10 Things to Do in Bergen in Winter from a Local

If you are lucky, you will see the Northern Lights in Bergen

I wasn’t born and raised in Bergen, but even my local friends fairly often say that I know this city better than they do. Over the years, since 2014, I’ve tried various things, visited different places, and had both good and bad experiences, which led me to compile this particular list of the things to do in Bergen, Norway, in winter.

It’s not a surprise that the city from the movie Frozen was based on Bergen. It’s a magical place, especially when it’s snowing. But be ready that winter in Bergen can bring a lot of rain. Well, like most of the year, to be honest. It doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun, though! On the contrary, there are plenty of events and things to do in Bergen, especially in December before Christmas. Here’s my top-10 list of what you should try:

Pepperkakebyen – Gingerbread City
Bergen Julemarked – Christmas market
See Advent Fløyen
Ski in Myrkdalen or Voss
Eat traditional Christmas food
Chase Northern Lights
Explore Bryggen
Go see a Christmas concert
How about a sauna?
Be active!

1. Pepperkakebyen – Gingerbread City

Every year before Christmas, kids and families, schools and kindergartens, private companies, and pretty much anyone who wants, contribute to the biggest in the world Gingerbread City, or as we say, Pepperkakebyen! This tradition has been going on since 1991 and has become a part of the Christmas to-do list for many Norwegian families. Basically, you can bake your own gingerbread house, or something else for the matter, and bring it to the organisers before the exhibition opens. Then they will try to arrange a city that resembles Bergen, and after that, everyone will be able to come and see it. People who contribute to it will have free access.

The biggest in the world Gingerbread City. It smells soooo good inside!

Pepperkakebyen is open from November 15, 2025, until January 11, 2026. It’s located at Kong Oscars gate 24, but technically in three buildings on the same street, including numbers 25 and 26. Yes, it’s that big, and it will be pretty crowded on the weekends.

Opening hours:
Monday-Friday 09:00 – 21:00
Saturday 9:00-20:00
Sunday 10:00-19:00

Special opening hours:
December 24: 9:00 – 13:00
December 25: Closed
December 26: 13:00 – 18:00
December 31: 11:00 – 15:00
January 1: Closed

Tickets can be bought at the door. The prices are “Norwegian”, but all the money will be used for good causes for kids since Pepperkakebyen is organised by a non-profit. Prices as follows:
Adults: 199 kr
Students: 149 kr
Kids 3-15: 49 kr (weekend price, free on weekdays)
Babies 0-2: free

If you have a Norwegian phone number, you can register in the byVENN app and get a 25% discount coupon for your adult ticket, which will then cost you 149 kr.

You can spend a lot of time at the Pepperkakebyen. And you can grab some coffee and cookies afterwards.

Pepperkakebyen is actually one of the two main Christmas events that you can experience already in mid-November. So, if you come to Bergen in November, which you shouldn’t, and it happens to be on the 15th of November, then you can also check out Lysfesten, the Festival of Lights. This event has been organised by the local newspaper Bergens Tidende for the past 30 years and has become a yearly tradition for many people. In a nutshell, it symbolises the beginning of the Christmas period with the official lighting of the main Christmas tree, fireworks, and a concert with local artists. It’s held on the main square, Festplassen, and this year it’s on the 15th of November.

Why you shouldn’t come to Bergen in November? Well, it’s one of the months with a lot of rain, not so much daylight, and not so many fun things to do. Especially the first two weeks, they are plain depressing. The end of November gets a little bit better since it already starts feeling like Christmas.

2. Bergen Julemarked – Christmas market

The Christmas market in Bergen is a relatively new thing, though it’s been organised yearly since 2017 on the main square, Festplassen. If you really love Christmas markets and have been to Germany, France, or England before Christmas, don’t put high expectations on the one in Bergen. It’s still evolving like a baby, but it kinda tries to find itself like a teenager. Personally, I go there a few times: once with my friends, once completely alone, and once with my nieces.

Every year, my nieces and I go to the Bergen Christmas market together.

When I go there with my friends, we drink gløgg (mulled wine) from cute cups that get a new design every year. Just like anywhere else, you are paying a deposit for the cup, so you can keep it or return it after you are done with the drink. My advice is to get your hot drinks from the main large tent, and not from the small kiosks outside. It happened a few times that the drinks were lukewarm when we were getting them from the kiosks. And yes, you can also have a nice alcohol-free version of gløgg or hot chocolate, for example.

