Travel: 48 hours in Bergen

Bergensers enjoy a close relationship with nature and the day starts early for many city dwellers who head to the hills at first light. At that hour, I was busy devouring a hearty breakfast for which Bergen’s top hotels are rightly famed. But there were still a number of joggers and serious walkers on the steep path to the top of Mt Fløyen as I passed by on the funicular mid-morning. In just eight minutes I was inhaling fresh mountain air and enjoying stunning vistas of the city and beyond to the North Sea. Keen hikers can continue along one of the many tracks winding over the hills to Mt Ulriken, 643m above sea level. The walk can take anything from five to six hours, but the highest of Bergen’s seven mountains is easily accessible by road and cable car and the Sky:Skraperen restaurant is a popular place to admire the sunset.

I headed back down the hill to the city’s historic harbour area. Along from the famous Fish Market is the row of colourful wooden warehouses at Bryggen wharf, once the bustling headquarters for the Hanseatic League. During the 18th century, Bergen was the biggest stock fish port in the Nordic area. It would trade its cargo of fish and cod liver oil for grain. The dried fish, which kept for up to 15 years, was as valuable to the economy then as oil is today.

The informative Hanseatic Museum is housed in one of the oldest and best preserved buildings in the Bryggen, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It dates back to 1704 when it was rebuilt after a fire two years earlier. Apparently the Hanseatic League workers from Germany were required to remain unmarried as part of their employment contract. No doubt due to the cramped sleeping accommodation, I wouldn’t fancy sleeping in the bunks which were built into claustrophobic wall cupboards. Cooking was banned in the warehouses and the only place where an open fire was permitted was in the nearby Schøtstuene assembly rooms and kitchens.

Bergen has had several devastating fires over the centuries. In 1944 a Dutch ship full of explosives caught fire at the quay killing over 150 people and destroying, or damaging, several hundred homes. The city’s last major fire was in 1955 when parts of the Bryggen burnt down. A subsequent excavation of the area uncovered the ruins of the city’s oldest secular buildings, dating back to the early 12th century. These archaeological remains are displayed in situ in the Bryggen Museum along with other treasures discovered during the dig including the world’s largest collection of runes from the Middle Ages. I was intrigued by the inscriptions on the runes, mostly wood, which were used as property markers and had phrases like: ‘Gyda says you’re to go home’, ‘Eysteinn owns me’ and ‘Kiss me, my darling’.

Along the road from the museum is the Bergenhus Fortress, which includes Håkon’s Hall, part of the 13th century royal estate when Bergen was Norway’s capital, and the Rosenkrantz Tower (nothing to do with Hamlet). With it’s impressive looking Renaissance façade, the 16th century Keep dominates the entrance to the harbour. The tower was once an ammunition store and has magnificent views from its onion domed roof. There is also a bit of Scotland on display in the form of a 24 pound Carronade made in Carron iron works in 1801.

Most of the hotels have bicycles you can borrow so I did just that on a sunny morning as it’s a great way to explore the old part of the city, especially the cluster of charming houses around Klostergaten, separated only by narrow pathways. This area includes Skottegaten (Scot’s Street), where Scottish traders would have sold their wares. If you can brave the steep hill to the university quarter, the architecture around Nygårdsparken and Johanneskirken is interesting.

Fortunately when the weather is not so great – with rain on average 240 days a year, Bergen is officially the rainiest city on earth – there’s plenty to do indoors. I’ve spent many hours in the Kode art museums, which boast some of the largest collections of art, crafts, design and music in Scandinavia. Four of the galleries flank the octagonal Lille Lungegårdsvann lake, in the heart of the city. The newly renovated Kode 1 craft and design museum, with its dazzling gold and silver displays, is due to reopen in May while Kode 2 is devoted to contemporary and temporary exhibitions. For fans of Edward Munch, Kode 3 is the place to see his work, including a highly prized pen and ink version of The Scream.

Kode 4 houses the work of the celebrated neo-romantic Norwegian artist, Nikolai Astrup, in an impressive looking 1938 former electrical power plant. The Lysverket seafood restaurant is located here and was the ideal place for a delicious seafood snack before I headed to the opera at Grieghallen over the road. The modern concert hall, built in the shape of a grand piano, is named after Norway’s most famous composer, Edvard Grieg, and is home to Bergen National Opera and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Both organisations put on world-class performances throughout the year while the nearby Den Nationale Scene, one of Norway’s oldest theatres, also stages a variety of productions.

It’s later in the evening that the city steps up a gear. Close to Grieghallen, Don Pippo is a lively place to meet for a post-show chat over a glass of wine and a platter of unusual French cheeses and cold meats. Vital sustenance before continuing on to Logen, a late night bar where the party atmosphere continues until the wee small hours.

As Bergen is the Gateway to the Fjords, a boat trip is a must as the land looks completely different when viewed from the sea. I found the three hour cruise to Mostraumen on Sunday morning a relaxing way to experience the landscape whilst recovering from the night before. The drizzle-filled mist hugging the mountains on my trip made the scenery appear even more dramatic. I’m sure I spotted a few trolls. At one point the water way narrows to such an extent we could almost reach out and touch the mountains either side. Near the top of the fjord a bucket of crystal clear water from a tumbling waterfall was collected for us all to have a refreshing cup full. This is how water should always taste.

Back on land, after a quick lunch at De Stefano, which has the best soup and cakes in Bergen, I headed to Edvard Grieg’s villa in Troldhaugen. The composer’s great-grandfather was Scottish, changing his name from Greig to Grieg when he settled in Norway in the 1770s. Beside the villa is a new museum and concert hall which has a large glass window looking down on the hut where Grieg composed and beyond to the beautiful Nordåsvannet Bay. It’s well worth the twenty minute taxi ride out of town to take in one of the many recitals held there throughout the year.

A weekend is not nearly long enough to do the city and its breathtaking scenery justice and once visited, Bergen has a way of getting under your skin to tempt you back again and again.

Factbox Flights: Direct flights from Aberdeen with Widerøe (from £115) and via Stavanger with SAS (from £260); from Edinburgh via Oslo with Norwegian (from £150), summer only direct flights from Glasgow with Flybe (from £230) while KLM have flights via Amsterdam (from £180) from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness. Accommodation: Scandic Ørnen, Terminus, Augustin and Radisson Blu Royal Hotels all from £150 a night