FUNICULAR FUN IN BERGEN!

So on our recent Fjords cruise on Balmoral myself and Holly decided that having splashed out, quite literally, on the Rib Adventure in Eidfjord that we would just do our own thing in Bergen, get off the ship and wander around, however, just outside the cruise terminal we happened upon a Hop On Hop Off Bus Stop and decided that we would have a tour round Bergen on that, covering more ground. The tour takes around an hour and you get a good taste of the city, Norway’s second largest, all for 300 Krona. For an extra 100 you get a ticket for the Funicular to the top of Mount Floyen so we decided to bite the bullet and do that too. Total cost in sterling is £36, much cheaper than any of the excursions you could book through Fred Olsen direct, and to be honest it was great, something we would both recommend doing if you ever visit there.

You get headphones to wear on the bus so you get a running commentary as you drive around and you can get on and off as you wish, the usual but none the less very interesting and a nice lazy way of seeing the sights!

We were lucky that the queue was reasonably short then we arrived at the funicular, try to get there early as it does get really busy. By the time we came down at about 1pm the queue was miles long. Now not being a fan of heights I did wonder if this was for me but honestly it was fantastic. The views from the top of Mt Floyen are tremendous – Bergen is much bigger than you think, and of course we could see our ship, along with CMV Astor, both of which looked very tiny from way up there. Great photo opportunities it has to be said, despite the fact it was quite a cloudy day, and we were also lucky enough to meet a local troll at the top, there are lots of them around in Norway 🙂

I do have a video of the journey back down, all seven minutes of it, for those of you who have the time to watch it, however with my limited tech skills I need to ask one of our online guys to help me upload this another time.

Once back down the bus arrived almost immediately and we were back on the ship in no time and heading for the Ballindalloch to enjoy Fred Olsen’s roast beef which they offer every Sunday! We were ready for it after our mornings’ adventure and boy we were not disappointed I tell you!

All in all, £36 well spent! It just goes  to show that you do not have to book the cruise lines own, more expensive, excursions in order to get the most out of a port.

For more info please get in touch – [email protected] or 0330 303 8184. I am always happy to chat with you!