When I go there alone, I simply do window shopping. Beware that in the evenings and especially during the weekend, the Christmas market gets really crowded. There’s simply not enough space on Festplassen for that many people. So, if you are a tourist, choose your time wisely, unless you enjoy waiting in the queues or trying to squeeze in between people. Another thing, you will be surprised to see many non-Norwegian things and foods at the market. I will be writing a full overview of the Julemarked soon, so stay tuned.

Elk / moose kebab and burgers and the Christmas market

Only in Norway 🙂 Elk/moose kebab and burgers. My favourite street food

When I go with my teenage nieces, we have a little Christmas program. This year, before we head to the Bergen Christmas market, we will go to a family Christmas concert at the main concert hall, Grieghallen. And right after we are going to the cinema to watch a Christmas movie. But what do we actually do at the Julemarked? We get one drink each, my nieces go for hot chocolate, and I drink alcohol-free apple gløgg. We keep the cups, of course. If you want, you can exchange your dirty ones for clean ones, but we tend to clean used ones with napkins and just keep them since we already used them and they feel like ours, hehe. Then we have to look at what vendors have to offer. My nieces get a small “credit”, which they spend on what they want. Since we are already a little hungry, everyone chooses what they want to eat. For the girls, it’s Nutella crepes, for me, it’s either a savoury crepe or a sausage. After the main course, we are going for the dessert: churros, candy apple, or cotton candy. Now, we are fully ready for the Ferris wheel, the Elephant Carousel, the Teacups, and the Horse Carousel. Yes, we do all of them every year, and it’s fun every time.

It’s free to go to the market, except for the rides, but it’s pretty expensive to buy something there. So beware. Also, if you get something, maybe try to go for a Norwegian thing, and not something you can buy elsewhere.

This year, the Christmas market is open from November 21, 2025, to December 22, 2025. Try to avoid Friday or Saturday evening, for it will be really crowded. Opening hours:
Weekdays: 12:00 – 21:00
Saturday and Sunday: 10:00 – 21:00

3. See Advent Fløyen

Fløyen is the most visited mountain in Bergen, and there are a few reasons for that: you can get up there right from the city, it’s extremely easy to hike, and it has the best view over the whole city centre. There are two ways to get up Fløyen: either by taking the funicular Fløibanen or by walking up. Fun fact, every end of April, a run up the funicular track is organised. I did it once. It’s pretty alright, but since I’m not a short-distance-race guy, I probably won’t do it again.

Every Advent Sunday, a new candle is lit on Fløyen.

Since it’s my favourite mountain, I hike it fairly often, especially on good days. To get there from the city, you first go to the point called Fløyen Start. From there, if you are in good shape, it will take you around 20 minutes hiking to get to the top station, which is just 320 meters above sea level.

Pro tips hiking Fløyen:

Don’t wear cotton clothes; stick to technical, breathable, or even wool. You will be sweating, and cotton clothes will feel very uncomfortable on your body. Also, you might want to undress a bit going up, and put everything on going back down.
From Fløyen Start, go straight forward until you physically have to turn. Don’t turn on the first trail sign, which you will see 30 meters after the Fløyen Start point, and which leads you to a wider road. The slightly narrower path is more fun and has a few cool viewpoints.
There’s a shop, a kiosk, a restaurant, and a toilet on top of Fløyen. You don’t need to bring anything with you except for some water, which you can also refill for free; no need to spend money on bottled water.
If you want to get something to eat and drink, I recommend softis (soft serve ice cream), pastries, and Fløyen IPA beer from the restaurant. You might not like the taste of it, but it’s obligatory to have a glass of Fløyen beer on top of Fløyen.
There are goats on Fløyen, you will see them just on the side of the restaurant, and they can come to you if you want to take a picture. Sometimes they go around places, so you might end up looking for them. But they are there.
On your way back, you can go through a different path, and even turn to see the (almost) tallest tree in Norway. It was the tallest one until they found something taller. Check for Norges Største Tre on the map.

If you want to keep on hiking, you can go towards Brushytten and then up Rundemannen. It will be a bit inward, but it’s pretty nice up there, and you can even see some sheep. Or you can go sideways towards Stoltzekleiven and then to Sandviksbatteriet and down Munkebotn. Both options are pretty nice, and I try to take my friends there when they come for a visit.

Back to Christmas, every Advent Sunday, Fløyen lights up a huge Advent candle. There’s a little concert with Christmas songs, and you can also stop by the restaurant to grab a pretty expensive Christmas lunch. If you are lucky and it snows, it can be pretty nice up there. But if it’s raining heavily and it’s foggy, stay away.

