Bergen is a city on Norway’s southwestern coast. It's surrounded by mountains and fjords, including Sognefjord, the country’s longest and deepest. Bryggen features colorful wooden houses on the old wharf, once a center of the Hanseatic League's trading empire. The Fløibanen Funicular goes up Fløyen Mountain for panoramic views and hiking trails. The Edvard Grieg House is where the renowned composer once lived. Bergen is Norway's second largest city, and lies clambering up the mountain sides, overlooking the sea, embracing you. You can roam through living history in this modern city, before continuing on to explore the wildest and loveliest fjords of Norway.

Surrounded by seven hills and seven fjords, Bergen is a beguiling city. During the early Middle Ages, it was an important seaport and a member of the Hanseatic League, as well as Norway's capital – a heritage that can still be glimpsed in the beautifully preserved wooden buildings of Bryggen, now protected as a Unesco World Heritage site. Chocolate-box, clapperboard houses creep up the hillsides, ferries flit around the fjords, and a cluster of excellent art museums provide a welcome detour, and not only in case Bergen's notoriously fickle weather sets in. Meanwhile, a large student population ensures the city has a buzzy bar scene and nightlife, and easy access to nature means you're minutes away from complete tranquility. On a Norwegian scale, Bergen is a large city, but one with a small-town charm and atmosphere. Its passionately patriotic inhabitants are proud of their many-sided city and its history and cultural traditions. Many are only happy to direct visitors to their favorite local attraction, coffee-shop or restaurant.