PORT OF CALL : BERGEN
A NORWEGIAN CRUISE PORT
WHALE-COME TO BERGEN
It was 7am and I was on holiday, so quite naturally asleep, when the Captain’s announcement was tannoyed into the cabin.
There were whales alongside the ship!
I was out of bed and on the balcony in seconds. Along with lots of others on my side of the ship, judging by the squeal of a hundred balcony doors simultaneously opening.
We had a view of Bergen’s Askoy Bridge in the background. At least six pilot whales were in the bay as our cruise ship, P&O’s Britannia slowly sailed by.
Our port of call for the day was Bergen, in Norway.
The welcome party of whales was a most unexpected treat, that almost justified the cost of my upgrade to a balcony cabin in its own right!
TWO TRIPS TO BERGEN
I have actually cruised into Bergen twice. Just for a day on both occasions.
The first in July 2013 was aboard Celebrity Cruises cruise ship Celebrity Infinity. Whilst my Britannia visit was almost exactly three years later in July 2016.
This isn’t really a story of the cruise ships, although they are always nice to talk about.
Its more about the itineraries, both of which had included Bergen as a port of call.
Both cruises included an element of the Norwegian Fjords, and Bergen is considered to be the Heart of the Fjords.
Its also the second largest city in Norway, with a population of around 286,000 people. That’s not excessively large, in comparison to some UK cities, and Bergen keeps its small town feel.
Ideal qualifications to add Bergen as a port of call on a cruise itinerary.
On Celebrity Infinity my itinerary had covered Iceland and Norway over 12 days.
The Britannia visit was only a 7 day cruise, and exclusively covered Norway and its fjords.
SIGHTSEEING
There are a number of cruise piers and terminals in Bergen as it is a popular port of call.
So depending on where you dock will affect your route into the city.
Even so I found it an easy walk on both visits. The various piers are well spaced around the city, which in my opinion makes this a great place to explore on your own.
That said if you find a great shore excursion that interests you then that is an option. I’ll talk about that more later!
FIRST TIME IN BERGEN
On my first visit to Bergen I opted to explore by myself.
In a city known for its many days of rain, we had glorious sunny weather. Perfect for walking and sightseeing. I wouldn’t be so lucky next time.
The city is surrounded by hills in the background and fronts onto the water, so you have the wonderful colour contrasts of green and blue.
When you visit a city for the first time everything is new.
I love walking, just to enjoy the statues and street art. Passing monuments and churches and looking at the architecture of the buildings.
Some places are more touristy than others. Then again most ports of call have souvenir markets when they know cruise ships are bringing in the tourists and Bergen was no exception.
Even after two visits I haven’t see half of what there is to see in Bergen, but I’ll share the things that I found to do.
5 THINGS TO DO IN BERGEN, NORWAY
1 JOHANNESKIRKEN
Johanneskirken, or St John’s Church, is the largest church in Bergen.
Its red brick tower stands out in the relatively low rise city, and was one of the things I passed on my walk.
I like to visit churches in any place I visit. They tend to be amongst the oldest buildings in a city and give you a feel for what the people are like.
The design tells you about them too.
In this case lots of wood beams in the roof. Relatively muted decoration, but a huge gilded pipe organ.
The wooden roof was in a similar style to that of Bergen Cathedral, which I called into later in the day.
Nice places to stop for a look on my journey.
2 THE FISH MARKET
The Sailor’s monument, gives you a sense of the city’s history just from the various styles of dress of the sailors it depicts on each side of this cubic sculpture.
Around it are buildings with a Norwegian style of architecture very different to that at home.
Then, heading past all of this, you reach the harbour and the open air fish market.
Stalls sell food, vegetables, souvenirs and clothing as well as fish of course.
Prices are in Norwegian Krone.
Norway is notoriously expensive, for some things more than others. A large beer is much more than UK prices.
But the joy of a market is that you can also find bargains. Its certainly not prohibitively expensive. And lets face it, if you are paying for a cruise there’s not much point skimping on the pleasures of the destinations you visit.
I enjoyed exploring the stalls. Seeing unusual Norwegian produce for sale. I even did a bit of souvenir shopping myself.
3 BRYGGEN WHARF
The UNESCO listed World Heritage site of Bryggen Wharf is possibly the most iconic thing to see in this city.
