Hiking in Bergen, Norway

A few weeks ago, my family and I spent some time in Bergen, Norway. We chose Bergen as a destination because we knew we would be able to see beautiful sights on a fjord tour, and Bergen is supposed to offer some terrific hiking. Well, that it does!

We got incredibly lucky on our visit to Bergen and had terrific weather. We arrived on a Monday, and spent all day Tuesday & Wednesday in Bergen before coming back to Sweden on Thursday. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday it didn't rain at all, and even Wednesday was only slightly drizzly- incredible for Bergen, a city where it is always raining! 

Once we arrived on Monday, we immediately decided to take advantage of the terrific weather and head for a quick hike. We planned on a longer hike for Wednesday, so decided to do the shorter hike. On our way into the city, we had passed the Fløibanen Funicular (a tram that goes straight up the mountain to the views). We decided that for our hike, we would go up Mount Fløyen towards the Fløibanen's upper station.

About halfway up the hike!

Views of the city below

Hiking up a mountain is pretty good exercise! 

"Watch Out For the Invisible Witch"

Throughout the entire hike, it seemed as though each new turning point offered spectacular views of the  city, islands surrounding it, and the North Sea. When we were about halfway up we took a break to enjoy the views, catch our breath, and of course- watch out for the invisible witch! Once we had caught our breath, it was back to the trails to finish our hike up Mount Fløyen! The entire hike zigzags up the mountain, never too steep at any point, but certainly a great workout.

we made it up Mount Fløyen right before sunset!

view of Bergen & the North Sea

sunset over Bergen

Mom & I in our matching hats!

Panorama view of Bergen, Norway from the top of Mount Fløyen

the four of us at the top of Mount Fløyen! 

Trolls, trolls everywhere!

We reached the top of Mount Fløyen at a perfect time, just before sunset! At the top of the mountain, there is a great lookout spot over the city, a gift shop, a restaurant, and an entire park full of troll-like wooden statues. We took a few pictures, and then decided to check out the gift shop while waiting for the sun to set a little bit further. The gift shop had your typical tourist souvenirs, but also hats & jackets- perfect for hikers coming up the mountain! I found a hat I liked with a small Norwegian flag and decided to purchase, which my Mom then had to copy and get one of her own. From there, we decided to grab a beer at the restaurant while watching the sunset- only, unfortunately, the restaurant closes at 5 PM! We wished we would have known that prior to our hike.

As you can see from the pictures, our hike was absolutely gorgeous! We had planned on hiking up the mountain and seeing how we felt and if we wanted to take the Fløibanen Funicular down the mountain. After our hike, we felt in good shape and decided to hike down instead of taking the Funicular. It took us about an hour each way, and was a great walk. On it, we saw tons of Norwegians- likely enjoying the great weather for a chance- and even some families pushing strollers up the mountain, so if you are going with a family you can certainly do this! We were very lucky to have such great, sunny weather for our hike up Mount Fløyen, but I am confident that even if the sun is not shining the views would still be beautiful!