Location: Bergen
Top Things to do in Bergen
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Things to do in Bergen, Western Norway: The Best History Museums
The colorful Norwegian city of Bergen is also a gateway to majestic fjords. Bryggen Hanseatic Wharf will give you a sense of the local culture – take some time to snap photos of the Hanseatic commercial buildings, which look like scenery from a movie set. Don’t breathe too deeply when you visit the outdoor fish market, a reminder of the city’s role in early fish trade. Ferry across a fjord to Lysøen, where the former villa of 19th-century composer Ole Bull will captivate you with fairytale charm.
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1. Laksevag Local Museum
2. Det Hanseatiske Museum og Schoetstuene
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,042 reviews
This wooden building is furnished in 18th-century style and gives visitors a feel of what Bergen was like in its medieval trading days. During a couple of years now, the City of Bergen is implementing a major restoration work. We tell you the Hanseatic story from Schøtstuene and Bryggen. Join us at Schøtstuene!
Reviewed By JeanneJ739
As the main merchant’s building where their exhibit hall is housed is closed for 6 years for renovations, this museum provides a guided walking tour of the Bryggen Wharf area and a building where the Germans gathered and several schoetstuene have been recreated. The fee for the tour includes entry to the Norwegian Fisheries Museum and a shuttle to and from it. The walking tour goes back through the tenements where the Germans lived and worked, and describes the living conditions at the time as well as the political and economic aspects. The Hanseatic League negotiated with the Norwegians for favored trading status and exchanged their grain for dried cod. They also brought in luxury goods such as furs, jewelry, marzipan. Their enclave on Bryggen Wharf was surrounded by a fence and no women were allowed inside. Only approved Norwegian traders were admitted. German boys came as apprentices at 12 or 13 for 6 years of training and did all the housekeeping and cooking as well as loading and storing goods. Our guide was excellent, a pleasant German woman with very clear English. She was quite knowledgeable, gave an overview as well as details and welcomed questions. The tour ended in the Schoetstuene where we were free to wander on our own through the building with its meeting rooms and kitchens.
3. Gamle Bergen Museum - Bymuseet i Bergen
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 292 reviews
In the 1800s Bergen was Europe’s biggest wooden city, a distinctive city environment with closely spaced wooden buildings, busy streets, markets and alleys. At old Bergen open air Museum you can experience some of this atmosphere, with houses from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. What did it look like? What did people talk about? In beautiful natural surroundings you can meet both masters and servants from the past. Museumshop. 40 min walk, 15 min by bicycle, 7 min by bus.
Reviewed By Kato122 - Cambridge, United Kingdom
A short boat ride from the centre of Bergen, this lovely museum is worth a visit. The wonderful old collection of houses is certainly special and the displays are good. The entertainment is amusing as is the display of the ‘Penny Farthing’ bicycle! Lovely views across to Bergen and beyond.
4. University Museum of Bergen - The Cultural History Collections
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 98 reviews
Reviewed By HappyNorwegians - Bergen, Norway
First, do not get this museum mixed up with the museums in the warf area of Bergen (the first picture shown here on Trip Advisor is not the Culture History Museum). The Cultural History museum`s entrance is very understated - follow the signs and the flags. From town walk up the hill towards the RED Johannes Church. You can then either start at the newly re-opened Natural History Museum, or continue back to the Cultural History collections - they are BOTH included on the same ticket on the same Day! You will save money if you buy your tickets online! As of November 2019 entrance costs are 120nok for adults (100nok if you buy online). Seniors 67 or older, foreign students with valid ID cards and University of Bergen employees with Employee ID cards cost 80nok. Children ages 0-18 and University of Bergen students (with student ID) are free! People holding a valid Bergen Card or ICOM cards are free as well. The exhibits include Stone Age, The Vikings, Church Art, The Christie Room, Folk Art: old rural furniture, bunads (national costumes), weaving, knitting; Ibsen in Bergen and Theatre in Bergen, Anthropology: items from European colonies and other lands; and Egypt. There are also changing exhibitions. As of writing this they have an exhibit about the whale found in Sotra with its tummy filled with plastic. Free coffee, tea and water to all guests. Well worth a visit. Plan at least 1 to 1 and a half hours for this museum and 1-2 hours for the Natural History Museum. Open: Tuesday through Saturday 10-16; Sunday 11-17. Closed Mondays. The garden area around the museums is fantastic. Nice place to look around and rest a bit between visiting the three museums (The Maritime Museum is across the way from the Cultural History Colections - separate tickets and opening hours.) There is also the Christie Cafe if you want a snack (Cafe not open on Sunday.) Enjoy!
5. Bergenhus Festningsmuesum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 122 reviews
The Military Museum in Bergen and the Western part of Norway. Free entrance, and facilitated for disabled people. Exhibitions: The Resistance Movement in and around Bergen 1940-1945. Newspapers in Bergen / The Underground Press 1940-1945. The history of Bergenhus Fortress. Women's Contribution to the Armed Forces. Norwegian Forces abroad (peacekeeping operations etc.). Enigma.
