Charming well appointed rooms. Small but nicely laid out and certainly not claustrophobic. On a…read morelovely historic cobblestone street just a short 10 minute walk from busy Bryggen. Bus stops practically in front of the place so it is super convenient and much quieter than being in the noisy city center. Each apartment has a spacious bathroom with modern fixtures and great water pressure. Small kitchen in each unit with stove , microwave, fridge, pots and pans, and everything else you need to prepare meals. Small super market is only. 5 minute walk. And the husband and wife owners are lovely and helpful with restaurant suggestions, directions, etc. the place is small so book early!

Great stay here for a week,little difficult to locate amongst all the tiny streets but in the end…read moreit was worth it. Do not be put off by the cash on arrival payment system,it is just the way they work it. Good communications by email and phone by the owner Kine.You are up above the city in a fairly quiet location,yet centrally situated,all the city is on your doorstep,you just get out of bed to explore it. Great value for money ina fairly expensive city.

Nice little hotel one block away from the old harbour town. The rooms are large and clean wi t have…read morean antique feel to the entire hotel. The staff was pleasant and accommodating. I would recommend the First Hotel Marin.

Location. Location. Location…read more The location of the First Hotel in Bergen is ideally situated equidistant between the fish market and the historic harbor side buildings that give Bergen it's character. Also very close (2 blocks) from the funicular. Having previously stayed at a First Hotel location that was less-than ideal, I held my breath upon entering this one. Pleasantly surprised, I was happy to find the lobby well-furnished in a modern style. The hotel room was also perhaps the most charming we've had in all of Scandinavia (room 529). On the top floor of the hotel, with vaulted ceilings and exposed timber beams. We even had a view of the waterfront! Sadly, our charming room had a few downsides. The first, and most important being, the lack of a security door. Besides the key-card entry, there is no deadbolt lock nor chain on the door. Also, one of the two windows which opened in our room was broken and would not fully close. This proved to be problematic when the rain started pouring and also when we tried to sleep - as the noise from the street was quite loud until late at night. My companion also complained of the lack of a teakettle and mugs in the room, but this is not as much of an issue for me. If I had other options in Bergen, I would choose to stay at the Radisson Blu or Scandic, as they're come to be reliable European chains for me Scandinavia-side. Even better would be a short-term flat share or AirBNB with a view!

I purchased my tickets through the online portal about a month before our trip to Norway. I don't…read morebelieve you really have to do this because the line for ticket buying is pretty short and there are kiosks along the way inside to buy tickets. Also, if you happened to be in the line to buy tickets, you just enter afterwards, instead of waiting in the prepaid ticket line, it's kind of a cheat. At least that's what we observed. The line for the prepaid tickets was extremely long, going down the block for a bit but it did move fast. We got into line around 235 pm and we ready for the funicular around 3pm. For the length of the line, I thought this moved very fast. When you enter the gates to the funicular, be aware of the people counter. It counts down the amount of people that can enter. So if you're a party of 5 people and it says only 3 more can enter, you will be split up if you enter. There are like 5 gates so you have to pay attention if you want to stay with your party. There were MANY people who did not seem to understand this and started yelling at or crying to the kids working the line. There is nothing they can do, it's a safety issue and you will have to meet your party at the top of the mountain. Also, the last lane (most left handed) is for disabled people or people with strollers. It's kind of a d*ck move to go to that shorter line if you aren't one of these people or in a party with one. But karma hits hard and if you do try this little sneak, you'll probably end up waiting even longer because the special car it leads to has a small capacity and that line moves slow. Other than that, this funicular is a nice ride up and down the mountain, with plenty of spectacular views and cute moments to see.

A nice ride up to a beautiful view. We were lucky to have a rain free stretch of the day in Bergen…read moreto do this trip. I bought the tickets online and avoided a line. We arrived and immediately went through to board the next car. It runs frequently so no real wait. We were also lucky to avoid the earlier crush of cruise ship passengers. The views are great and you can hike down if you want but we rode round trip. There is a nice restaurant at the top too. Price was typical of Norway!

Finding lodging in Bergen is difficult because there's not a ton of availability, it's expensive,…read moreand the downtown / main area is pretty small. We tried many different Airbnbs, hotels downtown were ~$200 (if not more), and were starting to run out of options on places to stay. June is a busy tourist month, so make sure you plan far in advance. We settled on this hotel, but didn't realize quite how far it was from the main area - it's about a 40 minute walk, or a $20 taxi ride from the train station to here (which is about 10 min driving). If you're looking to save money on a hotel by picking this place, just beware there's not a lot of public transit, so what you end up saving you'll end up spending on cabs. The walk is fine - it's flat -- but there's not a ton of stuff to see along the way, and seems fairly deserted. There's not much around this hotel if you're looking for options to eat. We should've just ordered pizza delivery, because by the time we left the hotel to try to find something in walking distance, we ended up having to walk all the way downtown and we were hangry. The hotel itself is fine - it's modern and clean. The beds are comfortable and the bathroom is decently sized. The receptionist was gone for 10-15 minutes (or maybe even longer) when we arrived, which was a little bit annoying. There was a sign that said they had stepped away "for a moment", and left a phone number if we needed to reach him/her. Unfortunately, I didn't have WiFi or a cellphone that I could use, so that was of little use. The receptionist was helpful later when I needed a cab ordered for the morning so that we could go to the airport. A cab from the hotel to the airport will run you ~$40. There's was nothing terribly wrong with the hotel, but for $128, I don't think it's worth the price given the location and how far away / expensive it is to where everything is. If you have a rental car, this could work out just fine for you, but make sure you know what you're signing up for if you don't!