A plan for Bergen

The character of Bergen is defined by its location, surrounded by steep mountains and sea (straits and fjords). The city has many lakes. It is a typical Norwegian wooden town, even downtown there are notable neighbourhoods of small wooden houses in various styles. Few towns if any have so many wooden houses in the centre. In some areas wooden houses have been replaced by taller masonry structures, giving the city a fascinating mix of old and new.

Bergen is a sprawling city stretching some 40-50 km in either direction where the 286,000 inhabitants (2021) are separated by mountains, fjords and lakes. Only the central parts are visible from the panorama points at Mount Fløyen. The distant parts of the city are mostly of less interest to the visitor. The city centre is on the other hand compact and can be covered by walking for most visitors. Bergen is facing the ocean and coast, and the hinterland is relatively sparsely populated. Bergen is separated from eastern Norway by crooked fjords and wide, inhospitable mountain areas, and until the Bergen railway was built in 1909 the most practical transport east-west was several days sailing around the coast.

Cityscape

Central Bergen is characterized by a fascinating conglomerate of small, older wooden houses and newer masonry buildings as well as modern steel-and-glass structures. Bergen has some fine examples of functionalist architecture such as Kalmar House and Sundt shopping centre. "Brutalist" buildings include the science building at the university and the city hall.

Bergen grew organically from the small port and trading post at Bryggen from around year 1000. Because of frequent fires only some masonry buildings (notably Mariakirken and Håkonshallen) remain from the middle ages. But the city centre has retained many aspects of its ancient layout. Notable are the many wide streets or open spaces, called allmenning (commons), perpendicular to Vågen (the inner harbour). These allmennings often rise steeply from the waterfront. Torgallmenningen is not open to cars and defines the modern city centre. Ordinary streets in the medieval town were often long and more narrow, and ran parallel to the waterfront. Narrow and short streets, smug (alley), run among houses packed close together. Alleys are usually too narrow for cars and some are so steep that there are stairs.

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. On sunny summer days, stay downtown until late to enjoy the sunset in the north.

Panorama points

Because of its rugged landscape, Bergen has an abundance of panorama points and these give an intense feeling of space, notably Mt Fløyen and Mt Ulriken; these mountains are served by funicular and cable car, respectively, but are also available hiking for the sporty. At lower altitudes the Fjellveien panorama road and the highest point of Nordnes peninsula are easily available. Sandviksbatteriet just above Sandviken hospital also offers excellent panorama. The Montana residential area at the foot of Mt. Ulriken likewise gives a nice outlook.

1 Fjellveien panorama road, Fjellveien (Uphill from city centre). Runs for several kilometers between Sandviken and Bellevue, largely horizontal and pedestrian.

2 Skansen panorama point (Skansen brannstasjon), Blekeveien (Uphill from funicular station). Excellent and easily available panorama point just above the funicular lowest station. Right in front of the old fire outlook, a small white wooden tower, now used by one of the city's buekorps.

3 Tippetue panorama point (Hike uphill from city, or downhill from Mt. Fløyen.). 24 hr. Panorama point on the Tippetue footpath to Mt. Fløyen. Free.

4 Nordnes panorama, Haugeveien. Lovely place on the highest point of Nordnes peninsula, towards the aquarium.

5 Nordnes park (Tip of Nordnes peninsula, beyond aquarium). 24 hr. Pleasant park at the very tip of the peninsula, towards the sun set late summer evenings.

6 St Johns (Johanneskirken), Sydnesplass. St. John's Church (Johanneskirken) dominates the top of Nygårdshøyden, the hill that hosts the University of Bergen. Nice view of the very centre.

Concerts

1 Bergen Jazzforum, Georgernes verft 12, ☏ +47 55 30 72 50, fax: +47 55 30 72 60, jazz@bergenjazzforum.no. Concerts every Fri except in the summer and during the Christmas holidays. Jazz club with focus on modern jazz. Norwegian Jazz Club Of The Year 2008.

Bergen Live. Producing most of the larger pop, rock and hip hop concerts in Bergen.

2 Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (Harmonien), Grieghallen, Edvard Griegs plass 1. Classical concerts every Thu evening at 19:30. The Bergen philharmonic is one of two national orchestras and was established in 1765. It is regarded as one of the oldest orchestras in the world.The program is varied, but the repertoire is usually quite easy listening. The orchestra plays of course a lot of Edvard Grieg's works.

