Bergen, Norway

Bergen, Norway

Our first day in Bergen we woke to the same rain that we went to bed with! Overcast and drizzly... a bit colder than what we have been experiencing.

I purchased a 48 hour Bergen Card before we left home which gives you free entry into most museums or at least a discount and free travel on public transport including the light rail to the airport. This worked well for us.

We had 3 days in Bergen to explore and take in the local atmosphere. The weather was not cold but we experienced all weather from rain, cloud and sunshine. Our last day was exceptional with blue skies and sunshine and it was hot... mid 20's! The rest of our time in Bergen saw mainly rain and grey skies.

We put off going up in the funicular to when the sun was shining and thankfully we were rewarded with an amazing view from the top over Bergen. I think everyone else had the same idea as the line was very long but moved quickly but still probably took a good hour! Once up the top the view was spectacular!! There were some goats which were getting a lot of attention (not from me!) and there are a number of bush walks that you could follow. We rewarded ourself with a local pastry and a cleansing ale and a nice cold wine!

We usually took our time in the morning... leaving home around 11ish and coming home around 6ish. We ate all evening meals at home and on the last night we purchased some seafood from the market... a king crab leg (that was ONE for $45! and fed me) a half a kilo of prawns (@ $50/k) and a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio to enjoy in the comfort of our home! And we did!!

We visited a few museums, used the public buses and trams which were easy and ate the local fare.... all in all a very enjoyable three days!

On our last day we trundled our cases over the cobblestones down hill to the Metro station to go to the airport. This trip was free with our Bergen card and took 44 minutes. As our flight was not till 1.35pm we had plenty of time to take our time!

Unfortunately our flight with British Airways was delayed by an hour and then we were held in a holding pattern over Heathrow for 15 minutes so that delayed our arrival time which delayed our hire car pickup which meant that we would be driving to Manchester in peak time!

We used a hire car company called Green Motion that we were a bit unsure about but they upgraded us to a Mercedes AMG so they must be good!! Problem is you need a 2 week course to learn what all the controls do!! Thankfully most things seem to be automatic even the head lights! It is a very comfortable car and one that I could get used to again!!

Our drive to Manchester went well after we eventually got out of the hire car car park and headed in to right direction after going the wrong way on the very first turn!! All good after that and the trip took about three and a half hours. A long day especially as we also lost an hour with the time difference.

Our visit to Manchester is to catch up with family so we are looking forward to that!