4. Ski in Myrkdalen or Voss

There’s a saying that Norwegians are born with skis on their feet. And that’s very accurate since pretty much everyone skis here. On the days when it really snows in Bergen, and it can happen occasionally that we get a lot of snow in a short span of time, you will see a lot of people cross-country skiing on the local mountains. But I never found it challenging enough, that’s why I usually go a little be outside of Bergen for downhill skiing at the resorts. Here you have three options:

I prefer skiing in Myrkdalen and that’s where I usually go with my friends

4.1 Eikedalen Skisenter

If you are new to skiing and have a car available, this small resort might be a good option. It’s just an hour drive from the central station in Bergen. This place was my first ever skiing experience, and I haven’t been there since. Let’s say, it’s alright for the beginners, but you won’t find it exciting if you’re a decent skier. You can buy a ski pass and rent equipment directly at the resort. Official site: www.eikedalen.no

4.2 Voss Resort

The official name of the municipality is Vossevangen, but everyone calls it Voss. You might have heard of the Voss water, a very expensive bottled water from Norway. The thing is, people here laugh at that branding, and, fun fact, that water is not even bottled in Voss. If you want to drink water in Norway, you drink tap water. It’s clean, safe, and tastes way better than any bottled water. But back to the real Voss. This place is positioned as an extreme sports place. They even have an extreme sports festival, Ekstremsportveko, every end of June. And that’s where I go skydiving and rafting. Sometimes I also come here to hike, but only during the summer time.

It takes around 1:15 hours to get to Voss from Bergen. Either by car or by train. If you take the train, you will arrive directly at the station with a gondola lift, which will bring you up to the resort. With 40 kilometres of slopes, there’s enough space to ski. The only downfall is that sometimes not every slope is open, and since it’s a bit lower than my next option, the season starts here a bit later and finishes a bit earlier. FjordTours sells package tickets to Voss, which include train both ways, a day ski pass, and, if needed, ski equipment and an instructor. Tickets can be bought here, and if they are not for sale yet, it means the resort is not open yet.

4.3 Myrkdalen Fjellandsby

And finally, the last nearby option, the one I prefer. You take the same train to Voss, and from there you take a direct bus to Myrkdalen. Another 35 minutes and you are at my favourite resort. Since it’s a little bit higher up in the mountains, it starts snowing here earlier, so one can start skiing earlier too. My advice is to pack some food and drinks with you if you come here. But you can also use the resort’s restaurants and cafeteria. If you want to eat at the resort, I recommend Fjellstova Vetlebotn, which can only be accessed if you have skis or a snowboard. It has a really nice view. FjordTours sells a package ticket to it too, so check out the link.

Those three options can be a day trip from Bergen. You start early in the morning, and you are back in Bergen in the evening. But if you want to go to an even bigger ski resort, you can travel to Geilo and stay there for a weekend.

5. Eat traditional Christmas food

I am a big foodie, so I guess it wouldn’t be a surprise that I used to work as a chef in a few restaurants here in Bergen, right? Good news: I know a lot about where to eat and where not to eat. And before I start with all the Christmas food, I want to share with you some knowledge that others don’t have or don’t talk about.

Pinnekjøtt, lamb ribs, is the most common Christmas food in Western Norway

In general, don’t put too much hope in food in Norway. Especially if you are from France, Italy, Spain, or another country that has a rich food culture. Don’t blame us for that; there are many geographical and historical reasons behind it. But where else can you eat whale steak, reindeer sausages, moose kebab, or the best quality salmon?

If you are on a budget, but still want to try Norwegian Christmas food, you can go for ready-made packs, which you can find in any big supermarket. By the way, Extra and Rema 1000 are the cheapest ones. Meny and Lerøy Mat are a bit more expensive, but have a better selection. There are many options to choose from the ready-made packages:

medisterkaker – pork meatballs;
julestek – ham roast;
julemiddag – ham, Christmas sausage, and pork meatballs;
svineribbe – pork belly;
juletallerken – pork belly, pork meatballs, Christmas sausage;
kalkunbryst – turkey breast;
juletorsk – cod fish;
pinnekjøtt – the most important one, lamb ribs served with a sausage from Voss, and mashed kohlrabi.

You can buy pinnekjøtt in any supermarket. This stand is in MENY Bergen Storsenter

Pinnekjøtt is the most common Christmas food in Bergen and all of Western Norway. If you attempt to make it yourself, it will literally take hours and hours. First, you get salted dried lamb ribs, which you need to rehydrate for at least one day. Then you will steam them for 2-3 hours until the meat easily comes off. Serve them with potatoes, vossakorv sausage, and mashed kohlrabi. Use leftover of the steamed water as your sauce, it will have a lot of flavour. I absolutely love this dish, and eat it many times during the festive season.

