Over to Oslo

This morning we packed up our suitcases and duffel bags and made the brief walk over to a train stop near our Air BnBs in Bergen. The train took us directly to the airport for the short flight over to Oslo. Upon arrival in Oslo we hopped on Norway's version of the bullet train, which took us straight to Oslo Central Station downtown. Here, we picked up our rental cars and later returned for me to pick up my bike rental.

The next morning I did a short ride a little west of Sandvika where we were staying. I went looking for some trails I had seen on the map, but they turned out to be pretty rocky, so I turned around. Other than the trails, the ride was a little bit of bike path and a little bit of rolling farmland. The area really reminded me of Eastern Washington and the farmland around Spokane, sort of similar to Green Bluff. At any rate, it was just nice to see some more of the local area I wouldn't have otherwise seen.

Bryggen & Fløibanen

"Bryggen is a historic harbour district in Bergen, one of North Europe’s oldest port cities on the west coast of Norway which was established as a centre for trade by the 12th century. In 1350 the Hanseatic League established a “Hanseatic Office” in Bergen. They gradually acquired ownership of Bryggen and controlled the trade in stockfish from Northern Norway through privileges granted by the Crown. The Hanseatic League established a total of four overseas Hanseatic Offices, Bryggen being the only one preserved today.

Bryggen has been damaged by a number of fires through the centuries and has been rebuilt after every fire, closely following the previous property structure and plan as well as building techniques. Bryggen’s appearance today stems from the time after the fire in 1702. The buildings are made of wood in keeping with vernacular building traditions. The original compact medieval urban structure is preserved with its long narrow rows of buildings facing the harbour, separated by narrow wooden passages. Today, some 62 buildings remain of this former townscape and these contain sufficient elements to demonstrate how this colony of bachelor German merchants lived and worked."



"The Fløibanen is a funicular railway, owned by Fløibanen AS, in the Norwegian city of Bergen. It connects the city centre with the mountain of Fløyen, with its mountain walks and magnificent views of the city. It is one of Bergen's major tourist attractions and one of Norway's most visited attractions. The line is 848 m (2,782 ft) long, covers a height difference of 302 m (991 ft), and carries nearly two million passengers a year."

Bergen by Bike

I was able to do two rides outside of Bergen while we were on vacation. The best way to explore an area is by bicycle. My first ride was about three hours long and followed the peninsula north of Bergen and along Byfjorden (literally translated: the city fjord). Two days later I went south of town and rode for about two hours. The route was an out and back around Kalandsvatnet, which is a nice little lake. Both were great rides!

Norway in a Nutshell

Today was the big event planned for the entire family while we were in Bergen. Known as the Norway in a Nutshell Tour, it was comprised of a two train rides, a fjord cruise, a bus transfer, and then another train ride back to Bergen. As far as I can recall, writing this several months after the fact, I think this was the one day all seven of us spent together.

Our train ride departed from Bergen Sentrum Station in the morning, which was about a mile walk from where we were all staying. Our train was the main line that would take you all the way across Norway to Oslo, if you wanted to go that far, but our stop was in Myrdal so we could connect to the Flåm Railway.

"The Flåm Railway has been described as one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world and is one of the leading tourist attractions in Norway. The train runs from the end of Aurlandsfjord, a tributary of the Sognefjord, up to the high mountains at Myrdal station. The journey features the finest aspects of the stunning scenery of Western Norway. Over the course of one hour, the train takes you from sea level at the Sognefjord in Flåm to the Myrdal mountain station, situated at 867 metres above sea level. Myrdal is also a station on the Bergen Line, meaning the Flåm Railway connects with trains running between Bergen and Oslo.

The Flåm Railway is one of the steepest standard gauge railway lines in the world, with 80% of the journey running on a gradient of 5.5%. The train runs through spectacular scenery, alongside the Rallar Road, vertiginous mountainsides, foaming waterfalls, through 20 tunnels, and offers so many viewpoints that, for many people, a single trip up and down is not enough."

Shortly after departing Myrdal the train stopped at Kjosfossen. All of the train piled out to take pictures and watch a pretty random theatrical display to music, involving two women in red dresses to which I didn't quite understand the significance other than to add a little bit of entertainment.

"The Huldra, seductive beings of Norse Mythology are brought to life with the backdrop of the magnificent Kjosfossen Waterfall along the delightful Flam Mountain Railway."

Down, down, down the train went to the fjord town of Flåm. When we arrived I wasn't expecting a giant cruise ship to be anchored in the narrow valley of Flåm, but after looking at the map, the waterways connect all the way to the ocean. It was just an unexpected sight to see such a large ship in that small area, proof that the fjords in Norway are quite deep.

I was also not expecting Flåm to be such a tourist trap. People and shops were everywhere, but I guess that makes sense since the area is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Norway. Personally, I didn't really like it, but at least it gave us something to do for a little bit while we waited for the boat to leave for our fjord cruise.

The cruise was really pretty and just what you would expect. The first half of the voyage was along the Aurlandsfjord before we took a left turn and went down to the end of Naerøyfjord. There were waterfalls left and right coming off of the top of each mountain and into the fjord, but many of them didn't really turn out in pictures. My favorite part of the cruise was passing villages and single farm houses clinging to the sheer cliff face above the water.

The cruise ended in Gudvangen, which took us by bus back to the main train line between Bergen and Oslo. Along the way we stopped at a hotel, which had an amazing view of a valley below it (picture is below). After this quick photo op we joined back up with the train and rode it back to Bergen. I'm not sure I remember the walk home, since this adventure was an all day affair. As the quote above mentioned, I feel like I should go back and spend a lot more time in the area to really soak it all in.

