The wettest city in Europe, Bergen lived up to its reputation on my couple of days visiting in the middle of summer, with regular downpours and very wet shoes. Other than the weather it is an attractive place, with plenty of heritage building around an impressive harbour setting surrounded by forested hills.

The most popular views of the city are from Fløyen, the closest hill to the city. I was lucky to have a brief break in the rain for clear views of the central city below, though the city in general is hugely spread out. Bergen is the same size as Oslo, but with a third of the population.

The easiest way to get up Fløyen is by the Fløibanen funicular railway, taking just eight minutes to climb 300m.

There is a nearby troll garden.

From Fløibanen I went for a bit of a walk, along an easy gravel path to the reflective Skomakerdiket lake. I turned it into a loop with a few more lookouts, which looked fine on the map, but in reality was a waterlogged, and often steep path, requiring careful scrambling down wet rocks, getting completely soaked…

The best thing about Bergen is the number of beautiful buildings, many built in stone or brick.

But the famous ones are the old wooden merchant buildings in the Bryggens area which somehow have survived (or been rebuilt after) the literally dozens of fires that have wiped out much of Bergen on a regular basis over the years.

As well as attracting fires they attract cruise ship passengers. Up to four ships can be in the harbour at any one time, which would be overwhelming.

Bryggens Museum tells the story of Bergen, the regular fires, and what they’ve found in the remains.

It is next to the museum is the 12th century St. Mary’s Church, one of the few buildings to survive the many fires due to its stone construction.

Bergen Cathedral didn’t fare quite as well, being rebuilt five times due to fire.

Korskirken was established in the 12th century but added to over the years.

Schøtstuene, the Hanseatic Assembly Rooms have been rebuilt / reconstructed as they were imagined to be. The Hanseatic League was a powerful guild of merchants that held sway over a significant amount of Europe for hundreds of years, controlling trade.

The Gamle Bergen Museum is another open air museum, seemingly ubiquitous in Scandenvia. This one had fewer grass roofs than usual, with almost all the buildings dating from the 18th century, laid out in an unusually compact layout around a cobbled street.

There were a couple of cool bits of street art on the walk back.

I didn’t go into the Norwegian Fisheries Museum but enjoyed the exterior.

There were some great waterfront views of the colourful wooden buildings.

Bergenhus Fortress is home to numerous historic buildings, including the 13th century King Håkon’s Hall and 16th century Rosenkrantztårnet.

The Festplassen area has an large fountain and a lovely bandstand surrounded by colourful flowers.

The National Theatre was one of my favourite buildings in Bergen.

To finish with the scenic train journey from Oslo to Bergen, though the weather was less than ideal.