Great stay here for a week,little difficult to locate amongst all the tiny streets but in the end…read moreit was worth it. Do not be put off by the cash on arrival payment system,it is just the way they work it. Good communications by email and phone by the owner Kine.You are up above the city in a fairly quiet location,yet centrally situated,all the city is on your doorstep,you just get out of bed to explore it. Great value for money ina fairly expensive city.

Quick, easy, and open around good hours of the day. It is relatively cheap at 12-14 USD at the…read moretime. They do not take American Express. Actually a lot of places in Norway do not take American Express. Waiting for the railway wasn't too bad. the view inside the railway isnt that great so just pick a seat. No good photos really inside the train. When you get to the top, thats the view you want. There are a lot of seating or possible seating areas around the place. In the summer, I can see it has a chilling spot. During the winter, staying up there with high winds and low temperatures felt like icicles to the face. I only stayed up there for probably 10 minutes. Then I went back down. There is a cafe at the top and a nice restaurant as well. You can order the tickets to stop at the midpoint and you can hike up. That looks much more doable than hiking from the bottom up. It has a lot of twist and turns.

We enjoyed a picturesque ride up the mountain on the funicular. The stations were clean and easy to…read moreget in and out of. The views from the top were stunning. There was a nice little park for the little ones and some short walking trails. We petted the goats and took lots of great pics. There are a couple of small shops and a café as well at the top. Very happy we decided to check it out.

Nice little hotel one block away from the old harbour town. The rooms are large and clean wi t have…read morean antique feel to the entire hotel. The staff was pleasant and accommodating. I would recommend the First Hotel Marin.

Location. Location. Location…read more The location of the First Hotel in Bergen is ideally situated equidistant between the fish market and the historic harbor side buildings that give Bergen it's character. Also very close (2 blocks) from the funicular. Having previously stayed at a First Hotel location that was less-than ideal, I held my breath upon entering this one. Pleasantly surprised, I was happy to find the lobby well-furnished in a modern style. The hotel room was also perhaps the most charming we've had in all of Scandinavia (room 529). On the top floor of the hotel, with vaulted ceilings and exposed timber beams. We even had a view of the waterfront! Sadly, our charming room had a few downsides. The first, and most important being, the lack of a security door. Besides the key-card entry, there is no deadbolt lock nor chain on the door. Also, one of the two windows which opened in our room was broken and would not fully close. This proved to be problematic when the rain started pouring and also when we tried to sleep - as the noise from the street was quite loud until late at night. My companion also complained of the lack of a teakettle and mugs in the room, but this is not as much of an issue for me. If I had other options in Bergen, I would choose to stay at the Radisson Blu or Scandic, as they're come to be reliable European chains for me Scandinavia-side. Even better would be a short-term flat share or AirBNB with a view!

Finding lodging in Bergen is difficult because there's not a ton of availability, it's expensive,…read moreand the downtown / main area is pretty small. We tried many different Airbnbs, hotels downtown were ~$200 (if not more), and were starting to run out of options on places to stay. June is a busy tourist month, so make sure you plan far in advance. We settled on this hotel, but didn't realize quite how far it was from the main area - it's about a 40 minute walk, or a $20 taxi ride from the train station to here (which is about 10 min driving). If you're looking to save money on a hotel by picking this place, just beware there's not a lot of public transit, so what you end up saving you'll end up spending on cabs. The walk is fine - it's flat -- but there's not a ton of stuff to see along the way, and seems fairly deserted. There's not much around this hotel if you're looking for options to eat. We should've just ordered pizza delivery, because by the time we left the hotel to try to find something in walking distance, we ended up having to walk all the way downtown and we were hangry. The hotel itself is fine - it's modern and clean. The beds are comfortable and the bathroom is decently sized. The receptionist was gone for 10-15 minutes (or maybe even longer) when we arrived, which was a little bit annoying. There was a sign that said they had stepped away "for a moment", and left a phone number if we needed to reach him/her. Unfortunately, I didn't have WiFi or a cellphone that I could use, so that was of little use. The receptionist was helpful later when I needed a cab ordered for the morning so that we could go to the airport. A cab from the hotel to the airport will run you ~$40. There's was nothing terribly wrong with the hotel, but for $128, I don't think it's worth the price given the location and how far away / expensive it is to where everything is. If you have a rental car, this could work out just fine for you, but make sure you know what you're signing up for if you don't!