Located on the southwest coast of Norway on one of the country’s legendary fjords, Bergen is an attractive city, surrounded by seven large mountains. The city’s historic waterfront district is made up of colorful buildings and homes that offer a striking contrast to the city’s often gray and rainy weather.
Bergen is a popular tourist destination. Many of the visitors who take flights to Bergen visit Floyen Mountain, which is located within the city limits. The mountain is accessible via the Floibanen Funicular, which picks passengers up at a station located at the foot of Floyen Mountain and brings them to a viewing platform some distance up the mountain from which the entire city of Bergen, its fjord, waterfront, and harbor, and the area’s surrounding mountains, can be seen.
The country’s second largest municipality after Oslo, Bergen has a population of about 286,000 people.
Many of the business travelers who fly to Bergen work in the shipping and logistics industry, as the city is a major port in the north Atlantic region. Aquaculture, especially the breeding and raising of salmon for export as well as for domestic consumption, is also among the city’s largest industries.
Other important contributors to Bergen’s economy include tourism, media, finance, and the research and development of undersea technologies.
Bergen is also a major center for education in Norway and in Scandinavia as a whole. Students from throughout Europe and from other parts of Norway take cheap flights to Bergen in order to study there. Among Bergen’s higher education institutions are the University of Bergen, the city’s largest with about 16,000 students; the Norwegian School of Economics; the Bergen School of Meteorology; the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences; the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research; the Norwegian Naval Academy; and the Bergen National Academy of the Arts.
One of the reasons that so many tourists fly to Bergen is because it is one of Norway’s cultural hubs. The city is especially known as a center for classical music. Grieg Hall, the city’s classical music venue, has a capacity of 1,500. The modernist building is the home of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. It is named for classical composer Edvard Grieg who was the music director for the orchestra in the late 19th century. Grieg, who was from Bergen, is considered to be one of Europe’s most important composers. He wrote his most famous and recognizable work, In the Hall of the Mountain King, in 1875. The composition has been used in many films and continues to be performed by orchestras around the world.
Travelers who are planning to fly to Bergen should be aware that the city has a marine climate. While this type of climate makes Bergen’s average temperature somewhat warmer than other places in Norway, it also causes the city to experience a great deal of precipitation. It’s not uncommon for the weather in Bergen to change quickly and frequently. It is not uncommon for the weather to change from sun to rain and back again several times within the space of a few hours.
Flights to Bergen, Norway, arrive at Bergen International Airport Flesland (BGO), which is located with the city limits. It is the second-largest airport in Norway after Oslo International Airport, serving an average of 6.3 million passengers each year. Bergen International Airport Flesland is a hub for Scandinavian Airlines, Wideroe airlines, and Bristow Norway airlines. In addition to commercial air traffic, the airport also serves as the base for the region’s charter airline, Bergen Air Transport, and the CHC Helikopter Service, which transports staff to and from oil platforms in the North Sea.
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