Bergen receives somewhere around 2,250 millimetres of rain a year across roughly 230 wet days. It is among the wettest cities in Europe, the locals sell umbrellas as souvenirs with a certain resignation, and the standing joke is that a Bergen child asked what the sun is will describe a rumour.
This matters because Bergen is the gateway to the fjords and a great many visitors build a trip around views that are, statistically, often not there.
The correct response is not to avoid it. It is to build in more days than the itinerary needs, so that at least one of them is clear, and to accept that fjords in rain and low cloud have their own quality — waterfalls at full volume, cloud tearing off cliff faces, and almost nobody about.
Bergen and the fjords
Bergen itself is a Hanseatic trading port with Bryggen, the row of wooden warehouses on the harbour that is a UNESCO site, a fish market, a funicular up Fløyen and seven mountains around it. It is small, walkable and worth two days.
The Sognefjord, north, is the longest and deepest in Norway: 205 kilometres inland and 1,300 metres deep, with the Nærøyfjord branch narrowing to 250 metres between 1,700-metre walls. Flåm sits at the end of one arm and the railway down to it is the reason most people go.
The Hardangerfjord, southeast, is the orchard fjord: gentler, with fruit blossom in May and the Trolltunga hike above it.
Geiranger, further north, is the postcard one, with the Seven Sisters waterfall, and it is a cruise destination that fills accordingly.
Ålesund, on the coast, was rebuilt entirely in art nouveau after a fire in 1904 and is unlike anywhere else in Norway.
The eight below are grouped by that.
Bergen
The city, the harbour and Bryggen.
Grand Hotel Terminus occupies a set of townhouses near the park with a small room count, a garden, a very good restaurant and a level of design that is the best in Norway.
Grand Hotel Terminus
Bergen centre · 5★ · $$$$
Townhouses with the best design and food in Norway
Check availabilityBergen Børs Hotel sits in the 1862 stock exchange building on the harbour with vaulted ceilings, a restaurant in the old trading hall and Bryggen across the water.
Bergen Børs Hotel
Bergen harbour · 4★ · $$$
The 1862 stock exchange with a restaurant in the trading hall
Check availabilityOpus XVI, a member of Small Luxury Hotels of The World occupies a building on the harbour front with contemporary rooms, a rooftop and views over the fish market.
Opus XVI, a member of Small Luxury Hotels of The World
Bergen harbour front · 4★ · $$$
Contemporary rooms above the fish market
Check availabilityHotel Norge by Scandic sits in the centre with a spa, a pool and the most complete facilities in the city.
Hotel Norge by Scandic
Bergen centre · 4★ · $$$
Spa, pool and the fullest facilities in the city
Check availabilityThe Sognefjord and Flåm
North, on the longest fjord.
Kviknes Hotel occupies a nineteenth-century wooden hotel at Balestrand on the Sognefjord, with a dragon-style facade, a garden to the water and a dining room that has been in the same family since 1877.
Kviknes Hotel
Balestrand, Sognefjord · 4★ · $$$
A dragon-style wooden hotel run by one family since 1877
Check availabilityThe Hardangerfjord
Southeast, the orchard fjord.
Hotel Ullensvang sits at Lofthus on the Hardangerfjord with a garden running to the water, a spa and a family operation going back to 1846. The fruit blossom in May is directly outside.
Hotel Ullensvang
Lofthus, Hardangerfjord · 4★ · $$$
A garden to the water, family-run since 1846
Check availabilityGeiranger and Ålesund
Further north, the postcard fjord and the art nouveau town.
Hotel Union Geiranger occupies a hillside above Geiranger with a view down the fjord to the Seven Sisters, a spa and a long history of hosting travellers to it.
Storfjord Hotel sits on the Storfjord outside Ålesund in a hand-built timber lodge with a spa, a small room count and forest around it.
Storfjord Hotel
Storfjord, near Ålesund · 4★ · $$$$
A hand-built timber lodge with forest around it
Check availabilityWhat we have left off
The cabin and self-catering accommodation across the fjord region is excluded, and hytte culture is genuinely how Norwegians use this landscape. They are cabins rather than hotels.
What to do
Take the Flåm railway, which descends 866 metres in 20 kilometres through tunnels and past waterfalls and is among the most spectacular rail journeys anywhere. Combine it with the Nærøyfjord boat and the Bergen railway as the Norway in a Nutshell route, which is heavily marketed and genuinely good.
Walk Bryggen early, and go into the buildings rather than photographing the frontage. The alleys behind are the interesting part.
Take the Fløibanen funicular up Fløyen, and if the weather holds, walk the ridge to Ulriken and take the cable car down.
Hike if the season allows. Trolltunga above the Hardangerfjord is a serious full-day walk; Preikestolen is further south near Stavanger.
Eat the seafood, and be prepared for Norwegian prices, which are among the highest in the world.
Practical notes
Bergen has an international airport 20 minutes from the centre. The Bergen railway from Oslo takes about seven hours and is a scenic journey in itself.
May to September is the season, with the longest days in June and July and the fruit blossom in Hardanger in May. Autumn brings colour and fewer people. Winter is dark and wet at sea level rather than snowy.
It will rain. Bring proper waterproofs rather than an umbrella, since the wind makes umbrellas useless here.
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Questions people actually ask
How wet is Bergen really?
Around 2,250 millimetres a year across roughly 230 wet days. Plan for rain and treat clear days as luck.
Which fjord?
Sognefjord for scale and the Flåm railway, Hardanger for orchards and hiking, Geiranger for the postcard view and the crowds.
Is Norway in a Nutshell worth it?
It is a marketed route and it is also genuinely the best way to combine the train, the fjord boat and the railway in a day.
How many nights?
Six. Two in Bergen and four on the fjords, with slack for weather.
If you only book one
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