A Winter Break in Bergen, Norway

We spent three days in Bergen just before Christmas and it was glorious. Before this trip, I held a somewhat irrational fear of visiting cold places at cold times. Now that I've seen the magical winter wonderland of Bergen, I'm contemplating ski trips in France and more visits to Scandinavian countries in winter. I barely recognise myself.

A Walkable City

Bergen is a very walkable city. We caught a tram from the airport to Kaigaten and then walked the short way to our hotel. We bought a weekly travel pass for less than £20 but we honestly didn't need it. You'll want to walk everywhere in Bergen.

As many of you know, I often travel with my disabled mum and see cities through a lens of accessibility, even when I travel without her. With its wide, flat walkways, much of Bergen is accessible for people with mobility issues. The areas around the shopping precinct and harbour are most accessible while the hilly residential areas would be less so in very snowy conditions.

I would recommend our hotel Comfort Bergen for allowing easy, accessible access to most of the places we visited during our stay.

Bryggen

Bryggen is the most recognisable place in Bergen with its iconic, colourful buildings. I'm planning a dedicated, up close post on Bryggen but for now want to demonstrate how short the days are in Bergen in winter. The photo above was taken at dusk at 4.19pm...

... and this one was taken at 9.39am. It was still dark when we'd left our hotel minutes before.

Food and Drink in Bergen

No visit to Bergen would be complete without sampling the famous Trekroneren hot dogs. The hot dogs are absolutely delicious. I went for my favourite, bratwurst, while others in my party sample the reindeer.

We had two spectacular meals in Bergen. The first was at Fjellskål where we had seafood soup and octopus to start, and sugar-coated cod and traditionally cured herring for main course. We also went to Pingvinen where I sampled Lapskaus, a traditional Bergen lamb stew.

It was very cold in Bergen and we were thankful for our winter coats and thermal leggings. We were also thankful for the many warm coffee shops with delicious pastries.

We also discovered mulled rum at the Bergen Christmas Market and it became my favourite thing ever, more adored even than Baileys Hot Chocolate.

The Port of Bergen

This World War I memorial to local sailors reads "Fordum til sjömandens jammer og död, nu til hans velfaerd, tryghed og bröd" which translates as "Formerly for the sailor's lamentation and death, now for his welfare, security and bread". Despite my clumsy translation, I found this memorial to be quite moving.

Bergen is so full of history, with a rich Hanseatic heritage. The port of Bergen has held strategic importance since the city was founded in 1070.

Of more interest to classical music fans, Bergen was home to Edvard Grieg, composer of the Peer Gynt suite which is my favourite classical album.

Nighttime In Bergen

Bergen was magical at night and oh, so quiet. Perhaps it was the time of year? With two days to go before Christmas, people may have been at home with their families.

Or perhaps it was the quiet that descends on a city after hours of falling snow?

We enjoyed a marvellous three days in Bergen and would love to return in summer time and see the fjords. Check back over the next couple of weeks to see an astonishing meteorological phenomenon, a world heritage site, and my favourite day out in Bergen.