Bergen's history is written around its harbour, Vågen: the market where fishermen have sold their catch since the Middle Ages, the wooden wharf of the Hanseatic merchants and the museum built from what was found under it. This guide covers those three places, then climbs Fløyen, the mountain behind the harbour, and ends with a trip south to Fantoft Stave Church. Three of them are stops on our Bergen scavenger hunt.
Torget and the Fish Market
Torget is the square at the inner end of Vågen, where the harbour meets the city centre. A market has been held here since the 1200s, and for centuries it was the place where fishermen, farmers and townspeople did business. Fishermen used to row in from the edge of the city, sell the day's catch straight from their boats along the quay and row home the same evening.
Today the outdoor Fish Market opens for the season in May and runs through the summer, selling fish, shellfish and local fruit, berries and vegetables. Since 2012 there has also been Mathallen, an indoor food hall on the square that stays open all year, in the same building as the tourist information office. Torget is a stop on our scavenger hunt.
- The view along Vågen from the square, with the wooden fronts of Bryggen on one side and the mountains rising behind the town.
- The seafood counters in Mathallen in winter, when the outdoor stalls are closed.
Bryggen
The row of gabled wooden buildings along the eastern side of the harbour is Bryggen, the old wharf. From around 1350 until 1754 it was the base of the Hanseatic League's office in Bergen, the kontor, where German merchants traded stockfish from northern Norway for grain and goods from Europe. Norwegians called it Tyskebryggen, the German wharf. The properties passed to Norwegian owners in 1754.
Bergen was a wooden town, and fire struck it again and again. A great fire in 1702 damaged the Hanseatic buildings, and much of what you see today was built after it, though some stone cellars are older, from the 15th century. A fire in 1955 destroyed part of the wharf and opened the way for a long archaeological excavation. Bryggen has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, and it is one of the stops on our scavenger hunt.
- The narrow wooden passages between the buildings: walk in from the quay to see the galleries, stairs and timber walls behind the painted fronts.
- Schøtstuene, the old assembly rooms of the Hanseatic merchants, rebuilt after the fire of 1702 and part of the Hanseatic Museum.
Bryggens Museum
Bryggens Museum stands next to the wharf, close to the area that burned in 1955. The excavation that followed took thirteen years and brought to light the remains of medieval buildings and a huge number of everyday objects. The museum was established in 1976 to show them, in a building designed by Øivind Maurseth, and has been part of the Bergen City Museum since 2005.
The permanent exhibition, Under jorden (Under the ground), shows finds from medieval Bergen: shoes, pottery, scraps of textile and the remains of buildings. The museum holds what it describes as the world's largest collection of runic inscriptions. Bryggens Museum is a stop on the scavenger hunt.
- The runic inscriptions, a rare chance to see the writing of the people who lived and traded on the wharf.
- The leather shoes and household objects, which show how ordinary people lived in the medieval town.
Fløyen
Fløyen is one of the seven mountains around central Bergen, and the easiest to reach. Its highest point is 400 metres above the sea, and the Fløibanen funicular, opened on 15 January 1918, climbs from Vetrlidsallmenningen, a couple of minutes from Bryggen, to a station near the top at 320 metres. You can also walk up on paths from the centre.
At the top there are viewing terraces with a panorama over the city, the fjord and the mountains, a restaurant and café, and paths for every level. Families head for the large playground and the Trollskogen, a forest walk with trolls, and in summer the Fløyen goats graze near the top. Fløyen is not one of the scavenger hunt stops, but it is the best way to see the whole route from above.
- The view down over Vågen and the old town, with the islands and the fjord beyond.
- Skomakerdiket, a small lake about ten minutes' walk from the upper station.
- The signed walking routes further into the hills, towards Rundemannen, Blåmanen or, for strong walkers, over Vidden to Ulriken.
Fantoft Stave Church
Fantoft Stave Church was built around 1150 in Fortun, a village near the inner end of the Sognefjord. When a new church replaced it in 1879, the old one was threatened with demolition, and in 1883 the consul Fredrik Georg Gade bought it and had it moved in pieces to Fantoft in Fana, south of Bergen. On 6 June 1992 the church was destroyed by arson, the first of a series of church fires set by members of the early Norwegian black metal scene.
Reconstruction began soon after the fire and took six years, and since 1997 the church has been protected by a fence. A stone cross from Tjora in Sola stands outside. The church lies outside the centre and is not on the scavenger hunt route, so plan it as a separate trip by public transport.
- The tiered roofs and the timber construction typical of Norway's medieval stave churches.
How to see them in one walk
Start at Torget and the Fish Market, then walk along the quay to Bryggen and explore the passages behind it. Continue to Bryggens Museum, next to the wharf. Walk back to Vetrlidsallmenningen and take the Fløibanen up Fløyen, or walk up if you have the energy, for the view over everything you have just seen. Keep Fantoft Stave Church for another half day.
See Bergen with World City Trail
Our Bergen scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops, from the National Stage to Bergenhus Fortress, and Torget, Bryggen and Bryggens Museum are all stops, along with the Sailor's Monument, Bergen Cathedral, the Shetlands-Larsen memorial, St Mary's Church and the Rosenkrantz Tower. At each stop you solve a puzzle and learn a story, at your own pace.
There is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Bergen, for people who prefer a different format.
Play the Bergen scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Bergen →
Play the outdoor escape game in Bergen →
Facts checked in October 2026.