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You are here: What's On Christmas in Bergen
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The Gingerbread town, the Bergen Christmas market and the Festival of light are some of the events Bergen has to offer to put you in the right Christmas spirit.
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During the holiday period there is a few options available for fjord cruises and day trips from Bergen.
These tours can be booked online or at the Tourist Information.
Please note that this table of available tours is from 2018. This year’s tours will be published as soon as possible.
The Gingerbread Town (Pepperkakebyen) is the World’s largest town of its kind. In November, half of Bergen’s citizens make their own contributions to this tasteful, magical town. Houses, churches, castles, rockets, and even oil platforms are some of the edible artwork you can find – the creativity is amazing. The result of it all is a mind-blowing fairytale town among mountains, fjords, snow and atmospheric light. You can also have a taste of Bergen’s own gingerbread hearts at the end of the tour. Every day from 16 November until 31 December you can visit the Gingerbread Town at Sentralbadet.
Tickets and info:
Follow this link for more information about the Gingerbread Town and for online booking of tickets.
This year, Bergen Christmas Market will open for the third time this year. The exhibitors offer various handmade, homemade and edible Christmas gifts. You can also try interesting Christmas foods from all over the world. There will be fun activities indoors and outdoors, such as Ferris Wheel, a carousel, and the World’s Smallest Gingerbread Town. You’ll find the Christmas market at Festplassen, in the middle of the city center, from 28 November until 22 December 2019.
Take the opportunity to see the world famous fjords! On the tour called "Guided tour and fjord cruise to Nærøyfjorden, Flåm and Stegastein viewpoint" you get a full fjord experience in just one day! The tour is available weekends in December plus every day from 26 December to 30 December! More days might be available as the tour gets full. (If you want to secure your ticket, we do advice to buy in advance as there is only 16 seats on each tour)
If you are short on time, there is several half-day tours available. See all options for half-day tours here.
Or view all winter tours and cruises here.
During Christmas in 2018 you could join a guided tour by bus and see all the highlights in Bergen in 2 hours. We hope this tour also will be available this year. We will update this article as soon as a decision for 2019 has been made!
The tour starts from the Tourist Information and you get to see the city center, the harbor area and Bryggen as well as the highlights outside the city center. You can buy your tickets for Christmas sightseeing online here or at the Tourist Information.
Bergen city center decorated for Christmas. Photo: Visit Bergen / Robin Strand - visitBergen.com
From 26 - 31 December 2019 you can experience great pianists play their Grieg favorites on Edvard Grieg's own Steinway grand piano from 1892 in his villa at the Edvard Grieg Museum Troldhaugen. An unique opportunity to experience Grieg's music in the composer's own living room!
Read more and book your ticket to Lunch Concerts in Space Christmas here. (Limited seats available, so we advice you to book your tickets in advance)
Inside Edvard Grieg's villa at Troldhaugen. Photo: Visit Bergen / Dag Fosse – visitBergen.com
Throughout December Bergen offers a large selection of Christmas concerts that are sure to get you in the right Christmas spirit! Check out What's on in Bergen here.
Bergen also marks Advent with the traditional lighting of candles on Mount Fløyen every Sunday leading up to Christmas. There are also Christmas workshops and other fun activities before and after the lighting. If there is enough snow, you can get down to the center of Bergen from Mount Fløyen with sledges. The Fløibanen funicular offers special sledging tickets, and you can sleigh down from Mount Fløyen all day. The road and the paths are lit during the evening.
Mount Fløyen. Photo: Robin Strand, Norphoto AS
In Norway, the most important celebration happens on Christmas Eve, 24 December. This is when Norwegian families come together for a big meal. After dinner, it is time to unwrap the presents.
Norwegian Christmas food traditions vary across the regions, but Christmas dinner in Bergen is usually mutton ribs (called Pinnekjøtt), fish, or pork ribs, with all the traditional trimmings, such as sauerkraut, swede, gravy and the ubiquitous boiled potatoes.
If you want to bring the Bergen Christmas feeling home, head to Julehuset at Bryggen to get nisser and other Christmas decorations. In November and December, the shop has two floors of Christmas products.
The last day of the year is usually spend in one of Bergens many restaurants, night clubs, pubs and bars or at home with family and friends. The city is buzzing with life and people in festive spirit! At midnight there is fireworks that can be seen from all over the city center. To get you safely home after the celebrations, there is an extensive public transport service if you are staying outside the city center. Night busses and Bergen Light Rail are running all night.
From Thursday 6 December until (and including) 23 December, most shops in the city centre are open the following hours:
Monday to Friday: Open until 8PM (malls until 9PM)
Saturday: Open until 6PM
Sunday: Open until 2PM or 7PM
Christmas Eve: Open until 1PM (with some exceptions)
Christmas Day and Boxing Day: Closed
New Year’s Eve: Open until 4PM (with some exceptions)
Strandaten decorated for Christmas. Photo: Visit Bergen / Robin Strand - visitBergen.com
Other Sites
Bergen Reiselivslag / Bergen Tourist Board
Strandkaien 3 - Postboks 977 Sentrum
5808 Bergen, Norge
© Bergen Tourist Board 2019
