Copenhagen, Oslo and Bergen

shotamoose

Hi, has anyone here been to (or come from) Copenhagen, Oslo or Bergen (West coast of Norway)? I'll be spending a few days in each of the first two (with friends) and only one day in Bergen (in a hostel), in late August.

Any must sees/ must dos? Or tips in general. Thanks all ...

drrnwbb

bergen is really nice. try to have a look around the fjörds that are around there. if you can, get off the oslo - bergen train at a place called myrdal. then from there take a little small train down the side of some fjörds to a place called flåm. its an amazing train journey. from there you can get a boat to bergen. or go back to myrdal and get a train to bergen.

also check this thread out. here
some info about bergen/oslo.

copenhagen is really nice too. i was there twice for a few days each time, and was very impressed.

dw

Pmc

When in Copenhagen check out Chrisiania (sp?) - a hippy commune - great place. There's loads of really good pubs - Bloomsday and the Dubliner are two good Irish bars. The Tivoli Gardens and Park Cafe are good for later in the night. Copenhagen is a great city.

DadaKopf

Yeah, Darren the Wub knows. Do that Myrdal thing and get to Flam (no fancy Finnish keyboard here).

Bergen
fish cakes on the wharf (Brygge) and take the Floien funicular railway to the top of the valley. The view's incredible and there are some nice hill walks too. There's some art galleries off to the left and through a park when you come out of the station's main entrance; there's a particularly cool Henrik Ibsen painting in there as well as some famous Munchs (there's also a contemorary art gallery/café and another modern art gallery beside it). YOu should definitely take a few hours to walk around the old city - they're located to the back of the station and back of the art galleries (towards the University) and at the old harbour (Brygge). The houses and streets and neighbourhoods are amazing.
http://www.bergen-guide.com/

Oslo
Bit of a weird city at first. First port of call, tourist office for a tourist map. Did lots of walking there. The main shopping streets are nice but if you take a walk through the city towards the harbour, you'll find the big old fortress, which is still used by the military. It's a nice walk around there. It's well worth taking a look at the City Hall (you can't miss it - it's a towering red brick monolith on the way to the harbour). In the other direction, there's an enormous park which must be amazing this time of year. Somewhing we never got to do was get to some island or other off the coast which has a reconstructed Viking Village on it.
http://www.my-guide-oslo.com/

Copenhagen
Don't bother with Tivoli, it looks ****. Instead, marvel at central station when you get off the train. I almost broke my neck looking at the celing. Fun things to do is take a walk through Mullet Central which is somewhere away from the Tivoli Gardens towards and behind some disgusting multi-ciloured cinema. Christiania is a must see - I can't imagine how deadly it must be this time of year. Never got to do too much in Copenhagen other than walk around a lot so I can't really say much more - but if you're that way inclined, a visit to Soren Kierkegaard's grave would be cool. Anyway, you'll have a guide there. Normaalm is supposed to be cool now, or something. Kinda full of immigants and twats, I think.

When you're Copenhagen, you might consider going to Malmo. There's not much there but it's a lovely city and it gives you an excuse to travel across the world's second longest bridge. If you DO get to Malmo, go find a flea market and see if you can pick up a Super8 camera and projector for €20. I'll get you back Ah no, don't bother.

gombín

Be prepared in Norway, it is seriously expensive. I think it was something like €16 for a box of smokes. However, ther are some decent bargains to be had like CDs (fairly cheap), or a boat trip around the fjord in Oslo.

Regards.

shotamoose

Great stuff. Thanks all, especially Dadakopf, you cuddly old curmudgeon.

p.pete

You know that wee statue thing that is the top tourist attraction in Copenhagen - forget about it. Biggest waste of time I've ever made the effort to see. May look cool on a post card but it's really small and insignificant up close.

Griping aside, Copenhagen is really cool. It has the longest pedestrian street in Europe afaik. Was there on a Saturday evening and there was a great buzz about the place - lots of street theatre and such.

There is palace grounds which I only saw partially but could be worth a further look. I was only there for the one day so I would reckon I missed loads, would have loved to have gotten to the Carlsburg museum.

Lots of pubs and nightclubs also. Went to a club called Brittanica which was quite good. We basically used it to pass the time until six or so when trains started running to Malmo, couldn't get accomodation in Copenhagen although we had made no effort to pre book anywhere.

Also of note, if you are arriving by train - if you leave the central station by the front exit the main tourist office is on the opposite side of the street and to left a little (near the corner). Tivoli is also just there although I didn't venture inside.

Have never been to the other places.

DadaKopf

Oh yeah, if you're in Copenhagen, there might be a good gig in Loppen. It's a vanue in an old warehouse just inside Christiania.

If you end up getting to Gothenberg (well worth a visit, ackshully), there's a really good record shop called Skivhugget and almost beside that, some other one that sells deadly vinyl. Dunno the street but it's a bit past Haga (the old quarter).