3 Det Akademiske Kvarter, Olav Kyrresgate 49, kontakt@kvarteret.no. Popular student venue, usually hosting concerts several times a week except during holidays and the summer.

Stage art

4 BIT Teatergarasjen, Nøstegaten 54, ☏ +47 55 23 22 35, info@bit-teatergarasjen.no. BIT (Bergen International Theater) presents Norwegian and international contemporary stage art productions of high quality.

5 Den Nationale Scene, Engen 1, ☏ +47 55 54 97 00, dns@dns.no. The national theater in Bergen. In a beautifully restored building, the theater presents a variety of plays on three different stages, from traditional Ibsen to contemporary plays. The largest stage (Store scene) is where most mainstream plays are played, while the two smaller stages features more alternative plays, often the most interesting ones. The plays are in Norwegian.

Bergen Nasjonale Opera (Den nye Opera), ☏ +47 55 21 61 20, info@nyop.no. Although Bergen does not have its own opera house, it does have its own opera company. Den Nye Opera (The New Opera) usually put on a few productions throughout the year. Summer performances are often at the Bergenhus Fortress while other productions are performed at Den Nationale Scene or at Grieghallen. Tickets are available online. Tickets usually range from kr. 200 to kr. 550 depending on seating and availability. Bergen does not attract the top performers, and the quality may vary a bit, usually anywhere between superb and a bit below average.

There is a great variety of restaurants and cafes in Bergen, but you should expect to spend some time looking for the best places. In the most central parts of the city, many of the restaurants are all the same. Move a block away from the most central parts of downtown to find lower prices and better food. Kitchens usually close at 23:00 at the latest.

Waiters and other restaurant staff have good wages. You are not required to leave any money to cover the service, but many people choose to tip the waiter if he or she has been helpful and nice, and if the food was good. If you choose to leave a tip, rounding up or adding about five to ten percent will be appreciated. A rule of thumb would be that the more expensive the food is, the more are you expected to leave a tip.

Keep in mind that tap water is safe to drink and (usually) free of charge. To save money, ask for tap water to drink.

Local food

Finding local food might take some effort, but there are some options. There aren't that many local dishes available at restaurants. "Norwegian" food is the food of the husmann (cottager) – nutritious and cheap, not what you usually find in a restaurant. The Bergen fish soup might be the most important, as well as raspeballer and cooked cod. If you want to get that Norwegian taste and have a gourmet meal at the same time, look for dishes that use "local" ingredients (such as reindeer, stockfish and cod) with a twist, such as Bryggen Tracteursted's filet of reindeer farced with goat cheese.

Many cafe's and restaurants serve "raspeballer" on Thursdays. Raspeballer are local potato dumplings, in Bergen usually served with bacon, sausages, salted meat from sheep, melted butter and mashed rutabaga. You can get takeaway raspeballer at Kjøttbasaren (kr. 50), cheap ones at Lido, excellent ones at Pingvinen and Bjellands Kjøkken. You can get reasonable take-away fish soup, fish-balls, "plukkfisk" and fish-gratin at Madam Bergen.

There is a great variety of bars, night clubs, concert venues etc. in Bergen. Night clubs are usually open from 23:00, but life never starts before 01:00. Bars opens at different hours, some can be open all day. No places are allowed to serve alcohol after 03:00, and the consumption of alcoholic beverages must cease at 03:30 at the latest. Many places are required to close earlier. The establishments are only allowed to let people bring their drinks outside if they have been granted a special permit. A requirement to get this permit is that they have a confined space outdoors for their guests. All drinks must be indoors by 01:00. People go out all week, but Fridays and Saturdays are the best nights, Saturdays being the clear winner (most places will be a bit too crowded on Saturdays). Some clubs have a 2 for 1 policy on Wednesdays, and Sunday is usually the night for people in the industry.

Most places require that you are 20 years of age (look in the list for details) and that you can provide a valid ID, even if you are much older. Valid IDs are Norwegian bank cards, European standard driver's licenses and ID cards and passports. Drinking in public is illegal. Emptying a can in front of a police officer on a Saturday night will earn you a kr. 2500 fine. If you stroll through a park a bit outside the city centre on a sunny day you will still see a lot of people having a beer or a glass of wine with the picnic. The police usually won't mind as long as everything passes in an orderly fashion.

