We visited Norway in July. After a 2-night stay in London, we flew to Bergen.

| Photos | Bergen | Helsinki | Schedule | Costs |

First day in Bergen 

Our flight to Bergen was delayed by about 20 minutes. After getting our passports stamped, we took the train to the city center. The train was a light rail that is also used for local commuting. Our hotel, which I thought was right next to the train station, was surprisingly a 15-to-20-minute walk away, much of it over uneven cobblestone roads. This walk will be a frequent one during our stay, whether we are renting a car or taking trains to other cities.

Our hotel room wasn’t ready, so we went for lunch. I looked up the cheapest place nearby which was a gyro house. We walked to the docks, and the gyro house was behind the restaurants we were looking at. We got there through a narrow, barely four-foot-wide alleyway that felt more like a staff-only area or an access point for utility closets rather than a public thoroughfare. The gyros were about $15 each, plus a drink, slightly cheaper than the $18-$25 prices at other dockside restaurants.

We also visited a store called “Normal,” which Christine described as an “IKEA for women.” It felt like it was amusingly reinforcing old-fashioned ideas, displaying house-cleaning products alongside makeup and candy, all while funneling customers through a maze toward the cashier. Next door at a supermarket, the credit card machine was malfunctioning due to a lost internet connection, so we had to leave without our purchases, including two cans of beer.

We then walked to the Bryggen area and took pictures in front of the five famous, iconic Bergen houses by the docks, one with a tent on it. Christine enjoyed the slightly rainy, chilly weather, which was not as cold as I expected. I had over-prepared with thicker clothing, making it too hot while walking.

We searched for cheaper food options because most meals were priced between $18 and $25; we expected to spend over $50 for dinner on “just okay” food. Subway had a six-inch sub for $10 and a footlong for around $18. McDonald’s offered a chicken wrap for $16 and a vegetarian wrap for $10, with the cheapest item around $9 and a Big Mac costing about $20. We wondered if the burgers were as small as those in the US, but we never went in to check.

Finally, we found affordable food at a convenience store called “Daily” around 9 PM, just before closing. They had sandwiches made by employees, which they would microwave for us. These sandwiches were $10 each and they tasted very good. This will likely be our go-to for saving money on food. We also planned to check out a Vietnamese convenience store that might have similar pre-made food.

It was never getting dark in Bergen during this time period. I remember the skies were lit up well into 1am. We ended up sleeping around midnight and getting up between 6am and 9am on most days.

Hotel Opus XVI

Our hotel in Bergen is the Opus 16, located in the city center. We used 240,000 points and paid for five nights. I decided not to split our stay between Oslo and Bergen to maximize points and avoid losing a day to travel. The hotel staff seemed surprised we were staying five nights.

We were allocated a tiny, 20-square-meter king-size classic room. Christine cleverly used the window ledge for luggage and as a closet. There’s an awkwardly placed TV to the left of the bed, making it hard to watch. We can’t watch anything on it because a previous guest left a misconfigured Chromecast, and my own Chromecast needs an AP access point repeater that I didn’t bring. I also forgot my HDMI cable, so I can’t output video from my laptop. I mean, it’s not like we would want to spend too much time watching TV in beautiful Norway. But I learned some lessons regarding TV setup for our next trip.

The shower is solid. The AC is unusual; it doesn’t set a target temperature but adjusts based on plus or minus degrees Celsius, and we can’t hear any fans. The room felt stuffy after our evening outing, so I opened the window, which is great because they open like normal house windows, unlike many sealed hotel chain windows. The fridge is stocked with drinks for sale, so we moved them aside to store our drinks from the convenience store.

On Tuesday, my morning started early, around 3:30 AM, due to some trouble with my CPAP machine. I drifted in and out of sleep until 7 AM, when Christine woke up and we were both hungry. We headed to breakfast at the hotel and were absolutely blown away by how good it was. After mostly average meals to save money, the hotel breakfast was heavenly. They had a wide variety of foods, including salads, salmon, cheeses, various hot dishes, and even made-to-order items like eggs Benedict. There was also a pianist playing (I initially thought it was a hotel staff member improvising). Most of the guests seemed to be older, and I heard some Spanish being spoken. After breakfast, we took a nap before tackling laundry, which was just a block and a half away. It was quite expensive—$7.50 for washing and $7.50 for drying—the same price we paid in South Africa for a full service that included folding.

