Oslo & Bergen City Cards

[glgolfer]

We're doing the Grand Norway Tour with Norwegian Coastal Voyages in May with 2 nights pre in Oslo and 2 nights post in Bergen with the city cards for those two cities. Any information about what transportation and sightseeing is available by using these cards will be appreciated. Any other info about things to do, see, places to eat and shop would also be appreciated.

[JodiBB]

You can go to http://www.visitoslo.com/Oslo-Pass-advantages/ and see what Oslo's Pass can provide you...We're looking at purchasing many of these cards for most of our ports....

[dbh62ark]

We researched this prior to two different cruises in which we visited these ports, and we decided that although they were not cost effective (meaning that we paid more for the card than we received), we purchased one in Oslo because we noted in other ports that the cards saved time standing in line to purchase tickets at the various sites. In Oslo, we used the card for the Viking Ship Museum, Norwegian Folk Museum, and I think for the ferry too. If I recall correctly from our 2003 trip, the card was not good for Aerkshus Fort & Castle, so we paid separately there.

 

In Bergen, we did not buy the card and paid separately to ride the funicular for the fabulous views and to visit the Hanseatic Museum, which is very small (2 buildings that are approx a block apart). We enjoyed just walking around the very charming streets in this port. Since we were only there for a day and you will be there for two days, the card might serve you better.

 

Bergen is a FABULOUS port, and I think you will enjoy it a lot.

 

Hope you have a great time,

Donna

[glgolfer]

Thanks for the info.

We get both cards as part of the tour. We're staying at the Bristol Hotel in Oslo and the Neptun Hotel in Bergen.

 

We have a friend that lived in Bergen for a while, so we should be ok there.

 

Any recommended places to eat or shop?

[dbh62ark]

Sorry to tell you this because I am a "power shopper" in some of the countries in Europe, especially Italy, but I couldn't get very excited about the shopping in Scandinavia other than some nice glass pieces that I bought in Stockholm. (I just confessed on another thread to shopping sprees in London too, so I usually really like to shop.) Hopefully you'll have better luck in Oslo and Bergen than I did. We were on more the large, mass-market cruise lines, so our best shopping stops were Tallinn for price and selection and then next best was St. Petersburg.

 

In Bergen, we shopped at the stores in the lower floors of the buildings in the Bryggen area. We did find a couple of limited edition prints of the Bryggen area by a local artist. The colors are very bright, and I like them a lot. Other than that, we bought a few hand-woven items for gifts and the usual souvenir things in several stores. I don't have the names of any of those stores, but you will see all the stores in that area when you arrive. We also walked through the fish market area a few blocks from Bryggen but didn't buy anything.

 

In Oslo, we were concentrating on sightseeing at the sites listed in my previous post and didn't meander around and in and out of shops, so we made one stop at William Schmidt. We bought a couple of pewter pieces there, and since we didn't do any comparison shopping, I really don't know whether or not the prices were good. We just bought what we liked that seemed reasonable.

 

The shopping areas in both of these ports were very close to our ship's docking location, so that was convenient for us (didn't have to carry packages very far).

 

In Bergen, we ate lunch at Bryggeloftet and Stuene. We found it in the Frommers book and liked it a lot. It's in the Bryggen area too. Sorry I don't have any info for Olso. We ate a sandwich at a Starbucks kind of a place.

 

The scenery in the fjords is spectacular, so I hope you have a great trip.

 

Donna

[glgolfer]

Donna - Thanks again for the info. The only things I want to get are a good sweater and some trolls. Don't know yet what Judy wants, probably just have to look around.

Sounds like we'll have to try the restaurant you ate at.

[dbh62ark]

I saw some cute trolls at William Schmidt in Oslo. :)

[M&T]

I'm sure you can find trolls, sweaters and most anything in the Bryggen area. My husband and I love Bergen. We did the Norwegian Coastal Voyage about 3 years ago. We were on the Midnatsol in July its first year. It was fabulous. We plan to do it again. We went 3 days early and enjoyed walking up and down all the side streets all over town. We lucked out and had beautiful weather. In fact, it was very warm and sunny. On the cruise, we loved Trondheim. We took a taxi to the cathedral and roamed around then took a taxi back to the ship. It was fantastic!!! We had a balcony aft cabin that was fabulous because when the scenery was beautiful in the middle of the night we could just go out to the balcony. We didn't have to get dressed and go to some public place. Let me know if you have questions. We didn't get cards for either city so I can't help with them. We love the Norwegian Folk Village and Viking ship museum. Marlyne

[glgolfer]

Hi Marlyne - See you're from In, we're from Ohio, been in Florida 8 1/2 years now. We didn't get a balcony, just the window cabin. Used to be a K, now a U catagory. We're planning on taking just casual clothes as it says not dressy in the dining room. What was your experience? I'm planning on getting a sweater in Oslo so I can wear it the rest of the way and looking at trolls in Bergen. We're going to take some golf wind shirts and one heavier jacket each so we can layer and corduroy trousers. We both have good insulated waterproof walking shoes along with deck shoes for wearing on the ship.

Any recommendation for restaurants in Bergen?

 

Thanks for the info, hope to hear from you again.

 

Paul

[M&T]

Paul, We were on the trip in mid-July when they were having a heat wave. The temperatures in Bergen were in the 90's. I didn't take a shirt for such hot weather, so I bought one at a sidewalk sale. If I noticed correctly, you are leaving in May. The clothes you are planning will probably be fine. We did buy sweaters in Bergen, our trip was the reverse of yours, we did Bergen first and Oslo last. You might want to take some lighter weight slacks than just all corduroy in case it is a little warmer. It was pretty casual on the ship. Some people dressed up a little for dinner but not much. There was a captain's reception one evening and people dressed up for it, but again not much. I liked that part. I'm dreading being on the Princess and having two formal nights.

 

In Bergen, we ate on the pier one night outside, but of course it was July and warm. I'm sorry I don't remember many names of restaurants. We mainly walked around and looked at menus and picked what looked good. We did eat one time at Radisson SAS Hotel Norge, once at a Fridays (I know that's kind of dumb in Norway), and Enhjorningen on Bryggen with the unicorn figure. We love the Bryggen area. There is a bakery that is nice too. We made most of our purchases there too. There was a department store that had some nice dishes. I wanted to get a tea cup and saucer for my sister. I made the mistake of thinking I could get it in Oslo and never found it there.

Feel free to ask more questions. Let me how you like the trip when you get back. Marlyne

[glgolfer]

Thanks again Marlyne

 

We are planning on taking other, lighter pants and clothes. We think it will be in the 30s to 60s while we're there. I'm not taking a jacket and Judy's not taking anything fancy for dinner. I figure a sweater will work just fine. I will have some buttondown collar shirts. Since it's north instead of the Caribbean, I'm leaving my guyaberra shirts home.

We've learned that if we see something we really like and want, we buy it then. Thanks for the shopping/dining suggestions. We're staying at the Bristol hotel in Oslo and the Neptun in Bergen.

 

Paul