Photo: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Cable car to the top of Mt. Ulriken, the highest of the mountains surrounding the city. There is a restaurant at the top.
Ulriksbanen is a passenger aerial tramway in Bergen, Norway. It connects the mountain Ulriken to the city, and is frequently used by tourists as well as locals. The tramway was first thought of by Frithjof Meidell Andersen in 1954, and a company was established in 1959. After having been constructed by a Swiss company, Ulriksbanen opened in 1961. Ulriksbanen, branded as Ulriken643, in reference to the height of Mount Ulriken, opened with a new cable car and new bigger Skyskraperen restaurant in October 2021.
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Bergen Science Centre
Sponsored by the state and the city in addition to some of the largest industrial companies in Norway, this all new science centre features interactive exhibitions of science, technology and mathematics. It targets children and young people with the intention to inspire them to learn more about science, but is popular also among the adults. It has special exhibitions about the weather, the ocean and energy, with altogether 75 different interactive machines and experiments.
This is a very nicely landscaped park laid out in the late 1800s in English style. The park is a popular picnic place for families, and in the summer there's always several groups of students and young people having barbeques. You are very welcome to step on the grass and it's a nice place to play frisbee, kubb or croquet. If you want to save a few kroner on food and drink stop by a local grocery store to pick up some ingredients to a picnic, bring along a blanket and a few beers and spend a cheap and relaxing afternoon in this park. It's highly unlikely that the police will bother you for drinking in public in this park as long as you behave. It's also one of the places where it's rather easy to get in contact with the locals. There's no public toilet here, but pop over the road to Vilvite and use their facilities for free. The upper part of the park is now rejuvenated, with a nice play area for children, occasional outdoor exhibitions and – some weekends – a café with restroom in the new Pavillion.
The Leprosy Museum
St. Jørgens Hospital is one of very few preserved leprosy hospitals from the 18th century in Northern Europe. The large wooden building in Kalfarveien 31 (Pleiestiftelsen for spedalske) was the largest institution caring for the many leprosy patients in Bergen. This was where Armauer Hansen discovered the bacteria that causes leprosy in 1873. Hansen's discovery was a major breakthrough in medicine as he proved that a chronic illness was contagious rather than hereditary. The Leprosy archive was a complete record of all patients and is assumed to be the first patient archive in the world. The Leprosy archive is inscribed on UNESCO list of Memory of the World. The Leprosy Museum tells the story about the disease and its history in Norway, in addition to showing life at the hospital. A visit to the museum is a unique but disturbing experience. The complex in Kong Oscars gate 59 also includes a wooden church.
Harmonien
The Bergen philharmonic is one of two national orchestras and was established in 1765. It is regarded as one of the oldest orchestras in the world.The program is varied, but the repertoire is usually quite easy listening. The orchestra plays of course a lot of Edvard Grieg's works.
Kunstmuseene
One of the largest art museums in the Nordic countries, with art from the renaissance as well as contemporary art. The museum houses several of Edvard Munch's works.