Mostraumen Fjord

For lunch, we went to Guangzhou Restaurant and had fried rice noodles and wonton soup. It was just “okay,” but it hit the spot for both of us. While there, I saw a guy trying his best to eat with chopsticks. He held the two chopsticks together like a rectangular spoon and used a fork to brush food onto them before putting them in his mouth. It was certainly original.

During breakfast, I did more research for a fjord cruise. We’re planning to visit the Aurlandsfjord from Flåm, which is considered the most scenic fjord in Norway. Getting there is a bit complicated, with options ranging from guided tours to combinations of trains and buses. After considering timetables and costs, our current plan is to take a direct bus from Bergen Central Station to Flåm around 8:30 AM, which takes about three hours. We’ll arrive in Flåm around noon, have lunch, explore the area, and then at 3 PM, take a two-hour cruise over the Aurlandsfjord, which will drop us off at Gudvangen. From Gudvangen, we’ll take a combination of train and bus back to Bergen—another three-hour journey. Online recommendations suggest purchasing tickets in advance as they can sell out. We’ll likely buy the bus ticket to Flåm beforehand but wait to purchase the return tickets once we’re there in case we want to spend more time. Since the 12 PM cruise for Thursday was sold out, we’ll aim for the 3 PM one. We’ve decided to space out our activities; after today’s busy schedule, we’ll rest tomorrow and do the 12-hour Flåm trip on Thursday, resting again on Friday before heading to Helsinki on Saturday.

After lunch and another nap , we walked to Bryggen and boarded a boat for the Mostraumen Fjord cruise. The check-in was simple; I bought the tickets on Viator and the ticketing guy just looked at our ticket and let us in, no ID checking. The boat sailed from Bryggen along the coast for a two-hour journey.

The scenery was impressive right from the start, with rocky hills covered in trees and houses. There were houses in random, seemingly impossible places. It was crazy to see electric wires stretching across the valleys to these remote houses. As we continued, the rocks became sharper, and numerous waterfalls appeared, cascading from the rocks. I wondered where all the water came from, and at one point, I even saw a metal pipe near a waterfall. I came up with the crackpot theory that maybe some waterfalls might be augmented to appear more impressive, especially when it’s not raining.

Initially, we were a little underwhelmed by the boat itself, as it resembled the one we took to cross the bay in Oakland. However, once we went up to the second floor and outside, the experience felt much more lively. The cold wind helped keep me awake, as I was feeling sleepy earlier. At one point, the boat got incredibly close to two waterfalls.

The boat was quite empty, with only about 30 people for 100 seats. There were some amusing passengers, including a Chinese mother and daughter. The daughter was filming with a GoPro, and when the mother dropped it, a piece became dislocated. I watched her repeatedly crawling under chairs trying to find it. Behind us was a Spanish-speaking family with a child who had a very strong personality, constantly asking questions like, “Is this thing going to sink or no?” and making funny faces for pictures. There was also a toddler on the deck, squatting in a corner, intently staring at the floor and smiling, completely oblivious to his surroundings.

Fløyen

On the way back, we slept. We checked out a restaurant called Tracteursted but decided the dinner prices were too expensive at about $50 for a main dish. We plan to go back for lunch, which is half price. We did try the hyped “Trickronen” hot dogs, which were nice. They had a unique flavor with lingonberry jam, mustard, and crunchy onions.

Next, we took the funicular up the Fløyen mountain, which offered amazing views of the city. There were also multiple hiking paths and playgrounds. We spent about two hours walking around, nearly zip-lining, and walking over playground structures similar to one where my brother broke his leg. We walked over swamps and took photos next to troll wood carvings, where signs advised not to feed the trolls.