Ulriken via Oppstemten

The thing about Bergen is that it's usually rainy...or, at least the week we were there it was usually rainy. A quick search revealed that Bergen gets rain about two out of every three days. This is mainly due to the fact that it sits on the ocean and is surrounded by seven mountains:

"Ulriken is the highest of the Seven Mountains that surround the city of Bergen. It has a height of 2,110 ft above sea level. Ulriken has an aerial tramway, Ulriksbanen, that can bring people up and down the mountain. At the top there is a TV tower and a restaurant. There is a network of trails along Ulriken as well."

So, after I returned back from the airport on my bike via the tunnel in the morning, we had lunch in the Air Bnb and then debated whether or not we should make the walk and trip to the top of the highest of the Seven Mountains. It was raining on and off, and the summit was coming in and out of view from the clouds. In the end we decided to get outside, regardless of the weather, in typical Norwegian fashion.

The walk from our Air BnB to the foot of Ulriken was a round trip of just over four miles. It was a good way to see a part of Bergen on foot that I hadn't seen yet, and the walk was pretty easy. When we arrived at the cable car at the base, the girls rode up to the top while Jonathan and I took the Oppstemten (the stairs).

The steps are 750 meters long and consist of approximately 1,400 steps in total. The stone stairs and stone works were also built by sherpas. I would say that it's a comparable effort to walking up the Manitou Incline. Although it was raining on and off, the trails and the top of the mountain were packed with a bunch of people. The views of Bergen and the harbor from above were great when we could them clearly enough. Luckily, the clouds cleared while we were at the top for a few minutes so I could take some good pictures.

The restaurant at the top was packed! I got the impression that a hike and restaurant was something locals did for fun with their kids on a Sunday afternoon. Stacey and Julia had been waiting for a table for a little while and managed to grab one for all of us. We (the kids) enjoyed a delicious burger and fries with a view, and then we all took the cable car back to the base of the mountain for the walk home.

Fyllingsdalen Tunnel

This morning I threw my rental bike in the back of the rental car, drove to the airport and returned the car, and then rode my bike back to our Air BnB. Personally, I was quite pleased with how all the logistics worked out.

Bergen Bike Rent set me up with a heavy city commuter bike. The Bergen airport literally has a bike path from the terminal that connects to the rest of the bike paths around the city. There were so many ways and paths to get around town and not use the roads that they have placed street signs with path names and distances on them to help navigate. In today's world of GPS bike computers and cell phones it's still helpful, but I bet most people either know exactly where they are going or, if not, using technology.

I made sure that my one-way trip back from the airport included going through the new tunnel that had been opened only about a year earlier (in April 2023):

"The Fyllingsdalen tunnel, is a three-kilometer bike-pedestrian pathway that was bored through a mountain. Local officials proudly declared Fyllingsdalen tunnel to be the world’s longest purpose-built cycling tunnel. Inside, it offers art installations and creative lighting; at its exit, there are stunning mountain views. Constructing the new light rail line from Fyllingsdalen required boring both a path through Løvstakken and a parallel emergency tunnel. The city decided to spend an additional 300 million Norwegian kroner (around $28 million) to expand that evacuation route to do double duty as path for cyclists and pedestrians. The temperature inside is a steady 45 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. Overhead, colorful lights cycle through a rainbow of shades every few hundred meters. At its midpoint, the city has installed benches and an artificial sundial, along with a brightly colored sculpture that looks like a heart when approached from the east but a spiral from the west."

Steinsdalsfossen

We had one full day in Bergen with the rental car. Since it was the first day in country for Dad, Mom and Michelle, we decided to let them get settled while we drove around for the day. The main point was simply to explore the area outside of Bergen a little, see more of the country, but not make a huge day of it since we had so much planned in the next few weeks.

Steinsdalsfossen is about an hour and fifteen minutes away due east of Bergen. It's visited by an estimated 300,000 people a year (almost 1,000 a day), making it one of the more popular attractions in Norway. The waterfall is about 150 feet high and you can walk behind it without getting wet and take some pretty good pictures. 

Other than being a really cool waterfall, I think the popularity is partly due to the fact that it's close enough to Bergen to lure people like us out there. I also had a side quest in mind, and it was to drive a few miles farther east so I could see Hardangerfjord with my own two eyes. It's the 5th longest fjord in the world and the 2nd longest in Norway. Throw in some family history around the Hardanger Fiddle and the village of Botnen, and it was a really good option for an easy day out.

Bergen Transfer

After a week in Stavanger it was time to drive up to Bergen and meet the rest of the family. 

The drive to Bergen included two car ferries, which was a better way to see the western parts of Norway in between the cities rather than just catching a flight. The ferries are actually part of the highway, and although they cost a little bit, it was pretty easy and straightforward to use them. It really wasn't much different than the ferries I've used in Washington State. The kids enjoyed the experience and it was nice to break up the four and half hour trip into four sections, half of which we weren't doing much more than hanging out.

We purposely arrived in Bergen at our Air Bnb before the rest of the family that day. It worked out really well for me to pick them up at the airport and drive them straight to their Air BnB (across the street from ours) after the long overnight flight. Door to door service. 

My first impressions of Bergen from bike is that it reminded me a lot of Seattle. Always a little bit damp, gray stones and/or concrete, and patchy sea level clouds and a relatively hilly city between the ocean and hills (or mountains on the other side). It probably didn't help that it rained almost every day we were there. That said, with two wheels and endless route options, I was still able to see a more of the area than I would have otherwise.