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| Bergen
Tours - Excursions |
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Walking
Tours
Bryggen
by Foot (telephone number: 5558 8010) offers a guided walking
tour, which concentrates on the city’s 900-year history and
includes visits to the Bryggens and Hanseatic museums.
English-language tours depart daily from the Bryggens Museum at
1100hrs and 1300 hrs between 1st June and 31st August. Admission
includes entry to Bryggens Museum, the Hanseatic
Museum and Schøtstuene Hanseatic Assembly
Rooms.
Walking tours are also available from the Bergen
Guide Service, Valkendorfsgate 5 (telephone number: 5530 1060)
for a similar cost.
Bus Tours
Gaia Reiser
(telephone number: 5555 4454) runs 3 regular tours daily during
the peak season. These depart from the Tourist Information
Office (see Tourist Information). The first option departs
at 1000 hrs and includes stops at Old Bergen Museum
and Troldhaugen, while the second departs at 1400
hrs and takes in Troldhaugen and the Fantoft
Stave Church. Both tours last about 3 hours. The third
option departs at 1600 hrs and consists of a 90-minute tour of central
Bergen.
Boat Tours
Run by Bergen
Fjord Sightseeing (telephone number: 5525 9000), these provide
excellent views of Bergen’s colourful houses and of the 7
mountains that surround the city. The MS White Lady
departs from the Torget daily at 1430 hrs between mid-May and the
end of August. The trip lasts for 1 hour. In June, July and August,
3-hour tours aboard a vintage vessel depart daily from Bryggen at
1130 hrs , operated by Maritime
Tours (telephone number: 5532 5560 or 5530 8080) and the price
includes a smoked salmon lunch.
Other
Tours
Fonnafly
(telephone number: 5534 6000) organises tailor-made trips from Sandviken,
1.5km (1 mile) north of Bergen. A 50-minute flight into the largest
and most spectacular fjord of Hardanger is one
of many possibilities. Bergen
Taxis (telephone number: 07000) offer sightseeing tours in and
around the city for parties of up to 4 people. Drivers can conduct
the tours in English, German or French.
For
a Half Day
The fjords: Bergen
Fjord Sightseeing (telephone number: 5525 9000) offers a 4-hour
tour around the fjords closest to Bergen. The boat departs from
the pier at Torget at 1000 hrs (1st May-30th September) and 1530
hrs (July-August only).
Numerous other waterborne tours are also available, all can be booked
through the Tourist Information Office (see Tourist
Information).
Troldhaugen –
The Edvard Grieg Museum
Designed by the composer Schack Bull, Edvard Grieg’s
attractive Swiss-style house was built during the 1880s in lush
surroundings on a promontory jutting out into Lake Nordås.
Every summer, from 1885 until his death in 1907, Grieg lived here.
The hut located in the garden where he composed many of his great
works still contains his desk, upright piano and rocking chair.
Until 1985, concerts regularly took place here, but are now staged
in the concert hall, Troldsalen, usually every
Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday in the summer. Troldhaugen
is a 15-minute bus journey (any service from bays 19, 20 or 21 in
Bergen bus station) from the city centre to Hop, then a twenty minute
walk.
The Edvard Grieg Museum is at Troldhaugveien
65, Paradis (telephone number: 5592 2992). It is open daily with
hours varying according to the time of year (closed 1st December-mid-January).
Multilingual guided tours are offered and admission is charged.
For a Whole Day
'Norway in a Nutshell'
The ‘Norway in a Nutshell’ excursion by train, boat
and bus provides a spectacular glimpse of Norway’s scenery
in a day.
Highlights include the Flåm Railway which,
with one of the steepest gradients in the world, twists and turns
its way 900m (2,952ft) down to the fjord, passing
snow-capped mountains and spectacular waterfalls. Once in Flåm,
a boat winds through Aurlandsfjorden and Nærøyfjorden
– one of Norway’s narrowest fjords.
Trains depart daily all the year round from the central railway
station at Strømgaten 4. Departure times vary according to
the season, but the total duration of the trip is 10-12 hours. There
is no guide but a pamphlet explaining the route is provided with
the tickets. Bookings can be made at the Tourist Information Office
(see Tourist Information) or directly from Fjord
Tours AS (telephone number: 5555 7660). |
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