So long ago we can't remember, we booked seats on a train from Oslo S to Bergen. WE'd heard that the scenery was special. After 4 nights acclimatising to endless daylight in Oslo, we boarded the express, run by Vy and sat back for a comfortable and truly spectacular 500km heading westwards over the mountains to Norway's second largest, and once capital (13thC) city. The train itself was most interesting: it featured regular first and second class seating, a sleeper carriage for overnighters, a "family" coach especially for children (complete with playrooms), large spaces dedicated to ski and bicycle storage, and a cafe. At the cafe, the most popular items were hot dogs, made fresh. The prepackaged sandwiches and rolls were very ordinary, as you'd expect on a train. The seating was comfortable, with large tables, but there were no power or USB outlets, and no onboard WiFi. The train was pretty crowded, but luggage space was ample.
The train was an express, but it at stopped many, many places (19 before Bergen), cute little towns, in the 7 hour journey. Stops were very short - you had to be ready to get off or get on. The scenery grew in spectacle as we crossed the mountains. As the altitude increased we passed the tree line and forests gave way to snowy plateaus. Grey skies gave the patchy snow cover a grim monochromatic look like the Australian high plains. Higher still and rain gave way to snow. The snowbound towns looked very nice. The highest stop was at Finse (1222m) where a blizzard was blowing and, being ahead of schedule, we were allowed off for 6 minutes. It was bitter out there!
Glacial lake and snow capped mountains as seen through the windows of our 7 hour Vy train journey from Oslo to Bergen. [05-27]
Summer approaches but still plenty of snow in the higher hills on the scenic rail crossing from Oslo. [05-27]
The snowbound town of Finse was having a blizzard during our brief stop there. [3257]
Vy trains arriving under the grand arches of Bergen railway station. [5401]
Soggy weather at Bergen's fine railway station. [5397]
On the way down, we stopped at Myrdal where there is a connecting train to Flam. This was our one regret about this trip - not allowing time for this side-track, for the steep run on the spur line down to fjord level Flam, apparently one of the world's most scenic train segments, but the weather was foul and we probably did not miss much. In Bergen, we discovered ferries to Flam, so it's possible to do a round trip.
Our arrival in Bergen was greeted by a grand railway station and freezing cold rain, but a taxi easily got us to our hotel on the famous Bryggen, Bergen's iconic wooden warehouse strip. And the rain came in frequent squalls for every one of our five days here! Traffic management is even more obvious (and welcome) here than it was in Oslo. The main downtown areas are virtually car free which makes the cobbled streets and lanes a delight to stroll around. The steep slopes at the back of Bryggen are especially interesting, where narrow windy lanes barely separate closely packed, very old, houses and shops and make for fascinating walking territory. Possibly by regulation, only local vehicles can ply these streets.
Not sure of the details, but this significant monument clearly pays tribute to many professions who are behind the Bergen of today. [5288]
An entertaining cooking demonstration attracted potential customers at the Bergen fish market. Plenty of whale meat on display, and being consumed in the restaurant, but we declined to sample it! [5292]
Now a fast food outlet, the wooden building on the left was probably built for a wealthy merchant. [5416]
Jammed into the tight spaces of downtown Bergen is the Domkirken cathedral. [5418]
Athletic statue jammed between buildings on the south side of Vagen. [5168]
Artistic graffiti seems to be an acceptable art form in Bergen, and this style is popular, maybe one dominant practitioner. [5178]
Quaint wooden buildings jostle for space in Bergen. [5192]
Many establishments in Bergen feature wooden statues like this one, usually representing the trade of the current or historical occupant. [5365]
Signage says the Rozencrantz Tower is the "most prominent renaissance building in Norway'. Parts of this tower date back to 1270AD. [5369]
So emblematic of Bergen are the wooden warehouses that they form the bulk of this souvenir shop's offereings. [5393]
Apparently owned by the Commune of Bergen, this prominent wooden building was being used for very loud drum practice. [5406]
In WW2, the Germans built many bunkers into the side of Bergen's Mt Floyen. This may be one, but now it has more peaceful purposes. [5414]
We were told that some of the warehouses in Skuteviken are older than the famous ones on the Bryggen. [5434]
Even the footpath sewer covers feature Bergen's iconic attractions. [5469]
Bergen's most famous "attraction" is the strip of waterfront warehouses (now shops and cafes) along the Bryggen (docks) on the north side of Vågen, an inner bay of an impossibly complex maze of fjords cutting into the Norwegian mainland from the North Sea. This part of Bergen dates back to 1070AD, and around 1350AD the Hanseatic League, a "medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds", established a base here and constructed the warehouses to store their produce. The oldest warehouses are lopsided and unstable, being built on landfill made from rubbish, and are subject to restoration projects. Developers wanted to replace them with more modern brick structures, but community opposition fortunately prevailed and the strip is now Bergen's premier attraction. As fascinating as this strip is, its current photogenia is seriously compromised by many properties undergoing (probably necessary) renovation and are covered in scaffolding and hoarding.
Rare blue skies over Bergen's Bryggen showing the old wooden warehouses (left) and their replacment stone buildings (right). [5439]
The narrow alleyways between the warehouse buildings of Bryggen host shops attractive to tourists. [5293]
Warehouses such as these replaced the dislapidated and fire-prone wooden ones. [5382]
Visitors hamming it up for their selfie! [5470]
Another Bergen tourist attractions is the funicular railway up Mount Fløyen. The railway climbs 300m along 800m track length, so it's mighty steep, and it was opened in 1918, having been first envisaged in 1895 but delayed by WW1. Amazingly, the bottom entrance and takeoff point for the Fløibanen is underground, underneath the many houses that cling together on the steep slopes of the mountain. At Fløyen, there are numerous walking trails, but it was raining and miserable up there for our visit, and we didn't hang around for long. The view from Fløyen is truly stunning (in between showers and fog) as it commands spectacular views of much of Bergen and its harbours.
Before the crowds flock here, early morning Vertlidsalim leads up to the underground buttom station of the Floyen funicular railway. [5415]
We didn't see much sunshine in Bergen, but here it is lighting up the slopes of Mt Floyen. [5468]
View of Vågen Bay in Bergen from the top of the Floyen funiicular railway. The fish markets are the red and blue buildings near the bottom left corner. [5215]
A waltz fence at the top of Floyen. [5252]
It was pure coincidence but our visit to Bergen coincided with at least two significant events. One was the Bergen International Festival which, along with paid events, featured free live performances in city streets. And the other was the opening of the Tour of Norway, a bicycle event like the Tour de France but only four days. It was on a Friday, attracted a good crowd of enthusiastic supporters, the Bergen stage being a cruelly steep hill-climb up Floyen. This hill is challenging enough to walk up, so to ride bikes up its cobbled pathways?
A popular and lively band puts on a free performance on a street stage as part of the Bergen International Festival. [5438]
Rider in the Tour of Norway 2023 starts his time trial along the Bryggen, chased by his support car. [5360]
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