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Bergen, Norway

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Overview

Surrounded by seven hills and seven fjords, Bergen is a beguiling city. During the early Middle Ages, it was an important seaport and a member of the Hanseatic League, as well as Norway's capital – a heritage that can still be glimpsed in the beautifully preserved wooden buildings of Bryggen, now protected as a Unesco World Heritage site. Chocolate-box, clapperboard houses creep up the hillsides, ferries flit around the fjords, and a cluster of excellent art museums provide a welcome detour, and not only in case Bergen's notoriously fickle weather sets in. Meanwhile, a large student population ensures the city has a buzzy bar scene and nightlife, and easy access to nature means you're minutes away from complete tranquillity.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Villa of Norwegian violin virtuoso Ole Bull on Lysoen Island, 25 km south of Bergen.

    Ole Bull Museum

    Bergen

    This beautiful estate was built in 1873 as the summer residence of Norway’s first musical superstar, violinist Ole Bull. Languishing on its own private…

  • Bryggen

    Bryggen

    Bergen

    Bergen's oldest quarter runs along the eastern shore of Vågen Harbour (bryggen translates as 'wharf') in long, parallel and often precariously leaning…

  • KODE

    KODE

    Bergen

    A catch-all umbrella for Bergen's art museums, KODE showcases one of the largest art-and-design collections in Scandinavia. Each of the four buildings has…

  • Edvard Grieg's Home, Troldhaugen

    Edvard Grieg Museum

    Bergen

    Composer Edvard Grieg and his wife Nina Hagerup spent summers at this charming Swiss-style wooden villa from 1885 until Grieg's death in 1907. Surrounded…

  • Bergen Cathedral, Hordaland, Norway.

    Bergen Cathedral

    Bergen

    Bergen's cathedral features stonemasonry in the entrance hall carved by the same artisans who adorned Westminster Abbey's chapter house in London.

  • KODE 3

    KODE 3

    Bergen

    KODE 3 is all about Edvard Munch: overall, the collection here is arguably even better than Oslo's Munch Museum. The rooms are fabulously intimate:…

  • KODE 4

    KODE 4

    Bergen

    Modern-art aficionados will want to make a beeline to KODE 4, which is home to a large permanent collection of European Modernist works including the odd…

  • Hanseatic Museum

    Hanseatic Museum

    Bergen

    This interesting museum provides a window into the world of Hanseatic traders. Housed in a rough-timber building dating from 1704, it starkly reveals the…

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