Getting to Bergen: Flesland Airport Light Rail, Trains and Hurtigruten

Bergen Airport, Flesland (BGO) lies 18 kilometres south of the city centre and receives direct flights from London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Paris and Frankfurt. Thanks to the extension of Bergen's light rail network directly into the modern terminal building, getting from baggage claim to your hotel is one of the easiest and best-value airport transfers in Europe.

1. Bybanen Light Rail Line 1 (Best Value: 45 minutes for a standard single bus fare)

Walk out of the arrivals hall at Flesland, follow the covered walkway down the escalator or lift, and you are standing directly on the platform of Bybanen Light Rail Line 1 (towards Byparken). Unlike Oslo or Stockholm, Bergen charges zero airport supplement on the light rail: a standard Skyss Zone A single ticket (or a 24-hour / 7-day Skyss pass, or the Bergen Card, which includes the airport light rail for free) covers the entire 45-minute ride. Step-free low-floor trams with space for suitcases depart every 5 to 10 minutes by day (and run late into the night, including 24-hour weekend service), terminating at Byparken right in the middle of the city centre (or get off one stop earlier at Nonneseter if your hotel is near the railway station, or at Hop for Troldhaugen and Fantoft for the Stave Church).

2. Flybussen Airport Express Coach (Fastest by road: 20 to 30 minutes)

If your hotel is on the northern harbour side along Bryggen, Dreggen or Sandviken (about a 10- to 12-minute walk across cobbled squares from the Byparken light rail stop) and you have heavy luggage or are arriving in pouring rain, the Flybussen (FB50) coach departs outside the terminal every 15 to 20 minutes. Taking the fast Knappetunnelen road tunnel, it reaches Bergen Busstasjon and Byparken (Festplassen) in 22 minutes and continues right past the Fish Market (Torget) and Bryggen in under 30 minutes. It costs roughly triple the Bybanen fare.

3. Arriving by Train, Fjord Boat or Hurtigruten / Havila

Stone-built 1913 Bergen Railway Station (terminus of the scenic Bergensbanen from Oslo) sits a flat five-minute walk east of Byparken. Express fjord catamarans from Flåm, Sogndal, Rosendal and Stavanger dock right in the heart of town at Strandkaiterminalen, while the daily Hurtigruten and Havila Coastal Express ships bound for the Lofoten Islands and Kirkenes depart every evening late in the evening from the Jekteviksterminalen on Nøstet (15 minutes' walk from Torgallmenningen).