But wait, there’s one more! Lutefisk… It’s a dried, salted, cured white fish, usually cod. After rehydration, it becomes jelly-like, but even all the side dishes can’t save it. Extremely weird texture and flavour if you didn’t grow up with it. So, stay away unless you really want to try it. One more thing, in Oslo and around Oslo, people eat svineribbe for Christmas.

But where do you eat all these things? A lot of local restaurants offer Christmas food during the season. But before you go anywhere, take a look at the printed A4 piece of paper, which is usually on the entrance to a restaurant. It will have a large smiley face and a couple of smaller ones. Basically, it shows the latest result of the food safety inspection (large face), and a few previous inspections (smaller faces). You can check them out for a specific place on the official site. But as someone who used to work in a kitchen, I have to tell you they are not always accurate.

In any case, here’s my list to check out:

Marg & Bein – get some local experience, you won’t see that many tourists on this street right in the city;
Pingvinen or Frk. Schmidt – same kitchen as Pingvinen, but better seating for dinner;
Moon – French fine dining with a seasonal menu, might not have traditional Norwegian Christmas food, but it’s my favourite restaurant in Bergen, and they have a seasonal Christmas menu.

I drink liters of Julebrus, Christmas soda, from the first until the last day it’s available in supermarkets.
Hansa is my favourite one

Some of the places that I see at the top on Tripadvisor, I would never recommend, since I talked with the chefs working there, or had my own bad experience. But oh well 🙂 Bonus tip: try sausages at Trekroneren, a hot-dog stand that has been open since 1946. You will always see a crowd there. Go for a reindeer sausage, of course.

And to make your trip count, you have to try two more things from a supermarket: julebrus
and pepperkake. Julebrus is a Norwegian Christmas soda. It has a unique flavour, which some people don’t like, but 99% of my friends and I love it. Do remember: only the red one is the real julebrus. Brown is for people from Oslo, and we “don’t like” people from Oslo. So stick to the red one, preferably Hansa. Pepperkake is a Christmas gingerbread cookie. You can buy them in literally any supermarket, and Extra usually makes a promotion and sells a large box for only 5 kr. That’s exactly where I get my supply from.

One last thing. For dessert, we eat riskrem, which is a rice pudding with cream, jam, sugar, and vanilla. Delicious!

6. Chase Northern Lights

Is there a chance that you will see the aurora borealis in Bergen? There is, but it’s rather small. You can always download an app called Yr that shows you the weather forecast and the aurora activity. If you are staying in the city, it will be difficult to see the northern lights because of the light pollution. On top of that, most of the days are rather cloudy. But if you are sure the sky is clear and the aurora is acting up, you can try to chase it by going up in the mountains. Or not 🙂 I have a few pictures from my old place in Godvik (west of Bergen) and Nyhavn (pretty central Southern part of Bergen).

Aurora visible from my old place in the western part of Bergen

If you want a higher chance of seeing Northern lights, you have to go higher up in Norway. For example, Tromsø. But once again, you might not get lucky even if you stay there for a week. But if you do see them, it’s a really magical experience.

7. Explore Bryggen

You have probably seen these Hanseatic buildings somewhere in a picture, and it was one of the reasons you wanted to visit Bergen. Back in the day, those were shops, pubs, and restaurants. Good news, they still are.

Bryggen is the most photographed place in Bergen.

As a matter of fact, you should explore Bryggen no matter when you come to Bergen. I, too, love going there occasionally and window shopping. No, I don’t need souvenirs or the most expensive beer in town. But it’s fun to go inside those old crooked buildings, between them, or look at what shops have to offer.

You might notice that the left side of the buildings looks newer than the right side. Fifty points to Gryffindor! The left side was destroyed in a fire in 1955 and completely rebuilt in the 80s. That wasn’t the first fire Bryggen had seen, but we all hope it was the last one. No matter what, you will make a few pictures of it, and probably get a couple of souvenirs for yourself, your friends, and your family. And if you do so, I recommend:

A cheese slicer. Norwegian invention, which should be in every kitchen.
Mariusgenser (Marius sweater). Blue and red one is the classic one, but you can choose any colour that fits you. Those are made from wool, and they are not particularly cheap. I have two made by my ex-wife’s grandma.
Trolls. They are just super cute.
Viking’s stuff, which you will probably use for your next party.
Miniature figurine of Bryggen.
Brunost, Norwegian brown cheese. Tastes a bit like condensed milk. Something unique.
Smoked salmon or trout. Don’t get the cheapest one, there’s a big difference in taste. Trust me, I tried them all.
Deer, whale, or moose sausage. Pro tip: go to Rema 1000 supermarket in Xhibition and get them cheap next to the fridge with smoked salmon.

