Bergen Excursion was very disappointing

We recently cruised the norwegian fjords on the NCL Jade. I booked Bergen City Highlights and Funicular through NCL and was so looking forward to that excursion as I have heard so many wonderful comments about Bergen.

Well, first off there were 4 cruise ships in port, so we immediately saw the impact on traffic. Our first stop was Bryggen which was disappointing as we only got a brief summary of that area and did not get to walk through the area. Next stop was the funicular with lines a mile long. Our tour director was really distressed but advised us to get in line. We were crowded into the cars and really did not see the city as we ascended the mountain. Then at the top there were crowds of people and we again waited to ride back down. By this time we only had 45 minutes left before we had to be back to the ship. We were also supposed to have time to go through the fish market but for lack of time did not. We got a brief city tour instead. I do not blame the tour guide as she did the best she could. However, this tour length was 4 hours which on an uncrowded day still might have not been enough time. I did speak to some people who had taken the 9am tour (ours was 1 pm) and they did not experience the long lines at the funicular. But considering the price of this tour I definitely would not recommend it.

Another example of why self touring is often a much better option. We have been to Bergen twice, once on a land trip and once on a cruise. In both cases we found it a simple city to navigate on our own with no need for tour guides. One problem you could not overcome was the fact that your tour included the funicular so the guide felt obligated to weather the long lines which ate up much of your time.

When we were in Bergen we bought a hopon off bus ticket at the stop near the place our ship was docked. We opted to ge the ticket included the funiculair. Since we had tickets we could skip a large portion of the line. Also of course we had enough time to see what we wanted to see and do. Too bad you had a disappointing visit to Bergen.

When we were in Bergen we bought a hopon off bus ticket at the stop near the place our ship was docked. We opted to ge the ticket included the funiculair. Since we had tickets we could skip a large portion of the line. Also of course we had enough time to see what we wanted to see and do. Too bad you ,had a disappointing visit to Bergen.

I had researched the hop off hop on bus and opted instead for the safety of a cruise line excursion. That was a big mistake as I could have easily returned to the ship by taxi if necessary. And the hop on hopoff bus was 1/2 the price of the cruise ine tour.

We toured Bergen independently, and purchased the funicular tickets ahead of time. The only potential downside to this is that if the weather is bad (which happens quite a bit) you might not see that much on the ride or from the top (we were there on a day the crew described as the worst weather they'd ever seen, so it could have been unusually bad and we truly couldn't see anything but fog). Since we were traveling with a 2 and 6 year old, we knew we were going to the funicular no matter what, so it was fine that we bought the tickets ahead of time. But if it had been just adults, we would have probably skipped it if we could. As others have noted, Bergen is fairly easy to tour independently, and another option is the museum bus, which travels to 4 museums and includes admission to them. The funicular is not one of the official stops, but since the bus was empty and it goes right past there, the driver very kindly dropped us off right in front of the funicular (otherwise you'd have a very short 2 or 3 block walk from the closest museum stop and this stop is also very close to the fish market and Bryggen.) The museum bus cost even less than the HOHO tour, but only makes 4 stops so you'd need to decide if it's going where you want to go. The really nice thing was that it kept to its schedule completely, so we knew exactly how much time to spend in a museum prior to going out to catch the bus back.

As others have noted, Bergen is fairly easy to tour independently, and another option is the museum bus, which travels to 4 museums and includes admission to them.

This sounds like great option. I searched online for the Museum Bus and the one I found only makes 3 stops (Hanseatic Museum, Schøtstuene and Norwegian Fisheries Museum).

Do I have the correct one? It’s called the Museum Shuttle Bus and was found through visitBergen.com.

Sorry I must be confused or they’ve changed the bus. That was the right bus, which travels to those museums and at least last year included museum admission. It followed the schedule exactly, so we knew when to meet up with the bus after taking the kids to the fishery museum. Have a great trip!