3 Day Itinerary In Bergen Norway and Our Favorite Photo Spots
After 3 nights in Tromso, 3 nights in Senja and 6 nights in Lofoten, we wrapped up our road trip and flew out of the Arctic Circle. Our final stop for this Norway trip was Bergen, the country’s second largest city, and one of North Europe’s oldest ports.
Bergen Havn in the morning
Differences between Bergen and Our travel destinations In the Arctic Circle
Compared to the fairytale beauty in Lofoten, Bergen offered more variety with a combination of scenic nature, historical architecture, modern facilities and services.
Weather was a bit more friendly. We finally encountered our first sunny day in Norway.
View from lower Floyen Hike
Despite the same month of October, fall colors were more prevalent in Bergen, compared to the wintery scenes in Tromso, Senja and Lofoten.
We were lucky to have found a modern airbnb home in the city center. It was within walking distance to the harbor, and the surrounding historic sites.
Contrary to the road trip in the previous 12 days in Norway, we did all the sightseeing on foot in Bergen.
The following were my favorite photo spots.
Bergen Havn
Bergen Havn in the evening. ISO400, 24mm, f/6.3, 150sec
Stand next to the ferry terminal, facing the mountain. You could easily get good shots in both mornings and evenings. I went to photograph at this spot three times, two in the evening, one in the morning. My favorite one was the above 150-second long exposure shot in the second evening, during sunset.
Walking along the harbor was pleasant, especially during the golden hours. The already colorful architecture looked even more fascinating under the pink clouds. Of course, the sunset colors didn’t come by easily in October.
Fløyen
We went up to the top of Fløyen two days in a roll, once by hiking, once by funicular. It was a great place to photograph people, landscape and fall colors.
There were hill top cafe and restaurant, making a day trip convenient for all ages.
Most importantly, there were several playgrounds on the mountain. Nature playground was our kids’ favorite. Did I mention we came up twice over two days? This was why!
Among the many nature trails on Floyen, Lake Skomakerdiket might be the easiest. It was not too far from the nature playground and the funicular station. Compared to some other hikes we did with our kids, such as our Blue Lake and Sauk Mountain hikes in North Cascades National Park, the 10km day hike in Banff National Park Canada, or our Cerro Torre snow hike in Patagonia Argentina, this trail might not be even called a hike. It could be an easy walk for anyone even with a wheel chair. We mostly enjoyed the fall colors there.
Bryggen
A UNESCO site, the old wharf of Bergen, with at least 800 years of importance in the Norway history. Survived by a number of fires, Bryggen preserved dozens of its traditional architecture, a relic of an ancient wooden urban structure once common in Northern Europe.
Torget Fish Market
We dined at Fjellskål, a Norwegian seafood restaurant with nice view of the harbor right across Bryggen. A window table would give you a perfect opportunity to enjoy the food and the view at the same time. We were lucky to be seated without reservation, but the same luck didn’t occur in other restaurants.
Bergen Cathedral
It was closed on the day we visited, so we only took a few snapshots outside and nearby.
Bergen Fortress
One of Norway's oldest and best preserved fortifications.
Other than the above, we walked on big or small streets in the city center, and truly enjoyed this “city of seven mountains”.
There were many other places we’d love to see in Norway, but we only had 15 days, and wanted to focus on the landscape and northern lights in this trip.
Bergen as our last stop allowed us to explore Norway’s urban scenes with a touch of nature at the same time. Although it was only for three days, our Bergen visit was totally worthwhile, and somehow made our Norway trip more complete and balanced.
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