I'm Norwegian and have been in Bergen quite often. It's a beautiful city with a lot of interesting history and great architecture. The city has many tourist attractions, restaurants, cafes and pubs. These are my top 10 things I recommend you to do in Bergen:
1) Bryggen (The dock)
The buildings are from the Hanseatic times when many German traders came to Norway. Hanseatic boys received education and lived in some of the buildings. In addition, the buildings were used as offices for many merchants and to store goods from trading, like dry fish and lumber. There were many fire accidents in the buildings, so therefore in certain areas people weren't allowed to use candles, to avoid more accidents at that time. After the accidents, the buildings have been rebuilt and today, the buildings are preserved. If you're interested in history, I would recommend you visit the museums in "Bryggen" to learn more about the Hanseatic era and other events in Bergen's history.
This is a picture from the inside of the Hanseatic museum, taken by me.
2) Gamle Bergen (Old Bergen)
"Gamle Bergen" is a outdoor museum where you can see old houses from between the 18th and 20th centuries. You can go inside the houses and see how people's lives were back in that time. Most of the houses weren't at the same place when people lived in them, but the houses were moved so it could become a museum. Sometimes there are actors inside the houses to reconstruct how people lived in the past.
The houses are from 18th - 20th century. The houses weren't originally built at the same place, but were moved in order to make a museum.
3) Fløyen
View from Fløyen
Bergen is a city with seven mountains and one of them is called "Fløyen". You can take funiculars up to Fløyen. At the top of the mountain it's a playground for children, some cafes and a good view, so you can see big parts of the city. You can also take a walk in the woods in Fløyen. It's an extraordinary experience that is very difficult to describe.
You can travel with funiculars to the mountain Fløyen. They are called "Fløibanen", but have individual names. The blue one is called "Blåmann" and the red one is called "Rødhette".
4) Troldhaugen - Edvard Grieg's home
The famous Norwegian composer Edward Grieg lived at Troldhaugen. Much of Grieg's music is about how much he loved Bergen and Troldhaugen, and oday Troldhaugen is a museum that you can visit and is one of Norway's biggest tourist attractions. You can see his villa, composer hut and his grave there.
5) Lysøen - Ole Bull's home
Ole Bull traveled around the world, something that gave him the opportunity to get inspiration to his house. Bull had even visited Egypt once.
Lysøen was the famous Norwegian violinist Ole Bull's summer home. Bull lived in 19th century and was one of the few who actually traveled a lot outside his country at that time. Something which explains why his house isn't typically Norwegian; the architecture was inspired by several cultures and countries that he visited.
6) Leprosy museum
St. Jørgens hospital has a tragic past: It was a hospital for people with the disease leprosy. The first buildings have existed since the 15th century, but were burned down during several town fires; the buildings you can see today are from the 1700s. At the leprosy museum you can learn about the life at the hospital and how people with the disease coped with it. It's a very educational experience and makes you reflect.
7) "Byparken" (Park in Bergen)
"Byparken" is a beautiful park in Bergen. There's a big pond, Lille Lungårdsvannet, with fountains, flowers and statues. There are also cafes there where you can buy yourself some ice cream. In summer time you can enjoy all the nature's beauty but at Christmas time all the trees are decorated with Christmas light. When it's cold enough, you can also take a walk on the frozen pond's ice.
The park is decorated with Christmas lights when it's December, but in summer time it's fountains and flowers.
8) Photography
When I spent a day in Bergen at sightseeing, I took this picture.
Bergen is a city with a lot of unique architecture. You can spend a whole day photographing and recording all the beautiful buildings. Many of the buildings have very different carvings at the window frames, doors etc. There's plenty of nature in Bergen as well, which you can also photograph.
9) Bergenhus festning (Bergenhus fortress)
Bergenhus fortress contains some famous buildings like Rosenkrantz tårnet (Tower) and Håkonshallen (Haakon's hall). Parts of the fortress are from the medieval time, but other buildings were built later. The fortress lies very close to Bryggen and has a very interesting history.
10) Pepperkakebyen (Gingerbread town)
Kindergartens, schools, companies and other volunteering people can contribute to the gingerbread town. Each year in December you can visit the exhibition; there are sound and light effects in the gingerbread town as well. Some of the houses are supposed to be buildings from Bergen and others are just fictitious houses.
Sources: Visitbergen.com, bymuseet.no, Bergen sentrum.no,
Store norske leksikon (Norwegian big Encyclopedia) , and my own experiences
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