Things you should know if you are doing a year abroad in Bergen:

Georgiana Marinescu, University of Bergen, Norway

Here are some of the things I wish I had known before moving to Bergen:

If you want to get the bus or the tram anywhere it is useful to have the Skyss Billett app. You can use it to buy single tickets or period tickets and if it asks you the zone for tickets it is Zone A.

2. If you want to see the best way to get to a destination it is useful to have the VY app. It gives you all the possible travel options from your position to the destination and you can buy tickets in app too.

3. Something useful if you have just landed and have no bedding, cutlery, nothing: there are buses that go from the centre to IKEA. You can get these buses from Bergen Busstasjon and the bus numbers I have used before were 300 and 4. I would recommend this over buying anything from the shops in the centre as it is a lot cheaper in IKEA.

4. Pretty much any shop that does not sell necessities and Groceries are closed on a Sunday. Additionally, most Grocery shops are also closed on a Sunday. There are a few small ones that stay open that Google may not tell you about in case you desperately need anything. One of those shops is called Bunnpris and it is more expensive than usual grocery shops so I would suggest not leaving your shopping until Sunday.

5. Norway have a very different recycling system to the UK. There are bins outside that you open up with a key fob and they are separated by Glass, General waste and paper. However, in terms of bottles and cans, there is an extra tax you pay when buying them at the shops and they typically say PANT on them. In order to dispose of these you have to go to any of your local shops and deposit them in a PANT machine which will then give you a voucher with money to use in that said shop for your PANT.

6. When you first arrive at Bergen Airport do not make the mistake I made of Ubering to the centre because you don’t know the transport as Ubers and taxi’s are very expensive in Bergen. Instead, there is a tram that runs from the airport into the city centre, it takes about 45 minutes and it is a lot cheaper than a taxi.

7. The local hospitals are Bergen Legevakt and Haukeland Hospital. You typically go to Bergen Legevakt for your emergency and they either check you out there or give you a referral to Haukeland. It is also important to know you pay for medical treatments in Norway.

8. Coop, Coop Extra, Kiwi and Rema 1000 are your most common grocery shops in Bergen. These can be found all around the centre. As for clothing or any other stores you have the shopping centres Galleriet and Exhibition or Bergen Storsenter.

9. If you want to go to any souvenir or touristic shops, Bryggen is the place for all of that. There are shops all down by the water and there is also a very famous Christmas shop called Julehuset.

10. If you want to buy alcohol you can buy beer, cider and anything under 4.7% Vol at Grocery shops. However, if you want something stronger you have to go to a Vinmonopolet which has any kind of alcohol you can think of but if you’re thinking of buying something like wine or spirits you do have to be over the age of 20 and they will ID you. It is also important to note that alcohol is very expensive in Norway.

11. During your first two weeks in Bergen you will have to go to the student centre and get your student ID. What I didn’t know was that you have to login to Studentweb and set your own pin for that ID so that you can access university buildings. You also need the Studentbevis app which displays a digital version of your ID once you have gotten the physical ID. Something else I wasn’t told was that you can use mitt.uib to view your modules and your timetable, this is typically where lecturers will post assignments, reading materials and where they will post any announcements regarding your lectures.

12. Lastly, my favourite little secret gem in Bergen is the Bergen Kunsthall. If you are someone that likes things unique and a little weird, you should visit the Bergen Kunsthall. Entry is cheap, it is around £2.50 and the gallery changes its exhibitions throughout the year. They sometimes have showings of movies made by different artists and they have a cute little gift shop and cafe.