For several months now, we’ve been driving our motorhome Vanni, around northern Europe including Norway. Then after a wonderful visit to Oslo, Norway’s capital, we left the road and our motorhome in favour of a train trip. We were headed to Bergen, known for its fjords, fishing, and history.
 |
| The beautiful harbour at Bergen, Norway |
Bergen is Norway’s second largest city after Oslo, with a population of about 270,000. It sits around 430 km (267 m) by train from Oslo on the western coastline of Norway, between some of Norway's most impressive fjords.
We had pre-purchased our train tickets, so after parking Vanni at the Oslo Airport, we caught the Airport Express Train into Oslo city centre then boarded the Oslo to Bergen train. As the train pulled out of Oslo station, we had a 6.5-hour ride ahead of us that we were really looking forward to.
 |
| Marg with the Oslo to Bergen train, Norway |
The Oslo to Bergen train ride is considered one of the world's most beautiful train journeys. The train runs along the highest mainline railway track in Northern Europe, crossing the scenic Hardangervidda plateau, Europe's highest mountain plateau at 1,237 mtrs (4,058 ft) above sea level.
Built between 1875 and 1909, the rail includes 182 tunnels of which ten are over 2.0 km (1.2 m) long, and while the journey promised to be beautiful, it crosses some of Europe's most inhospitable terrain. We managed to see a lot of that terrain soon after leaving the Oslo urban area.
a.jpg) |
| Amazing scenery in Ål, Geilo, Ustaoset, and Haugastøl, Norway |
The route passed through small rural villages, and stunning landscapes. About half-way between Oslo and Bergen, we stopped in the small village of Gol (4000 people), which was quaint. But the scenery following Gol became increasingly awe inspiring.
Especially when we got to the towns of Ål with its river of crystal-clear water, Geilo where we saw beautiful reflections of the river valley, Ustaoset with its autumn colours and pretty red houses, and Haugastøl with the golden hills of Norway’s biggest national park, the the Hardangervidda.
 |
| Landscape around Haugastøl, Norway |
The landscape around Haugastøl was particularly beautiful. The oranges and yellows of the vegetation, dotted with quaint coloured houses against a cerulean sky, was breath-taking. At this stage, we were on the very high Hardangervidda mountain plateau, and the views were consistently stunning.
Next, we arrived in Finse a tiny mountain village that is only accessible by train. At 1,222 mtrs (4,009 ft) above sea level, Finse is the highest town on the line.
 |
| Views near Myrdal, Norway |
The next station was in Myrdal, which is also in the Hardangervidda National Park. Much of the Hardangervidda's geology is ancient, and shaped by glacial activity during the Ice Ages. It now displays barren hills, large glaciers, and beautiful lakes, rivers and streams.
Myrdal is also where the famous Flam railway begins. The Flam line stretches for 20 km (12 m) between Myrdal and the village of Flam, taking an hour to climb 866 tortuous metres up through the mountains. While we didn’t take this detour, we saw the grunty engine that bravely tackles the mountains daily.
a.jpg) |
| Scenery at Upsete, Urdland, Voss and Dale, Norway |
After that, we went through more villages seeing the beautiful autumn colours of Upsete and the pretty red station at Urdland. Next was Voss which sits on the Hardangerfjord, the fifth longest fjord in the world and the second longest fjord in Norway, then pretty Dale on the shore of the Veafjorden.
Finally, we reached Bergen. We had enjoyed the 6.5-hour trip and it lived up to our expectations. We saw a huge range of stunning scenery, and were amazed at the resilience of the people living in some of the very remote and rugged areas that we’d passed through.
 |
| Leigh at Bryggen (UNESCO), Bergen, Norway |
Arriving in Bergen we rattled our suitcases through the cobbled streets to our hotel and settled in. Then we took the short walk from out hotel to Bergen’s waterfront, and fell in love with the old, old colourful buildings in the Bryggen area.
Bergen was founded around 1070, and the medieval wooden buildings huddled together along the Bryggen harbour, began life as commercial buildings in the Hanseatic days. They have since been restored and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site housing shops, museums, and restaurants.
 |
| Some architectural sights in Bergen, Norway |
After a good look around Bryggen, we wandered around visiting the historic Meat Bazaar now home to the library and museums, Bergen University with its beautiful arches, the 12th century Bergen Cathedral, Bergenhus Castle, the historic fire station, Torget Square, and more.
Later we visited the famous Torget fish market and dined on the freshest and yummiest shrimps and mussels. This is one of Bergen’s historic areas and fishermen have been selling their daily catch here since the 12th century.
 |
| Marg at the lookout on Mt Floyen, Bergen, Norway |
The next morning, we caught the very steep historic electric cable funicular railway to the top of one Bergen's seven hills called Mount Floyen or Fløyfjellet. At the top, there was a lookout giving wonderful panoramic views of Bergen and its fjords.
There are actually more than seven hills, but only seven are mentioned with any regularity. They include Ålreken, the highest at 643 mtrs (2,110 ft) above sea level and Askøyfjellet, the lowest at 231 mtrs (758 ft). Fløyfjellet (Mt Floyen) is 400 mtrs (1,300 ft) above sea level.
 |
| Houses and small streets of Bergen, Norway |
Leaving Fløyfjellet’s lookout, we walked 3 km (1.8 m) down a winding track, past lots and lots of very quaint little houses tucked away in all sorts of places on the hillside. It reminded us of our home town of Wellington New Zealand, but older.
The next day, we finally managed to get a closer look at one of Bergen’s fjords. Bergen is in the middle of a number of fjords that give it access to the North Sea. This location has earned Bergen the title of “gateway to the fjords”. The main ones are Sognefjord, Norway’s longest fjord, and Hardangerfjord.
 |
| Views from the White Lady cruise on Osterfjord, Bergen, Norway |
But we sailed on the Osterfjord. We presented ourselves at the wharf near Bryggen early and boarded the “White Lady”, a modest white launch that has a history of taking passengers out onto the fjords.
The cruise took us where we could see Osterøy Island the largest inland island in Norway at 328 square km (126 Sq m), Askøy and Sandviken islands with their medieval housing, some of Bergen’s residential areas, narrow rocky channels, and lovely attractive countryside. It was a nice and leisurely morning.
 |
| Evening on Karl Johan Street (1892), Edvard Munch. KODE Bergen, Norway |
That afternoon, we visited the Kode Museum to see the art of Edward Munch. It was wonderful. We also viewed a collection of art from the “Golden Age of Norwegian Art” which showed us a whole new area of art and artists that we had not seen before.
This was all housed in a gorgeous old building that Rasmus Meyer, the collector, designed especially for his art. A great way to spend the last few hours we had in Bergen.
 |
| Night time in beautiful Bergen, Norway |
We loved Bergen and thought it had a really nice feel to it, and was so pretty around the water. We are now looking forward to another trip highlight that we planned before leaving home – a cruise up the coast of Norway to see its fjords and hopefully, the Aurora Borealis. But you can read about that in the next blog.
This blog describes part of our 6-month motorhome trip around north-eastern Europe, which began in Prague.