Just remember that you probably don’t need everything you want to buy 🙂

Julehuset, the Christmas shop in Bryggen, is open the whole year round.

Don’t forget to visit Julehuset, the main Christmas shop in Bergen. Why the main? Well, it’s open throughout the year. It has four storeys of Christmas ornaments and decor, from traditional Norwegian to modern international. Even if you don’t find anything you like at the Julemarked, here you will definitely see something you want to bring back home.

8. Go see a Christmas concert

I love going to concerts, and I love Christmas music. That’s good entertainment, and you can always make a whole experience out of it. For example, first, have some gløgg at the Christmas market before you have to run to the venue, because it’s almost time for the concert and you had one too many mulled wines already. Then enjoy the show and pretend it’s not raining outside, but it’s actually a nice winter day with snow and deer running around. Well, deer actually run around, just not in the city. At least not till they discover we have gløgg. And afterwards have some pinnekjøtt for dinner. And maybe a few more drinks, since you deserve them after such a nice and productive day!

Lysfesten, a festival of lights, brings a short free concert middle of November

Where to check for the concerts? A good start would be Grieghallen, the main concert hall in the city, and the place where I get my opera and classical music from. No surprise they have an English version of the site. Another place would be the main theatre, Den Nationale Scene, which unfortunately does not have an English version of the site. But it does host a lot of Christmas shows and concerts. A bulletproof solution would be Visit Bergen site, where you will find even teeny-tiny events in less popular or crowded places.

Another cool place to visit for an event would be Johanneskirken, St. John’s Church. Unfortunately, it’s under renovation until 2029, but it does open its doors for some events now and then. I was there exactly one time when I was a student a long time ago. You won’t miss much if you don’t get to go inside, but it’s one of the tourist must-sees in the city. If you do like going to churches and cathedrals, you can also check Bergen Domkirke, Bergen Cathedral, which is open and hosts concerts on a regular basis. But before you go inside, look at the facade of the building. There’s an embedded cannonball in the wall, which flew there from the sea during the Battle of Vågen. And it’s been there since 1665. Pretty cool piece of history if you ask me.

One last thing, since we are talking about the churches, go take a few pictures of Fantoft stavkirke. It’s closed during the winter. It takes some time to get there from the city. There’s absolutely nothing else to do around. But it’s an extremely cool historical place, especially if you are a black metal enthusiast.

9. How about a sauna?

Even though a sauna is technically a Finnish invention, over the past years it has become pretty popular in Norway too. No, we don’t yet have saunas in every house or apartment, but we have plenty around the city.
The largest company in the city is called Heit Bergen Sauna, and they have four saunas, three very central, and one not so far away from the Fantoft stavkirke. Just in case you decide to check out the church, you can also stop by the sauna. You can order everything online, and since their whole site is in English, it’s pretty easy. Private sauna will cost you from 650 kr with a minimum of two people (price for two, larger groups pay more), and shared sauna just 169 kr per person.

Another option is City Sauna & Cruise, which offers, well, a little cruise and a sauna. Stationary option costs 160 kr for a drop-in and 700 per hour for two. Cruise is a bit more pricey and starts from 2000 kr for two and lasts at least two hours.

I tried Heit a couple of times and it’s pretty alright. There are a few more alternatives further away from the city, but it’s not worth going far away from your hotel if you will be staying in the sauna for only one hour. And one hour is more than enough. And yes, it’s mandatory to dip in the fjord, even if it’s winter 🙂

10. Be active!

There are a lot of things to do in Bergen in December or throughout the year. Do you only have 3 days in Bergen in winter? Awesome, you can do everything from the list, and if you still have time left, you can:

Go see penguins at the national aquarium Akvariet i Bergen
If you are 3-5 people, go to Fangene på fortet and try to solve all 35 puzzles in different rooms
Check out the Troll museum
Grab a drink in a frozen bar made out of ice, Magic Ice Bar
Go to an ice skating rink at Vestkanten Ishall
Play in the science museum VilVite

Bergen at Christmas is a really magical place. Even if you get unlucky and it is raining, don’t get discouraged. It’s always raining in Bergen, but we keep living here and enjoying our lives. Go see Pepperkakebyen, drink some gløgg at the Julemarked, or hike up Fløyen. Remember to check the weather forecast for the Northern Lights. But most importantly, have fun!