We also bought postcards, which were expensive at nine Krone (about $1) each. International stamps were $4 each, so buying 10 postcards and stamps cost us $50. We enjoyed walking around the mountain, seeing close-ups of the stone cutouts and how moss and trees grow over the rocks, forming a sort of soil that keeps them stuck. It was truly beautiful.

We came down and had a “second dinner” with the cheapest baguette sandwich we could find. I tried to buy cider at the grocery store but learned you can’t buy alcohol after 8 PM. We brought our food back to the hotel and ate in the lobby, enjoying the milk we bought yesterday. I’m already dreaming about tomorrow’s fancy breakfast! The buffet had fresh food, though the scrambled eggs looked unappetizing and the crème brûlée was runny, so I had fried eggs instead. The tomato, basil, and fennel salad was delicious, and I had five helpings. I also really enjoyed the roasted potatoes. We’re very happy that this will be our daily breakfast in Bergen.

We also discovered an exhibit in the hotel’s basement. After some Googling, we learned the hotel used to be a bank and was converted into a hotel in the mid-1800s. It’s named Opus 16 in honor of a music piece by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg. The basement exhibit features Edvard Grieg and some Baroque paintings. The rooms are motion-activated, and a sign warns not to touch the paintings, as an alarm will sound.

During breakfast on Wednesday, I checked and realized that the Nærøyfjord 3 PM slot for Thursday was fully booked. Instead, I planned to move our fjord cruise to Wednesday at 5 PM.

Nærøyfjord

It takes about 3 hours to go from Bergen to Flåm on public transit. Planning transportation by myself was pretty complex. There were 3 separate regional bus companies (Vy, Vy Buss, NOR-WAY Bussekspress, and maybe more), and there wasn’t a good aggregator to look at them in one place. Google Maps would show transit combinations depending on the time of day, and based on that, I had to go to each bus company’s website and figure out how the payment worked, what their timetable is, and what the routing is.

We got on the R40 train at 1 PM headed to Voss. The train ride was pretty spectacular. It would speed through completely dark tunnels, and every 15 minutes, it would alternate between the pitch black tunnel and breathtaking scenery of lakes and cliffs. Christine passed out during the journey and missed out on the beautiful scenery. At Voss, the bus that was supposed to come was delayed, and we made it to Flåm just in time at 4:30 PM, barely 45 minutes before the cruise.

Aurlandsfjord and Nærøyfjord were beautiful. It turned out to be a sunny day, so the water streams were not as spectacular, but it was easier to stand on the boat and not as cold, although it was super windy. It was so windy that we were often getting pushed to the back. Next to us was a Chinese teenager who was having the time of his life jumping against the wind and getting fleeting moments of flying in the wind.

Once we got off the boat at Gudvangen at 7 PM, we walked a mile to a super informal-looking bus stop to get on the bus back home. There were three other tourists waiting for the bus with us—a local lady who immigrated from Germany a few years ago and an Indian couple from Ireland. They were waiting for the VY450 bus to show up in 30 minutes, but according to my research, the NW420 bus was supposed to show up in 15 minutes, which would take us to Åsane, and from there we could transfer to the local bus.

And for some bizarre reason, it required pre-purchasing the tickets through their website or app.

Leaving Bergen

On Thursday, we wanted to go see if we could pick up rocks along the coast. We had some clam chowder and headed to Totempæl Park. It’s a small waterfront area to the south of the harbor. We walked around, but there weren’t too many interesting rocks. Maybe for this, we would have to go west to the island of Sotra, which could take over an hour on the bus. We took a rental bike back to the hotel. We went to the supermarket, where Christine used her legendary watermelon assessment technique on the local flora.

We had $150 in Hilton credit card statement credits that we planned to use at this hotel. We used it at a hotel dinner.

On Friday, we went to check out the airport shuttle bus boarding area at Byparken park. 

Then we did a final tour of the Bryggen area, exploring the little alleyways in the neighborhood. We went to try out dinner at the expensive Bryggen Fishmarket, which, as expected, wasn’t terribly impressive. We sat next to a family of tourists visiting from Turkey. They seemed apprehensive about the medium-cooked fish; they wanted it well done.

On Saturday, we flew to Helsinki.