Overlooking Bergen: Queen Maud’s Outlook and Mount Fløyen, Norway

Bryggen wharf from across the harbour, Bergen Norway

Bryggen Hanseatic Wharf
The colourful wooden boathouses that make up the historic harbour district of Bergen, Norway, are immediately recognisable.

It’s hard to imagine a more dramatic location for a most picturesque city!

Surrounded by steep, snowcapped mountains with glaciers tucked within them, and sliced by deep fjords and fast-running rivers, historic Bergen has long Viking roots and rich Hanseatic heritage. The iconic medieval harbour district Bryggen is immediately recognisable with its colourful collection of UNESCO-listed wooden buildings.

Norway’s second-largest city and one of North Europe’s oldest ports, the city was said to have been founded in 1070 by King Olav Kyrre on a Viking site, but a trading settlement was already established here in the 1020s or 1030s.

For a period in the early 13th century, Bergen functioned as the capital of the Norwegian kingdom, and it served as a major commercial hub for the Hanseatic League (1356 – 1862) of merchants from Northern Germany. The sale of stockfish (predominantly cod) from Northern Norway made the city an important Northern Europe trading centre for centuries. The Finnegården, one of the more than 60 conserved wooden buildings on the Bryggen Hanseatic Wharf now houses the Hanseatic Museum, which recreates life at the time and explores the legacy.

For me, Bergen was the last stop of a two-week cruise around the edges of Europe, starting in Barcelona (see: In the Land of Flamenco and Gaudí). Unfortunately, my husband was called back to Australia, and had to disembark at our penultimate port of Amsterdam (see: Watercolours), leaving me to complete our itinerary in Norway on my own.

Thankfully, I already had tours in Bergen (and beyond) organised. The city was easy to navigate and enjoy – in spite of rather inclement spring weather: it sits at 60° North – less than one degree south of Anchorage, Alaska!

Join me for a rainy walk and bus trip through parts of the historic harbour, a bus ride to the vantage-point of nearby Queen Maud’s Outlook, and a funicular railway trip up Mt Fløyen, a “city mountain” in the heart of Bergen.

Looking south across Bergen Harbour, Norway

Bergen Harbour
Vågen Bay is a busy place, and home to a wide range of private, public transport, and commercial vessels.

Bryggen Wharf
As our bus turns towards the Nordnes Peninsula, we get views across the harbour to those well-preserved and reconstructed UNESCO-listed boathouses of medieval Bryggen.

Bergen Waterfront
Under rainy clouds and behind the boathouses near the fishmarkets, we can see the tower of the stone Holy Cross Church – Korskirken – opened in 1150.

Hotel Havnekontoret
The waterfront is lined with historic buildings, including the 1920s neo-classical stone Clarion Collection hotel.

Buekorps Museum from the Bus
The Buekorps, literally “Bow Corps” or “Archery Brigade” are a Norwegian regional youth organisation founded in the 1850s. The building that now houses the museum was originally built in the 1500, but damaged by fires several times in the 1600s. The current model was built after the 1702 Bergen fire. (iPhone6)

Over the North Sea
Our bus picks up a connector highway, and we tunnel trough part of the neighbouring mountain before climbing up to a lookout in Helleveien, where views extend across the North Sea …

Askøy Bridge
… and over to the long suspension bridge: the Askøybrua across the Byfjorden. Our vantage point is Queen Maud’s view, named for a Norwegian Queen who loved this spot.

Kjøttbasaren
Back down in the old port, we walk along tiled and cobbled streets, and through ancient painted wooden and brick buildings. To me, this one looks like a traditional gingerbread house! Built between 1874-1876, the neo-Romanesque Kjøttbasaren was originally called Bergen’s Bazaar and was used to control the marketing of food. Today, the building – which was extensively renovated in 2012 – houses restaurants and a Starbucks.

Finnegårdsgaten
The beautifully renovated attached buildings opposite house a traditional restaurant, a four-star hotel, and part of the Hanseatic Museum.

Inside the Hanseatic Museum
Our guide in the Hanseatic Museum points out the trading routes that the German guild of merchants dominated between the 13th and 17th centuries. In 1360 they created an overseas office here at Bryggen, …

In an Ancient Room
… and built themselves a home-away-from home.

Hanging Pot
The dark wooden rooms of the museum are filled with artefacts to give us an insight into how these Medieval merchants lived and worked, and the mark they left on Bergen.

The Fløibanen
After lunch, the cloudy skies fulfil their promise of rain, and I make my way to the bottom of Bergen’s funicular railway.

On the Fløibanen
The cable train passes tall narrow houses and tunnels under roadways as it rises steeply up the mountainside.

Bergen from the Fløibanen
We get some lovely views over the city – in spite of the rain – as we climb Mt Fløien.

Bergen from Mt Fløyen
Even the drizzling rain from low-lying clouds can’t diminish the view from the top.

Directional Signpost
The highest point on Mt Fløyen – one of the seven peaks surrounding Bergen – is just under 400 metres (1,310 feet).

Cashmere Goathouse in the Rain
A number of walking trails – each taking about an hour – wind up to the top of the mountain where you can treat yourself at the Fløistuen shop and café.

Cashmere Goat in the Goathouse
The presence of a number of goats on the peak, …

Troll in the Playground
… as well as an entire Troll Forest, makes Mt Fløyen family-friendly. Trolls are an iconic feature of Old Norse folklore, fairy tales, and mythology.

Like Herding Cats!
A class of local kindergarten children in their hi-viz vests were on an outing in the rain at the top of the hill.

Train Down in the Rain
From top to bottom, the ride on Scandinavia’s only cable railway takes about six minutes. Naturally, the views going down are just as spectacular as they were riding up!

Lille Øvregaten
Back on solid – albeit wet and slippery – ground, it is easy to see how fire could tear through this city so often: the cobbled streets are winding and narrow, and packed with steep timber buildings.

Gamlehaugen
We board our bus again, and take a drive around the outskirts of the city, where we catch glimpses of Gamlehaugen, the residence of the Norwegian Royal Family.

Salome
Outside the harbour-front Clarion Hotel Admiral in Bergen, Salome, a sculpture by Norwegian artist Per Ung (1933-2013), dances in a fountain in the rain.