Following the Vikings (reverse) I flew from Reykjavík to Bergen and immediately realized how much I missed trees! The extreme heat Northern Europe was suffering this summer had already passed, but it was still 20°C and sunshine – not bad for a change!
Bergen Airport
With only half a day to explore the city before taking the bus further west I headed straight ‘Downtown’ and to the harbor. Bergen has a really very beautiful and romantic old town center, with narrow alleys, the cutest little houses, a shopping mile and lots of historical sights to visit. From the harbor I recommend visiting the Bergenhus Fortess and from there go up the hill to Sverresborg, another old fortess ruin, from where you have a nice view over the other side of the harbor.
Bergen Harbor, old merchant houses
In the evening I took the bus to the island Tofterøy where I would live and work for a week: (LINK LATER).
After that week I came back toBergen once more and went up the Fløibanen to Mount Fløyen, a definite must for every Bergen visitor, it has a remarkable view over the whole city, restaurants, and a hiking area. I seized the opportunity to hike up to Mount Blåmanen to find a wild camping site, and wasn’t disappointed – four old artillery structures made perfect flat spots for just one tent each, overlooking Bergen and all its surrounding.
Next day was rain rain rain, but that’s okay – I just spent time in restaurants, tourist info and the train station to plan my next part of the journey. I wanted to go a bit east to the mountains, maybe even hike to Trolltunga, but weather forecast predicted rapid temperature drops – so avoiding a frozen death in the mountains, I took a night train to 50km northwest of Oslo to go hiking through the woods…