Bergen in 1 day: what to see in the Norwegian Fjord Heritage City

When you consider a trip to the Norwegian Fjords, surely the city of Bergen It's on your route.

In fact, the image of the colorful houses of his Bryggen neighborhood It is one of the icons of this region of a beautiful Scandinavian country, very visited by tourists in summer, and where it is well worth travel out of seasonEven in winter.

I tell you that the image of Bergen postcard I am sure that after your trip it will remain in your retina forever.

That image is the best current reflection of the Bergen history, a city that until the 13th century was the capital of Norway,

Curiosities of the history of Bergen and the Hanseatic League

But above all, this history has been linked to the Hanseatic League, That association of northern European cities which was established in the 14th century for commercial purposes.

While Bergen It never belonged to said association, but it became an enclave of great importance for German trade in northern Europe.

Nowadays Bergen has been declared Heritage awarded by the Unesco, and it is a preferred city to visit for those of us who travel to Norway.

How to get to Bergen from Spain

To get to Bergen from Spain, in the summer season you have direct flights from Barcelona, ​​and from its airport, which is 17 kilometers from the city center, you will arrive in about 30-40 minutes.

The rest of the year you must opt ​​for a flight with a stopover, specifically, in Oslo.

How to visit Bergen by cruise

Of course, currently the city of Bergen It is also one of the fixed stages on the route of the Norwegian fjord cruises.

In fact, in addition to oil and fishing, one of its main sources of income is , making, yes, Bergen In summer it is full of cruise passengers.

Furthermore, it is a city where the cruise ship It reaches the port, so that tourists can walk to the center, since it is small and very easy to visit.

From Bergen cruise passengers also do excursions in the surrounding areaas the sail a boat through the fjord, climb on the Flam Train or make one Hardangerfjord excursion.

If you are going to go to this Norwegian city on a cruise ship, here you can sign up for a Bergen tour for cruise passengers in which with a guide in spanish and lasting four hours, you will quickly visit the main corners of the city.

If, on the other hand, you want to avoid mass tourism that is concentrated in Bergen for almost the entire summer, our experience I can confirm that if you travel outside the summer season, even in winter, you will know the most indigenous Bergen.

That is, a small town with a fishing tradition, very picturesque and with great charm.

This is what it's like to visit Bergen, what to see and do

Bergen It is a city that is surrounded by seven hills, at the entrance to a fjord 15 kilometers long.

As a curiosity, I will also tell you that it is classified as smart city for the garbage recycling system with 470 containers in the city.

In this way, thanks to a turbine system, the garbage travels at 70 km/h to the outskirts of the city, where it is recycled.

In order to plan your Bergen visit, and with experience of several visits, here I suggest the best places to see during it, and what are the most interesting corners of what is perhaps the most beautiful city in Norway.

On the other hand, you also have the option of signing up for a private tour of Bergen with guide in spanish, and here you go another private tour option.

Bryggen, a World Heritage Site in Bergen

Without a doubt the most outstanding corner that you will see in Bergen is the one mentioned above Bryggen neighborhood, where you will find the most charming buildings in the hanseatic city.

Surely when you imagine your trip to the Norwegian Fjords The image comes to mind of a row of houses with colorful facades that make up a very beautiful scene in a sea port.

This is the front of the aforementioned neighborhood, one of the icons of the aforementioned norwegian fjords,

I did not have the opportunity to enjoy his visit because it was my first trip to Bergen during the return route trip to North Cape It coincided with a day of very intense rain, something that, I won't hide from you, is quite common since it is the city where it rains the most in all of Norway.

But on my last trips the weather has reconciled me with Bergen and I have been able to enjoy this iconic image and take dozens of photographs.

Of its historical interest, you have as a reference the fact that since 1979 this iconic city of the Norwegian fjords has been part of the World Heritage of the Unesco.

El Bryggen's old dock quarter is the exponent of the importance that Bergen city It was part of the aforementioned from the 14th to the 16th century. Hanseatic League,

Its historical antecedents date back to the end of the 11th century, when Bryggen It became an important trade center on the routes through the North Sea.

What was the Hanseatic League

Three centuries later the aforementioned Hanseatic League, a first germ of what is now the European Union.

It was a commercial and defense alliance that since the 14th century united several cities in northern Germany, the Netherlands and other countries on the banks of the Baltic Sea.

While the Norwegian city of Bergen Initially it was not part of the Hanseatic League, in 1360 German merchants established an office in the port, as happened in other cities such as Witches y London.

Later, over the centuries Bryggen It suffered numerous fires caused by its configuration with houses built with wood.

The commercial presence of the Germans continued until the end of the 2.000th century, so that until then there was a community of up to XNUMX German merchants.

Although until the year 1900 Bryggen It maintained great commercial vigor, in the following years it went into decline and its point of greatest depression was reached coinciding with the last fire it suffered in 1955.

This is the visit to the Hanseatic neighborhood of Bryggen

From then on, this beautiful neighborhood of colorful wooden houses, former headquarters of shops and warehouses, little by little it was revitalized again.

