk by this place, but I didn’t go. Instead, we went to the ice bar at the Snow Hotel in Kirkenes.)

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