Unique Places in Bergen

Up on Nygårdshøyden, where the university is, behind the big museum that's wrapped around that statue of the lion, you'll find beautifully landscaped gardens. They used to be the city's official botanical gardens, but the Arboretum out at Milde took over that role. Now Muséhagen is simply a restful oasis between university buildings and museums.

In spring you'll find students studying in the sun. In summer city-dwellers come here to sunbathe and children laugh at the fish in the lilyponds. In January there may be snow, but a tree or two may still be in flower.

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If you have a car and time enough, drive south about 25 km toward Milde and you will be surprised to find here a beautiful Japanese garden, created between 2005-2008 by Haruto Kobayashi a “landscape architect”.
All the cost was covered by the Japanese embassy, as a sign of friendship with people of Norway.

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A must see for a librarian such as myself. Very nice brickwork! Olaf Nordhaugen was the architect of this building. An interesting detail of the facade can be seen in the second picture that goes with this tip, I'm pretty sure it was inspired by the "Book Fool", an engraving by A. Dürer for the book "Das Narrenschiff".

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We went to see paintings in the Rasmus Meyer Collection. The museum can be found next to the lake Lille Lungegardsvann in the town centre of Bergen. Along with paintings by other artists, the museum houses the world's third largest collection of paintings by the famous Norwegian painter Munch. It goes without saying that the two larger collections are to be found in Oslo.

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Lysekloster ruins are situated south of Bergen and of the E39 to the west. Built in 1146. Was build on a farm, which was a gift from the bishop Sigurd in Bergen.
The ruins are open the whole day, entrance is free. There are a couple of pillars left from the "korsgang". Check out the "nordre kapell", the graves, notice the bottom stones, the stones are chiseled so that the head and shoulders fit nicely in the grave. There are also carvings in the side stones of the tombs.

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If you want to go for an exiting trip and like hiking go up this mountain the view is definitely worth it. Prekestolen is about 2 hours south of Bergen near Stavanger. Wear proper shoes and take enough water. The walk takes between 1 and 2 hours depending on your speed. You will climb up what looks like a water fall (without the water of course) and sometimes the path is just wide enough for 1 person. So an exiting and sometimes exhausting trip, but the view is definitely worth it!!!

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The new Bryggen were built in the first year of the 20th century where in the past there were the wharf of the German Hanseatic merchants. Today these houses are a fantastic example of 20th century architecture and they are the home of many shops and restaurants. The new Bryggen and the old one are a perfect mixture between new and old, and they are a fantastic set in this wonderful town!!!!

Bergen is between the mountains and while you get further away from the centre it is getting elevated and at some place it is really steep, there are lots of stairs to climb, very healthy if you ask me ;-)