Bergen

After our long hike and final night in Odda, we headed towards Bergen. The road took us through an 11km long tunnel under the Folgefonna glacier and then a 10km tunnel to Jondal. Here we had to wait for a ferry across Hardangerfjord and our luck with ferries was out again as one had just left (at our last ferry we had waited in line behind a lorry whose driver had gone to do some shopping and didn’t come out until the ferry had already started to leave). It did give us some time to brew up a coffee and enjoy the view of the Fjord.

Off the ferry we took a quick stop to let traffic pass us and found ourselves in a lay-by with some ancient rock carvings attached, so we got out to take a closer look.

Our next stop was scheduled and guess what, it was another waterfall! The attraction of Steindalsfossen is that you can walk behind the fall – they’ve even put a path in!

From here we went to the outskirts of Bergen and found a great campsite next to a little lake. We caught the bus and then a tram into the city and started on a walking tour of all the sights (or at least the sights that the author thought were worth seeing).

First stop was the harbour market, where we picked up a bite to eat and marvelled at the giant crabs!

Then we crossed over to the other side of the harbour to Bryggen, a series of buildings dating from the time of the Hanseatic League, when Bergen was an important trading port. The old buildings were very impressive and you definitely got a sense of going back in time.

We then walked through some slightly less old streets to the bottom of the Fløibanen. It’s a funicular railway up to the top of Fløien – one of the seven hills of Bergen – where there are fabulous views across the city and the surrounding islands (which are in fact one and the same!).

After a short walk round at the top we took the railway back down again and admired the views from the front carriage.

We finished the rest of the tour as the sun was setting and then headed back to our campsite. We probably didn’t do Bergen justice, but there was more natural beauty of Norway to be explored (and that’s the main reason we came).