Hiking Up to Fløyen’s Amazing Viewpoint Over Bergen, Norway

Bergen, Norway is surrounded by beautiful nature from the nearby hills and mountains to the water and surrounding islands. Bergen’s setting is amazing. To see it better one must get up high, and there are a number of places to do that. However, the most common means of doing so is hiking up the trail right out of the city on Mt. Fløyen. It is a common hike that many people take. Of course if one doesn’t want to hike up, there is an alternative, the funicular, but that will cost you.

Andrea and Jacob had done the hike the day before and survived so we decided that we could do it as well. We got an early morning start and headed out. The first part was easy. It basically followed a road that went back and forth with hairpin curves. One could also take stairs up, but my knees don’t always like stairs. No cars were coming down the road so we just walked on the road.

At the top of the roadway sits a park. When we got there, it began to rain. We hadn’t come prepared for rain so we sat under a tree on a rock wall until the rain stopped. The rain was light so we really didn’t get wet. At this point we needed to decide where to go next. The path through the park had quite a few stairs. I decided we would continue on the roadway; so we did.

The roadway wound through a residential area with a number of beautiful homes. Here and there we could see between the houses and got a view of the Bergen waterfront below. We also enjoyed viewing some of the houses. We passed one house which had grass growing on its roof. I had heard about that but not seen it done.

My concern walking on the road was that a car might come around the curve and hit us as it was a very windy roadway with no sidewalks. Fortunately no cars drove by. Eventually we came to the overpass of the funicular and from there entered back into the park.

The problem was that we really didn’t know where we were going. We came to some intersections of trails, and we didn’t understand the signs so we just picked one and kept walking. In the end I think we went farther than we needed to go. The trail we took went out towards the water, and we could see the northern section of Bergen.

This part of the trail also seemed fairly quiet with not a lot of people on the trail. However, the area was beautiful. In one section moss covered the grounds, and the trees were growing tall out of the mossy banks. It was all quite green and serene.

We saw a lookout point that was a bit off the trail that we stopped at. From that point we could begin to see beyond the hills of the nearby islands to the water on the other side. Our view just kept getting wider the higher up we climbed. However, it was tiring to climb, and we were not moving at a very swift pace.

One unexpected sight was the date 1915 chiseled into a now moss covered rock. I don’t know who did that or what it meant, but it definitely stood out.

Finally we came across a sign that indicated we were close to the observation point on Fløyen. It was a relief to know that we had actually made it to the right place. A few people saw us straggle in and encouraged us that we were almost there.

The observation area of Fløyen has a number of interesting things about it. The main thing is the view. From this point one can take in about a 180 degree view of Bergen. We saw parts of Bergen that we had not seen before. It was amazing views. Of course many people were enjoying those views.

However, the views are not the only thing of interest. This is actually a great place to bring children. They have a very interactive playground which a number of families were enjoying while we visited.

Nearby is a troll forest where various artists have created carvings of trolls. I thought some of the statues were a little too grotesque for children. I guess I think trolls should be ugly but friendly looking. The troll forest also has a rope bridge that kids were enjoying crossing. On the day we were there a children’s play was also being presented in an amphitheater location. However, that seemed to require a ticket to watch.

For adults the area has the obligatory gift shop and a number of food choices from a nice restaurant to snacks and ice cream. Mostly, however, it was all about enjoying the view.

After we had been in Fløyen for about an hour we began the hike back. This time we followed the crowd as there seemed to be more people on the trail, and so it was easy to figure out where they were going. The way back was definitely not the way we had come. It was shorter. In places it was a bit steep and walking downhill is not always easier than uphill.

When we came to the bottom of the hill at the park, we took the stairs this time, and that was actually one of the hardest parts for me. However we managed to make it down OK. We rewarded ourselves with a treat at McDonalds. After a nap we then ventured out to a pizza place for dinner. The pizza was just the right size for us so it was an enjoyable evening. We have one more full day in Bergen so check back next week as we continue our adventure.

Special Note: This month marks the seventh anniversary of my blog. Thanks to everyone who has supported me in this endeavor by reading my posts. It has been a great challenge for me but fun as well. Special thanks to my wife for her patience with me when we travel. I appreciate her more than she knows.