Bergen food tours: the six, up close
Six listings, and they are six different propositions rather than six versions of the same walk. One is a three-and-a-half-hour food walk with thirteen tastings in it. One is three hours of drinks and tastings finishing on a roof. One is lunch at a stranger’s kitchen table. One is ninety minutes of cider. One is two private hours at the Fish Market and Bryggen. And the sixth is a six-hour bus day into the Hardangerfjord whose entire food content is one freshly made waffle and a small tasting of a local drink.
The six listings, and what each one actually is
Start here, because most of the choosing is done the moment you know what is inside each one. The differences are large and they are all published.
- Thirteen tastings and a funicular — the Taste of Bergen food tour, three and a half hours, eleven food tastings and two drink across five cafes and restaurants, capped at eight people, ending on Fløyen with return funicular tickets included. The only listing in the city that is food-first from start to finish. Not suitable for vegans or vegetarians without 24 hours’ notice, and the offering is adjusted when you give it.
- Drinks as the point, not the accompaniment — the aperitivo tour, three hours, capped at six, finishing at a rooftop bar. Ages 20 and over, not suitable for vegans or vegetarians, and it needs at least two people to run at all.
- One table, one host, one meal — the home-hosted lunch, two and a half hours, four people maximum and not private, in somebody’s house, with about 105 minutes at the table. There is a small dog in the house and the listing says participants must not be allergic to dogs.
- A protected local product, explained — the Hardanger cider tasting, ninety minutes at Bergen’s first dedicated cider bar, step-free, the shortest thing on this list and a tasting rather than a meal.
- Two places, properly explained — the culinary heritage walk, two hours, private, up to three people, about an hour at the Fish Market and about an hour at Bryggen, with one food tasting.
- A fjord, a waterfall and one waffle — the waterfalls day trip, six hours by bus into the Hardangerfjord, in English and German. A good day out and a poor food tour, which is worth knowing every time it comes up. Non-folding wheelchairs and non-folding strollers are not allowed.
Length, and how much of your day each one takes
This is the first thing to settle, because Bergen is a small city and the difference between ninety minutes and six hours is the difference between an afternoon with room in it and a day that is spoken for.
The cider tasting is ninety minutes and indoors, which makes it the only one here that slots into a gap. The heritage walk is two hours. The home lunch is two and a half, though roughly twenty of those minutes are spent in a car and about 105 of them at the table. The aperitivo tour is three hours. The food walk is three and a half, on your feet, ending at the top of a mountain. The waterfalls trip is six, and about two and a half of those are spent sitting on a bus, which is simply what it takes to reach a fjord and come back.
If Bergen is one day for you, the food walk and the waterfalls trip are alternatives rather than companions: each takes the useful half of a day. The cider tasting is the one you can add to anything. Which one I would book, and the six side by side.
Group size, and how close you get to the guide
Nothing here is a coach party except the coach. The heritage walk is the only genuinely private booking, and it takes up to three people. The home lunch caps at four but is explicitly not private, so you may share the table with strangers — which, on a booking whose whole point is the conversation, is closer to a feature than a flaw. The aperitivo tour caps at six, the food walk at eight. The cider tasting does not publish a cap. The waterfalls day trip runs on a bus or van, and it is the only one of the six where you are one of many. The private options.
How much food is actually in each one
The word “food” is doing very different work across these six, and this is where people get caught out.
- Thirteen tastings — the food walk: eleven food, two drink, across five venues, finishing with seasonal meat and fish at Fløirestauranten. Nobody leaves hungry, and nobody sits down to a full dinner either.
- A full lunch — the home-hosted lunch: home cooking at a table, for about 105 minutes. One meal rather than a sequence.
- All food tastings and all drinks — the aperitivo tour: seafood, local cider, wines, champagne and Norwegian specialities across several stops. The individual stops are not stated on the listing.
- One food tasting — the heritage walk, across two hours. A history walk with food in it.
- A tasting, not a meal — the cider tasting: craft ciders from Hardanger, ninety minutes, and you will want dinner afterwards.
- One waffle — the waterfalls day trip: one freshly made Norwegian waffle and a small tasting of a local drink, across six hours. Everything else you buy. Day trips with a meal in them, labelled honestly.
