When in Norway, do as the Norwegians: go on a mountain hike!
This year’s Friday Social is going to be an “in the nature”-experience at Fløyen, Bergen’s most popular tourist attraction and one of the 7 mountains surrounding Bergen with an amazing view. On the top we will enjoy the spectacular view, have a hot-dog barbecue (vegetarian hot-dogs also) and marshmallows! And of course some rueda dancing!
The Fløyen mountains is walking distance from the city center! You can choose to do the 1-hour walk experiencing the popular hiking trails, or take the funicular.
For the hikers, the trail starts on paved roads amongst the many small and cozy wooden houses. When we come above the houses and into the mountain’s forest the path continues onto gravel roads. We will pass many viewpoints, places worth a picture or three and benches where one can catch one’s breath on.
The funicular ride takes 8 minutes and the price for a pre purchased one way ticket is 45 kr (approx. 4,5€). Tickets can be purchased at the Rueda Congress Infodesk
Schedule:
10.00 – meet-up in the congress hotel lobby. 2 guides will be ready to take one group to the hike and one group to the funicular. Please expect queues up to 45 tminutes at the funicular.
11.30 – Sightseeing, lunch and Rueda dancing at Fløyen
14.00 – Walk/take the funicular returning to the congress hotel (back at the hotel 15:00 – 15:30)
More about lunch
From the Fløyen view point, we take a 3-5 minutes hike into the mountain to the BBQ spot where we are going to have some hot-dogs etc.; a very typical norwegian meal when they are out camping with bonfires in the mountain! If it’s raining we will sit in a lavvo.
Hot-dogs 20 kr each (comes with bread or potato pancakes and toppings).
You can pay by Cash or Vipps.
What to wear for the hike
We recommend comfortable clothes matching the weather conditions, sneakers and a jacket or a sweater. If it is sunny and warm, maybe just an extra t-shirt /shirt to have something dry on before we start dancing. If it´s raining, a waterproof jacket and perhaps shoes are preferred to umbrellas.
A small backpack is useful to bring your water bottle and also your drinks for lunch. Perhaps also a snack like fruits/nuts/chocolate on your way up to stay energized.
Taking the funicular
The funicular takes only 8 minutes to the top. Due to cruise ships in Bergen the same day, we will have to prepare ourselves for more or less a 30-45 minute queue to get onto the funicular.
The wagons are designed to provide maximum view and they hold a maximum of 100 people each. The wagons are connected to a large thick wire, one on each end, which they use to pull the wagons up and down on rails. If you want to film the city from above, it is quite cool filming the tour in the funicular up the mountain.
We will purchase a limited number of tickets beforehand to avoid some queue.
If you are in Bergen for more days and enjoy mountain hiking, we can recommend a 5 hour hike starting at Fløyen, check it out here.
More about Fløyen and its history:
The name “Fløyen” truly comes from the wind vane (vindfløyen) that was mentioned in Absarlon Pedersons diary in 1560. In the city archives it is written that Fløyen was very steep and that there were only climbers who went for walks there. This might be true, but it was not before the 1850’s that going for walks became as popular amongst the population as it is today. Fløyen was at the time pastureland, so it was widely used even though going for hikes was not yet as popular. Walking really took off after the forest and tree planting company built roads up to the plateau, and soon after the restaurant was opened in 1891. In 1918 the Fløybane (funicular) was opened which again augmented the accessibility to Fløyen’s plateau and secured an increase of visitors to the mountain and the restaurant.
Norwegians are still fond of going for walks during the weekends and Fløyen is now one of the most common destinations for people in Bergen to do just this. Either with their families or just out for their Sunday’s run. The mountain’s closeness to the city center makes its nature easy to reach and may be one of the reasons for its popularity.
This year’s Friday Social is going to be an “in the nature”-experience at Fløyen, Bergen’s most popular tourist attraction and one of the 7 mountains surrounding Bergen with an amazing view. On the top we will enjoy the spectacular view, have a hot-dog barbecue (vegetarian hot-dogs also) and marshmallows! And of course some rueda dancing!
