Bergen

Cruise ships dock at Skolten, Vagen Harbor, Bergen. Most ships dock at the Skolten cruise port from where it’s a short half-mile walk along the waterfront to the popular Bryggen wharf area. Larger ships may dock at the Dokken port, which is situated about half-a-mile west of the Fish Market. Free shuttle buses from the Dokken Port.

Bergen is the southern terminus for Hurtigruten, a week-long passenger ship route with stops along Norway's coast all the way to Kirkenes in the far north of Norway.

When sailing to and from Bergen, your ship will pass some impressive bridges and will zigzag to open waters, passing a lot of beautiful inlets and islands.

Printable map to take along.

There's a number of attractions in Bergen and the surrounding areas. Surveys do however show that most tourists in Bergen find the atmosphere, cultural landscape, and architecture more compelling than the typical sights, so pick a few things to see and spend the rest of your time in Bergen sitting down in a park or café, strolling around the city, enjoying a concert or hiking the mountains.

Bryggen - The World Heritage Site The very first buildings in Bergen were alongside the harbor called Bryggen, dated back to the 11th century. Distance from Bergen Port: 500 m

Bryggens Museum, in a beautiful modern building, is based on the findings of the archeological excavation of Bryggen between 1955 and 1972. Take a look at the foundations of the archeological buildings from the 12th century. Distance from Bergen Port: 500 m

Old Bergen: This is an open-air museum of characteristic 18th and 19th-century wooden houses. Placed on squares, streets and narrow alleys, you will find a bakery, a dentist, a photographer, a jeweler, a shopkeeper, a tailor etc. Distance from Bergen Port: 3 km

Haakon's Hall - Rosenkrantz Tower was built during the reign of King Haakon Haakonsson between 1247 and 1261. It was the largest and most imposing building of the royal residency in the 13th century when Bergen was the political center of Norway. Today used as Royal ceremonial hall, and located in the center of Bergen. Rosenkrantz Tower was built in the 1560s by the governor of Bergen Castle, (Bergenhus) Erik Rosenkrantz, and served as a combined residence and fortified tower. Distance from Bergen Port: 500 m

Bergen Aquarium: One of Europe's largest collections of fish and invertebrates from the North Sea, as well as tropical sea and freshwater sections. Outdoor and indoor pools where you can watch up-close the antics of seals and penguins. Super video graphs film on five screens of the aquarium. Distance from Bergen Port: 2 km

Hanseatic Museum / Schøttstuene: One of the oldest and best preserved wooden buildings in Bergen, furnished in the style of the 1700s to give an intimate picture of the life of the Hanseatic merchants. Distance from Bergen Port: 500 m

All buses which stop at the port will go to the center of town. Pay the driver directly in NOK for a ticket.

Within the city center, walking is the best way to get around. You can walk across the downtown in 20 minutes in any direction. The most central streets of the city generally has a good accessibility for the disabled.

You can also take a trip on the Floibanen (funicular) for amazing views over the whole of Bergen and the surrounding hills. About 2 km from port. At the top of Mount Floyen you can rent out a canoe for free with safety equipment at the lake at the top, or paddle board for a small price.

The Hop on/off bus stops right at the cruise terminal.

As an alternative to the funicular, there is also a cable car, the Ulricken 643 to Bergen’s highest mountain. A bus is available from the fish market & a combined bus, cable car ticket 245 NK or about 40 dollars US. A nice looking restaurant sits on top.

Norway is one of the most expensive countries in the world, so are the taxis.

Troldhaugen: Built in 1885, "Troldhaugen" was the home of the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, world famous for his Piano Concerts and Norwegian folk music. Distance from Bergen Port: 8 km

Bergen's famous outdoor Fish Market, offering a large variety of seafood specialties like salmon, cod, turbot, herring, crabs, lobster, shrimps etc. Distance from Bergen Port: 1 km. Nowadays it is a bit touristy, but still fun.

Torggaten is the main pedestrian mall and square surrounded by department stores, cafes and restaurants.

Bergen is your best bet for souvenir shopping. Norwegian sweaters, t-shirts, postcards, trolls, crystal, jewelry; it is all readily available. Remember that the shops at Bryggen (near the cruise ship dock) tend to be a lot more expensive than the stores in the center of town.

The Norwegian currency is the Norwegian crown (Norske krone), abbreviated kr. A 1/100th krone is called øre. 1.00 EUR = about 9 NOK. Norway is one of the most expensive countries in the world!

ATMs in Norway are called Minibank.

Nearly all stores accept major credit cards such as Mastercard and Visa (Bring your passport/driver's license, as you are required to identify yourself when using a credit card).

Norwegian is the official language of Norway. The language is very close and mutually intelligible with the two other Scandinavian languages, English is widely spoken.

McDonalds and other cafes will offer free WiFi.

Opening hours in Norway are better than they used to be but many smaller stores still close early on Saturday (1 PM or 3 PM is typical) and nearly everything is closed on Sundays. You'll often see opening hours written as "9-21 (9-18)" on doors, meaning 9 AM to 9 PM weekdays, 9 AM to 6 PM Saturday.