Access, dietary limits, age and language
These are the details that actually end bookings. People arrive disappointed because they turn up vegetarian to a tour that is not built for vegetarians, or allergic to dogs at a house with a dog in it, or with a rigid wheelchair at a bus that cannot take one.
- Vegans and vegetarians. The Taste of Bergen walk is not suitable, though vegetarian and vegan options are available on 24 hours’ notice with an adjusted offering. The aperitivo tour is not suitable, full stop. What each listing states.
- Dogs. The home-hosted lunch happens in a house with a small dog in it, and the listing asks that participants are not allergic.
- Step-free access. The Taste of Bergen walk and the cider tasting are both wheelchair accessible. The waterfalls day trip does not allow non-folding wheelchairs or non-folding strollers. The aperitivo tour runs over cobbles into small venues and asks you to raise access in advance. The home-hosted lunch says nothing either way, which is not the same as saying yes. The access page.
- Age and numbers. The aperitivo tour serves alcohol and is for ages 20 and over, and it needs two people booked before it runs, with a full refund if it is called off for numbers. Which of these work with children.
- Language. Five of the six run in English only. The waterfalls day trip is the one exception and runs in German as well. Which listings run in which language.
The six, one page each
Bergen: A Taste of Bergen Food Tour with Fløibanen Funicular
Thirteen tastings across five cafes and restaurants, ending on Fløyen with the funicular included. The city's one real food walk.
3.5 hoursRead the full write-up ›
Bergen: Food and Drink Aperitivo Tour with Tastings
Three hours of tastings and drinks finishing at a rooftop bar. Ages 20 and over, capped at six, and it needs two people to run.
3 hoursRead the full write-up ›
Bergen: Home-Hosted Lunch with a Local
Lunch in somebody's house, with about 105 minutes at the table. There is a small dog in the house.
2.5 hoursRead the full write-up ›
Bergen: Norwegian Cider Tasting Experience
Ninety minutes of Hardanger cider at the city's first dedicated cider bar. Step-free, and the shortest thing here.
1.5 hoursRead the full write-up ›
Bergen: Private Walking Tour in Bergen Culinary Heritage Route
Two private hours, an hour at the Fish Market and an hour at Bryggen, with one food tasting.
2 hoursRead the full write-up ›
Bergen: Old Town and Waterfalls Guided Tour with Waffles
Six hours to the Hardangerfjord and the waterfall you can walk behind. One waffle. A day trip, not a food tour.
6 hoursRead the full write-up ›What Bergen does not sell at all
Half of choosing here is finding out that the thing you pictured does not exist in this city. There is no cooking class. There is no brewery tour. There is no tasting at the fish market, in the city whose fish market is the thing everyone photographs. What does exist, and what does not.
What Bergen sells instead is small. Six people, eight people, a table of four, a private three. In a city this size the guide is most of the product, and the shape of the afternoon — how far you walk, how often you sit, how much is put in front of you — is what separates one booking from the next. What a food tour here actually involves.
All six listings
The aperitivo tour is for ages 20 and over and needs two people. The heritage walk is the private one, with one tasting across two hours. The waterfalls trip is a six-hour bus day with one waffle in it.
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
A day out, not a food tourBergen: Old Town and Waterfalls Guided Tour with Waffles
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Frequently asked questions
Which Bergen food tour is the longest?
The waterfalls day trip, at six hours, though about two and a half of those are on a bus and its food content is one waffle. The longest food-first booking is the Taste of Bergen walk, at three and a half hours with thirteen tastings. How long these run.
Which Bergen food tour is step-free?
Two state wheelchair access: the cider tasting, which is ninety minutes indoors and seated, and the Taste of Bergen walk. The waterfalls trip does not allow non-folding wheelchairs, and the home-hosted lunch says nothing either way. The access page.
Is any Bergen food tour suitable for vegetarians?
Only with notice. The Taste of Bergen walk is not suitable as it stands, but vegetarian and vegan options are available on 24 hours' notice with an adjusted offering. The aperitivo tour is not suitable at all. What each listing states.
Which Bergen food tour is private?
The culinary heritage walk, for up to three people: about an hour at the Fish Market, about an hour at Bryggen, with a guide, transport and one food tasting. The private options.