Mount Ulriken Cable Car (Ulriken643) and the Vidden Trail to Fløyen

While Mount Fløyen (320m) is a lush, forested park right above the harbour, Mount Ulriken (643 metres above sea level) is more than twice as high, rising into bare, glacier-scoured alpine rock as the tallest of Bergen's Seven Mountains. Standing on its windswept summit ridge gives you a true high-mountain perspective reaching from the open North Sea islands in the west to the white snowcap of the Folgefonna glacier in the south-east.

How to Get to the Lower Station (Cheaply on Bybanen Line 2)

You do not need to pay for a tourist shuttle bus to reach the base of the cable car. Simply board Bybanen Light Rail Line 2 (towards Fyllingsdalen) in the city centre at Kaigaten (beside Byparken) using a standard Skyss single ticket. Ride just four minutes to the underground station inside the mountain at Haukeland sjukehus (Haukeland Hospital), take the high-speed lift inside the station straight up to the upper exit, and walk five minutes uphill along Haukelandsbakken to the lower cable car terminal. (City buses 5, 6 and 12 also stop at Haukeland).

Riding the Ulriken643 Aerial Gondola

Rebuilt in 2021 with Switzerland's largest 45-passenger red gondola cabins, Ulriken643 glides 1,120 metres up the sheer granite cliff face in five minutes. At the top station sit a wide wooden viewing deck, the casual Ulriken Café (perfect for a cinnamon bun and hot soup after a walk) and the fine-dining glass restaurant Skyskraperen. Walk ten minutes past the telecommunications tower to the summit cairn at 643 metres. Always check the live webcam on the official Ulriken643 website before leaving downtown to make sure the summit is above the cloud base.

Hiking the Vidden Trail from Ulriken to Fløyen (13 km, 4.5 to 5.5 hours)

On a clear day between late May and October, Bergen's classic mountain hike is "Over Vidden": riding the Ulriken cable car up to 600 metres, walking northward across the high, treeless alpine plateau of Vidden past sparkling mountain tarns and stone cairns (via Borgaskaret and Rundemanen), and finishing at the upper station of the Fløibanen funicular to ride down into the harbour for dinner. Because you walk from the higher mountain (643m) to the lower mountain (320m), doing it in the Ulriken-to-Fløyen direction saves 300 metres of net uphill climbing. Wear ankle-supporting waterproof hiking boots and carry a windproof shell, water and snacks, as weather on the exposed plateau shifts fast.