Bergen Food Tours in English
What the English is actually for
The thing a food tour in Bergen is selling is not access to famous dishes. It is translation. Somebody to tell you that the brown cheese is not cheese — it is whey boiled down with cream, invented in Gudbrandsdalen in 1863, about 400 km away over the mountains. That the Bergen fish soup is meant to taste faintly sweet-and-sour, because it is seasoned with vinegar and sugar, and that this is the whole distinguishing feature of it. That nobody is waiting for your tip. That the cinnamon bun everybody photographs came here as a German pastry with the Hanseatic merchants in the 1500s and simply stayed.
None of that arrives through a recording, and none of these listings uses one. Every guide here is a person, talking, in English. What Bergen eats has the longer list of things that turn out not to be Bergen’s at all.
The five that are English only
The only real food walkBergen: A Taste of Bergen Food Tour with Fløibanen Funicular
New · ages 20+Bergen: Food and Drink Aperitivo Tour with Tastings
Somebody’s kitchenBergen: Home-Hosted Lunch with a Local
Shortest · step-freeBergen: Norwegian Cider Tasting Experience
Private · up to threeBergen: Private Walking Tour in Bergen Culinary Heritage Route
The food walk — 3.5 hours, capped at eight, wheelchair accessible. Thirteen tastings across five cafés and restaurants, with return Fløibanen funicular tickets and a finish at Fløirestauranten on Mount Fløyen. This is the listing where the English does most work, because the guide is explaining thirteen different things over three and a half hours. Not suitable for vegans or vegetarians, though vegetarian and vegan options are available on 24 hours’ notice with an adjusted offering.
The aperitivo tour — three hours, capped at six and needing at least two people to run. All food tastings and all drinks are included, across several stops the listing does not name, finishing at a rooftop bar. Minimum age 20, and not suitable for vegans or vegetarians. Cobbles and small venues, some with limited accessibility; the listing asks you to raise that in advance.
The home lunch — 2.5 hours, capped at four. Here the English is the product rather than the delivery: about 105 minutes at a table, talking about life in Norway over home cooking, with pickup and drop-off by car. There is a small dog in the house and participants must not be allergic to dogs. Access is not stated.
The cider tasting — ninety minutes, wheelchair accessible. Craft ciders from Hardanger with the history, the production methods and the producers explained, at Bergen’s first dedicated cider bar. In ninety minutes the talking is most of the experience.
The private heritage walk — two hours, private, up to three people. A local guide, transport and a food tasting, about an hour at the Fish Market and about an hour at Bryggen. The listing is marked as new and warns the programme may vary with the booking date and how busy the city is.
The one that also runs in German
The waterfalls day trip runs in English and German, six hours in an air-conditioned bus or van from the Fish Market on Nøstegaten 40. What a bilingual bus day does well is the country going past the window: Fossen Bratte, Norheimsund, the Hardangerfjord and fifty minutes at Steinsdalsfossen. What it does not do is feed you: the entire food content is one freshly made waffle and a small tasting of a local drink, and further food, drinks and souvenirs are not included. Non-folding wheelchairs and non-folding strollers are not allowed. If your German-speaking group wants the fjord, this is the booking. If they want to eat, read this first.
| The one food walkBergen: A Taste of Bergen Food Tour with Fløibanen Funicular | Bergen: Old Town and Waterfalls Guided Tour with Waffles | Bergen: Home-Hosted Lunch with a Local | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Languages published | English | English and German | English |
| Who is talking | A guide, across five venues | A guide, on a bus and at the stops | Your hosts, at their own table |
| Length | 3.5 hours | 6 hours | 2.5 hours |
| Food content | 13 tastings — 11 food, 2 drink | One waffle and a small tasting of a local drink | A home-cooked lunch |
| Group | Max 8 | Not stated | Max 4 |
| Access | Wheelchair accessible | No non-folding wheelchairs or strollers | Not stated |
| Rating | 4.9 from 47 reviews | 4.8 from 320 reviews | 4.8 from 8 reviews |
| Book this | Book this | Book this |
What works
- Every listing in the city runs in English with a live guide
- One runs in German as well, on a six-hour fjord day
- Group caps are small enough that you can ask a question and get an answer
- The food walk explains thirteen tastings, which is where a guide earns the day
- The home lunch is English as conversation rather than commentary
Worth knowing
- No listing publishes French, Spanish or Italian
- The German option is the day trip with one waffle in it, not a food tour
- The aperitivo tour is ages 20 and over with no vegan or vegetarian option
- The food walk needs 24 hours’ notice for a vegetarian or vegan version
- The private walk is the only listing that does not publish a cancellation window
If English is a second language for your group, the smaller caps help more than the language list does. Four at a lunch table or eight on a walk means you can ask somebody to say it again; a bus of people on a six-hour day means you cannot.
Can’t make these dates?
Browse more available Bergen food tours and find one that fits your schedule — all with instant confirmation and free cancellation.
Frequently asked questions
Are Bergen food tours in English?
All six listings run in English with a live guide: the three-and-a-half-hour food walk, the ninety-minute cider tasting, the home lunch, the six-hour waterfalls day trip, the private two-hour heritage walk and the three-hour aperitivo tour. The waterfalls day trip is the only one that also runs in German.
Is there a food tour in Bergen in German?
One listing publishes German, and it is the six-hour waterfalls day trip to the Hardangerfjord, which runs in English and German. Its entire food content is one freshly made waffle and a small tasting of a local drink, and it does not allow non-folding wheelchairs or strollers. See day trips with food.
Are there Bergen food tours in French, Spanish or Italian?
None of the six listings publishes them. English is stated on all six and German on one. If a language is not published, it reads Not stated here, so check the listing before you book for a group that needs one. The comparison table has the language row.