A Guide to the Seven Mountains Surrounding Bergens

By Charlotte Hussey, University of Bergen, Norway

One of the first things you will learn about Bergen is that it is surrounded by mountains, earning the name of ‘the city of seven mountains’. The mountains provide many opportunities to explore the Norwegian landscape and wildlife from right outside your doorstep through several incredible hikes. Here I will provide a guide using my own experience of hiking the seven mountains throughout my time in Bergen. Each mountain is unique and offer different experiences and challenges.

Fløyen

Fløyen is the most accessible and popular mountain in Bergen – I would say it is the easiest! It is probably one of the most popular tourist destination as once at the top you get the best view of Bergen from the viewpoint and, if not feeling up to the walk, the funicular is quite cheap. It is paved to the viewpoint, meaningit is easy to walk in all seasons. In the warmer seasons there are even goats at the top that are very friendly to say hello to! There is also nice walks and hikes to do from the top of the mountain and I particularly like doing the short walk to the nearby lake where there is a café to get a hot chocolate from. Overall it is definitely my favourite of the mountains!

Ulriken

Some would argue Ulriken is the hardest mountain – and I would agree! It is the largest of the seven and the way up is primarily made up of stairs rather than paths – a proper leg work out. However, once at the top, the view is immensely rewarding and there is a nice café! As the tallest mountain, you can see very far, and in both directions. There is also the option of getting the cable car up but this can be expensive (around £30 for a round trip) or you can buy an annual pass which is around £70. There are many option for longer hikes from the top of the mountain as well!

Løvstakken

Løvstakken was the first mountain we hiked that was not extremely accessible – it was not paved but rather a rocky path so the route was a bit of a shock! Another thing – if hiking this mountain, make sure you go down the correct side to avoid making the same mistake I did! Unfortunately, we took the wrong route back down and ended up on the wrong side, meaning it took around 45 minutes on public transport to get back instead of 15. It gave very different views to the mountains on the other side and was very fun to explore!

Lyderhorn

Lyderhorn is the furthest mountain out of Bergen but it is still easy to get to. It is one of the smallest and the time varies a lot depending on which route you take. There are two main routes: one very short, very steep route and one long and gradual route. We took the latter up and went down the former which is what I would advise – we got to see both routes, didn’t have to struggle up the really steep route and got to get back quickly after reaching the top!

Damsgårdsfjellet

Damsgårdsfjellet is the smallest of the seven of the mountains but it still provides a fun hike with great views! It also doesn’t mean that it is the easiest – it is very rocky and at some point we had to use our hands to get up the rocks! However, as it took much less time, it did feel less taxing than the other mountains and felt much more like a hike / climb than a walk! It was also nice as we went down a different route to the way we went up so it was two walks in one!

Rundemanen

This was my final mountain, so I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I completed it. Although this was quite a long one as you have to hike either Sandviksfjellet or Fløyen first and continue on from there, it was not particularly hard or steep as you already gain height by hiking the first mountain. It has a gravel path running to the top creating good hiking conditions with beautiful views the whole way up!

Sandviksfjellet

The minute we got some of the first spring sun we decided to go up Sandviksfjellet. It is a fairly small mountain, maybe the second smallest so we thought it would be one of the easiest. We were wrong! We took the famous Stoltzekleiven route up the mountain which was entirely stairs rather than a path. Even though the hike itself was not long at all, it was tough, but it was beautiful the whole way up! At the top of the mountain, there are several options for other hikes, for example, continuing on to Rundemanen or across to Fløyen. We took the other route down which was through the trees, alongside a stream / waterfall, which was much more relaxing than the stairs!

This post has taken me the longest of all as I updated it throughout the whole year as I completed each mountain. These are not the only hikes offered, however, with many wonderful areas easily accessible from Bergen – too many to discuss here! Even though I was not a massive hiker before coming to Bergen, it has really made me appreciate and enjoy the outdoors more than ever!