Reviewed By jtam96 - London, United Kingdom
Excellent free museum detailing some of Norway's military history, especially under Nazi occupation in WWII. Welcoming and helpful staff who was able to provide a lot of extra information. All exhibits have multiple language translations and are well laid-out. Free tea and coffee to top it off!
6. Damsgaard Manor - Bymuseet i Bergen
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 17 reviews
We are very happy to present this beautiful classical summer house to our visitors. In the 1700s, Bergen was a large, busy and rich city. The city’s upper classes adopted trends from the continent and established elaborate, aristocratic homes in the countryside. By 1800 one would find around 70 of these summer houses in the countryside surrounding Bergen, and Damsgard was the most stunning. Damsgard Country Mansion, as it appears today, was built in the 1770s for General War Commissioner and General Customs Manager Joachim Christian Geelmuyden (1730-1795). Geelmuyden was knighted in 1783, and took the name Gyldenkrant. The house he built at Damsgard is still considered to be a masterpiece of Rococco architecture in wood in Norway, and it is perhaps Europe’s most authentic wooden building from that period. Garden exhibition can be visited all trough the opening hours. Access only to the garden.
Reviewed By BarbieBabyDoll8 - Oslo, Norway
Too bad tourists are not allowed to enter the manor due to precautions on covid-19, you are only allowed to enter the gardens which i enjoyed maybe much more if I was able to enter the classic home. The lady was very nice and informative about the manor's history. Such a lovely place to visit.
7. Bryggens Museum - Bymuseet i Bergen
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 483 reviews
At Bryggens Museum, you can experience the Middle Ages and see what archaeologists have found in excavations of Bryggen and other places in Western Norway. Bryggen in Bergen has been a busy part of the city for almost 1,000 years. In 1955, parts of Bryggen burned down. After this, excavations started and archaeologists found thick layers of soil containing hundreds of thousands of artefacts. Bryggens Museum has been built on top of the remains of Bergen’s oldest houses dating from the first half of the 12th century. One of the most special finds are the many pieces of wood with runic inscriptions with text ranging from everything from poems and gossip to conjurations. For children, the museum has a sensory room and a scavenger hunt. Closed: 01.-05.04, 01.05, 17.05, 24.05
Reviewed By Stephen51 - Lytham St Anne's, United Kingdom
We visited this museum as part of a walking tour of Bryggen and whilst we walked through the buildings and alleyways on the tour it was only through the museum that the place came alive. The museum houses artefacts which demonstrate how the original traders lived and worked there and exposes the very basic conditions they endured. Essential to visit whilst in Bergen but do it as part of a walking tour to gain the most benefit and understanding.
8. Bergen Maritime Museum
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 228 reviews
The Bergen Maritime Museum (Bergens Sjofartsmuseum) was founded in 1921 and moved into award-winning museum in 1962. The museum building is situated 100 metres from the red church (Johanneskirken) up the steps from Torgallmenningen at Nygardshoyden (nearest bus stop: Mohlenpris) and among the University campus. The museum presents the history of shipping, its development and importance to Bergen and Norway from prehistoric times to the present day. Our exhibitions offer a vast collection of ship models, paintings and various items related to seamanship and life on board, providing a good insight into Norway's rich maritime heritage. Coffee, tea, snacks, cold drinks and ice cream. Limited museum shop. FREE WIFI. Welcome!
Reviewed By crosis - Whanganui, New Zealand
We originally went to the museum as a way to fill a rainy day. However once inside we were really surprised by the quality of the museum and some of the really interesting exhibits and presentations. This is a fascinating look at Norway's seafaring history. I really enjoyed the recreation of the ship deck and cabins. I also thought the large bay windows overlooking the Bergen Port was a very clever way to link the history with the modern day.
9. Haakon's Hall - Bymuseet i Bergen
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 263 reviews
Visit Hakon’s Hall this summer. We hold short introductions every hour to give you an impression of life behind the thick stone walls. Hakon’s Hall is over 750 years old and is packed with history. Through its golden age, decay and resurrection. The hall was built between 1247 and 1261 by King Hakon Hakonsson as a royal residence and banquet hall. This was important to the king as his own coronation ceremony was held in a big boat shed. It apparently rained a lot in Bergen even in the Middle Ages! When the King’s son, Magnus Hakonsson the Lawmender, married the Danish princess Ingeborg in 1261, tables were set for 2,000 persons in three different buildings. According to the sagas, ‘The Kings kept their courts in the stone hall’. At the time, Bergen was Norway’s biggest and most important city, and Hakon’s Hall was the scene of many important national political events. One of them was the formulation of Norway’s first collection of laws. 1.-5.04, 11., 21.04, 1., 8., 13., 17.05
Reviewed By suesW5671GT - Kingston, Canada
I arrived just a few minutes before closing time and was blessed with an empty impressive hall with low-toned music emanating from above. It was truly magical ! I can only imagine what it must have been like hundreds of years ago. Felt like a Game of Thrones episode. Well worth a visit!
10. The Hanseatic Museum and Schoetstuene