Bergen may be a port of call for cruise ships these days, but for centuries it has been visited by traders and merchants.
The city was founded almost a thousand years ago.
In the middle ages the Hanseatic League established an office here. In fact the city has an Hanseatic Museum too.
The Bryggen Wharf is a series of commercial buildings, built in a style used by Hanseatic merchants. The current buildings mostly date from the 1700s as the originals were damaged by fire. A hazard in a city mainly built of wood.
They now contain shops, but you can wander freely around the narrow alleys between them, as well as admiring the iconic line of colourful buildings along the harbour front. Very Instagramable!
There are archaeological highlights recalling the older history of the wharf dotted around.
I like ticking UNESCO sites off my list, and this is one worthy of a visit if your cruise has a port of call in Bergen.
4 BERGENHUS CASTLE
The castle is one of those places that, despite its name, is quite unimposing.
I don’t remember much of the history of the castle itself. However I do remember almost coming across it by accident as I wandered.
Its really a pleasant place to have a walk around.
Once again there is a different viewpoint across the harbour.
Its still a castle so comes with the walls and defences that any history buff would like.
Maybe not so much a destination in its own right, as a worthy detour on your travels around the city.
5 THE FUNICULAR RAILWAY
Bergen and its port is overlooked by Mount Fløyen and the view from the top of this mountain is spectacular and should be a must to see if you call here.
Fortunately it can easily be reached by the Fløibanen funicular railway.
There is a ticket kiosk in the town and being full of cruise ships that also means there are queues. However it is still worth the time and effort to get up there.
Of course I visited in 2013, in the olden days before using apps and booking online were things that everyone did. Its worth checking online to see if you can pre-book in advance nowadays.
Depending on how long you plan to spend on the mountain will determine whether its your first stop of the day, or maybe left until later in the day as I did.
At the top as well as the all important views there are walking trails and the Troll park, for a bit of fun with Norway’s elusive residents. So you could make a day just up here.
For me I enjoyed the ride up and down the hill. It takes about 6 minutes each way.
And at the viewing rails it was great to look out across the city from above.
Nice to spot the various cruise ships and other boats in port too.
A SHORE EXCURSION
When it came round to my second visit to Bergen in 2016 it had only been three years since my last visit.
Sightseeing was relatively fresh in my mind still, so what to do for that second trip here.
This is where I did look to the shore excursions on offer and the port of call of Bergen offered a RIB boat adventure.
I had actually done one of these on my 2013 cruise, but in Geirangerfjord, another Norwegian cruise staple, but a story for another day.
I knew they were fun and of course being in a different place it would be a different adventure.
RIB Boat
RIB stands for Rigid Inflatable Boat and in Bergen the version we used had an interesting configuration.
Twelve of us sat in rows of two, on saddle like seats down the middle of the boat.
We were wrapped in luminous yellow survival suits provided by the company.
It was a much cooler day on this visit, so they were needed.
Onto the water
Our 45 minute tour began by whizzing around the ship, for an interesting view of our floating home.
Then we rode into the centre, for a look at Bryggen Wharf from the water. As I said its so iconic you have to see it on any tour.
Then the scary, exciting, brilliant ride began proper as we headed out into the bay. The boat sped up and the water splashed in a trail behind us.
I was conscious of those pilot whales we had seen on my first visit to Bergen, in these very waters, but none were about that day.
Its not the cheapest excursion, but if Bergen is a port of call on your cruise I would definitely recommend this.
In fact I know RIB rides are available in a few ports of call, not forgetting Geirangerfjord. I’d certainly consider doing it again somewhere else.
There’s a YouTube short on my channel @gary_travels to give you a flavour of the RIB ride.
BERGEN AS A PORT OF CALL
It has been a while since I last visited Bergen, although my travels have taken me to other ports of call in Norway.
The city is on a lot of Norwegian Fjord cruise itineraries and understandably so.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of things to do in Bergen, although its a good list to do with a single day in port.
If your interest is in history, this is a great place to learn more about the Hanseatic League.
I guess its worth being aware that there are indoor museums, in case the legendary rain comes down.
For me the highlights were the Bryggen Wharf, the view from the mountain over the city and the excitement of that RIB ride.
Even so, I have more reasons left to go back to Bergen.