Prices vary great from place to place, ask at the door if you need to know. In the weekends, there is usually a cover charge from kr 50 to kr 100 at night clubs.

Almost all night clubs and some bars have a dress code. The required attire varies; look in the list for more information (when the listing indicates "no dress code" normal, nice clothes are accepted). Supporter gear is generally not accepted even in sports pubs.

Orientation

Downtown Bergen is compact and easy to walk for most visitors. Most sights and hotels are located within few minutes walk within downtown. While the very centre is located on a relatively flat piece of land, there are hills in virtually every direction out of the centre so heading downhill usually leads to centre. The main square is the east/west Torgallmenningen, a pedestrian zone. The Nordnes peninsula points north from the very centre, on the eastern side is Vågen, a small bay and once Bergens main harbour, lined on the eastern side by Bryggen and the Fortress. Overall navigation is generally easy as the summits and the bay provides clear indication of general direction, Mt Ulriken is a key landmark for large parts of the city, while downtown St John’s Church (Johanneskirken) with its characteristic red brick and green roof is another landmark. The sturdy theater building at the top of Ole Bulls place is also a point to note. Precise navigation through many irregular streets may still be challenging. Navigation by car can be equally difficult because of hills, narrow streets and many one-way streets, what seems close on the map may in fact be a long drive.

Bergen is idiosyncratic in many ways, including the layout and names of streets:

Allmenning are wide streets or squares, laid out at strategic points to prevent fires spreading through the city, often perpendicular to main streets and to the water front, the main square is Torgallmenningen

Smug/smau are narrow alleys, usually too narrow for cars, some are so steep that there are stairs

Smalgang is even more narrow than smug

Strede old name for street (rarely used but note Skostredet - "Shoe street")

Gate street

Vei/veg, road or street

Kai, quay or dock

Brygge, quay or wharf

Plass, square

In addition there is a handful of specific names without generic suffixes like “−gate”, for instance Bryggen (“the Wharf”), Strangehagen (“Strange's garden”, a street), Klosteret (“the Monastery”, a square), Georgernes Verft (“Georges' Shipyard”, a street), Marken, Engen (“the Meadow”, a square), Krinkelkroken ("Nook and cranny"), Galgebakken ("Gallow hill"), Arbeiderboligen (“Workers' residence”), Torget ("The Market"), Vaskerelven ("Laundry river", a street).

Bergen has, as the rest of Norway, a generally low crime rate. The most likely crimes for tourists to experience is car break-ins and bicycle theft. Pickpockets is also becoming an increasing problem in the summer season, but it's still nothing like in larger cities in Europe. It is always a good idea to look after your belongings, this includes never leaving valuable objects visible in your car and locking your bike safely.

There are no particularly unsafe areas in Bergen. The upper part of Nygårdsparken used to be the hang-out place for drug addicts. The lower part of Nygårdsparken is a beautiful place popular among the locals. To make the whole park family friendly the upper part was closed down and renovated for two years forcing the drug addicts to disperse. As a consequence they are now spread across the city. The drug addicts are usually completely harmless, but nevertheless not fun to be around.

Buying sex is illegal in Norway.

People party hard on Friday and Saturday night, and hoards of drunk people will appear in the central areas from around midnight, singing, carousing, and just hanging around. Some foreigners may perceive this as threatening, but they are mostly harmless, even all-male groups chanting football songs. If approached, just smile and stay friendly, but uneasy visitors should avoid groups of drunk young after midnight. Summer evenings has daylight until 23:00 or 24:00, adding to the safety for visitors.

There is an emergency and accident ward at Solheimsgaten 9. The ward is open all day all week, and provides examination and treatment in case of accidents and acute diseases. The ward is located with a life crisis assistance centre, a psychiatric emergency ward, a reception centre for rape victims and a dental emergency ward. All services may be reached at ☏ +47 55 56 87 60. If you should be in need of immediate medical assistance, do however call 113.

The police station downtown is in Allehelgens gate 6, across the street from the old town hall.

Emergency numbers

Police, ☏ 112.

Fire, ☏ 110.

Emergency Medical Services (Ambulance), ☏ 113.

As in the rest of Norway, it is customary to take your shoes off when entering a home. This in particular done as a practical matter, due to the wet weather (slush and salt in winter).

People from Bergen have a reputation for being more loud and direct than many other parts of Norway. Locals are perhaps the most patriotic in Norway.