Key to this was the arrival of a community of artists and designers that were giving it a new life.

The protection provided by the declaration of Heritage has been the necessary step so that in recent decades Bryggen has become a great tourist attraction.

A good reflection of this boom is that the image of its maritime front, as I have mentioned, has become one of the icons of the Norway fjords.

To the point that they take maximum care of this image, even covering the facades with decorated canvases when they are being restored, as coincided with my last trip and you can see in the photo below.

Nowadays Bryggen It is configured with 62 wooden buildings, all of which were built after the great fire suffered in 1702.

In your walk through the Bryggen neighborhood You will go through narrow alleys and find restaurants and various shops, especially artisans and designers.

En Bryggen You can also visit a museum that shows excavations carried out between 1955 and 1972.

And, likewise, next to the neighborhood you can visit another museum dedicated to the presence of the Hanseatic League in Bergen.

In short, Bryggen It is that corner that well justifies a trip to the Norwegian Fjords, where you will find those images that you will be looking forward to seeing and which you will not tire of photographing.

Hanseatic Museum in Bergen

Next to Bryggen you can visit the hanseatic museum dedicated to the history of Bergen's connection with the aforementioned trade association.

You can also see some curious buildings like the old one Meat Market, now converted into a shopping center with cafe Starbucks included.

St. Mary's Church in Bergen

Also in this area of ​​the port is the church of Santa Maria, which was built in 1140, and is the oldest building preserved in the city.

De romantic style, was bombed during the Second World War, and of its four covers, the most notable is the south one for preserving its Romanesque decoration with plant elements and lions on the capitals.

Fish market in the port of Bergen

Another place very visited by tourists is the Fish market which is next to the port.

It is actually an open-air market that you can see in summer with several stalls where you can buy fish and seafood, as well as taste Norwegian fish specialties.

Or even curious sausages made with reindeer or whale meat.

Near this market, next to the headquarters of the Bergen tourist office, there is a glass building with various restaurants, the Fish Me Fishmarket, a very visited place where you can also eat fish dishes.

Walk along the Nordnes Peninsula in Bergen

In south shore of Bergen harbor, opposite to the aforementioned Bryggen neighborhood, it is worth walking through Strandsiden neighborhood, where there are beautiful corners with wooden houses.

You can also see the Nykirken church from the mid-1621th century, whose origin is one built in XNUMX on the foundations of the old archiepiscopal palace.

Walk through the center of Bergen

Beyond exploring the surroundings of the port, you can also stroll through the streets of the city ​​center, which will not take you much time since all its main corners and monuments are very concentrated.

The Plaza de la Piedra Azul is the nerve center of the city, and from there you can see the church of san juan, the largest and tallest in Bergen.

Built in 1893, it is an architectural copy of Oslo Cathedral.

There you also find a curious monument dedicated to fishermen in which you discover that the Vikings never had horns on their helmets.

Statue of Edvard Grieg in Bergen

On that walk you will see some gardens, like the one at the Festplasen square, which you will recognize by its music kiosk, and because it is located next to a small pond,

In these gardens you will be struck by the statue dedicated Edvard Grieg, famous Norwegian composer.

St. Olaf's Cathedral in Bergen

In this area you can also see the St. Olaf's Cathedral in Bergen, whose origins date back to a church built by the Franciscans around the year 1150, which was seriously damaged in two fires that occurred in the mid-XNUMXth century.

With the arrival in Norway of the Lutheran Reformation In 1527, the church that was in ruins was restored by the first Lutheran bishop, and had to be rebuilt again due to other fires in the XNUMXth century.

In the 19th century it was restored again, the rococo decoration disappearing from its interior, leaving it with the current, more austere style in line with that of the original Franciscan church.

Kode Museum in Bergen

In your trip to Bergen You can also spend some time visiting an interesting art collection, which is located in the Kode museum.

Distributed in four different buildings, in this museum you can see, among others, works by Pablo Picasso y Paul Klee, although it is worth highlighting in the Code 3 the collection of the famous Norwegian artist Edvard Munch.

Take the funicular to the Floyen viewpoint in Bergen

Although the most iconic images of a Norwegian fjord city are those of Alesund from the viewpoint of Mount AkslaI will tell you that it is also very worth it go up to a viewpoint in Bergen.

Specifically, to Mount Floyen viewpoint you will arrive through the Floibanen funicular (round trip price, 9,50 euros) whose station is very close to the port.

With hours from 8 in the morning to 11 at night, in just five minutes you will go up to a viewpoint from which you have excellent panoramic views of Bergen with its famous port and the Bryggen neighborhood in the foreground.

Boat trip on the Bergen Fjord

If in your Bergen visit you have time to enjoy Adventure activities, you have the possibility of signing up for one of the fjord excursions, which are done by speedboat with different durations.

On these excursions you will sail through the fjord and have a very different vision from the more typical visit to Bergen.