The verdict
Is a Bergen fjord cruise worth it? 18,230 reviews say yes
Eleven trips, 18,230 ratings, and a weighted average of 4.67. This page makes the argument both ways, says plainly who should skip it, and gives the one number that settles it for most people.
Quick answer
Yes — and the evidence behind that is unusually strong. The three Mostraumen boats alone carry more than seventeen thousand ratings between them, all at 4.6 or above. For $68 and three and a half hours you leave from the middle of the city, pass through a strait about fifty metres wide, and have the bow taken in under a waterfall. Very few half-day trips anywhere have that much evidence behind them.
The numbers behind the verdict
- Trips compared
- 11from Bergen and the Hardangerfjord
- Total reviews
- 18,230across the listings with ratings
- Weighted average
- 4.67across all rated trips
- Cheapest
- $683.5 hours, from the city centre
- Most reviewed
- $7510,064 ratings at 4.7
- Highest rated
- $944.9 across 136 reviews
- Shortest
- 75 minutesthe Fyksesund RIB
- Longest scheduled
- 11.5 hoursFlåm and the Nærøyfjord
- Boats sail
- All yearon the Mostraumen route
- Free cancellation
- All elevenup to 24 hours before
The case for
Three reasons the money is well spent
A genuinely narrow strait, half a day rather than a whole one, and thousands of ratings.
It is a genuinely narrow place, and that is rare. Most fjord trips show you a wide body of water from the middle of it. Mostraumen is about fifty metres across at its narrowest with a tidal current through it, and the boat goes through rather than up to it.
It costs half a day, not a whole one. Three and a half hours from the city centre, with no transfer to arrange, leaves the rest of the day for Bergen. That is the practical reason it beats the eleven-hour alternatives for most visitors.
And the evidence is unusually deep. 18,230 ratings across eleven listings, with the single most-reviewed trip carrying 10,064 on its own. That is a far larger sample than most tours anywhere carry.
The case against
Who should not book one
Skip it if you will not go outside, if you wanted water and booked a railway, or if the city is still unseen.
If you are only willing to sit inside. The saloon is warm and has coffee, and it is also a window. Almost every enthusiastic review here was written by someone standing on the bow. If you will not go outside for three hours in Norwegian weather, you will find it long.
If you booked the eleven-hour day expecting a boat trip. The Flåm day is excellent, but only a couple of its hours are on a fjord. People who wanted water and got a railway and a bus are the unhappiest reviewers in this niche.
If you are travelling with a group and looking at private charters. They are priced per boat, and the headline numbers on this page look alarming until you divide them.
And if you only have a single day in Bergen and have not seen the city. Bryggen, the fish market and the funicular are all inside an hour of each other. A fjord is a better second day than a first one.
If you book one, book it like this
Four decisions that make the difference
None of these costs anything, and together they decide how the trip goes.
- Take a Mostraumen boat unless you have a whole day
From $68, from the city centre, back with the afternoon free.
- Compare the three operators on reviews, not wording
The route is identical. The review counts are 10,064, 4,426 and 2,789.
- Dress for the open deck
A windproof layer with a hood and a hat. It is the difference between wonderful and long.
- Take a morning sailing
Best light, calmest deck, and the rest of the day still yours.
Common questions
The verdict, answered
Is a Bergen fjord cruise worth it?
On the evidence, yes. Eleven trips carry 18,230 ratings at a weighted average of 4.67, and the three-and-a-half-hour Mostraumen route from $68 is the one most people should take.
What makes it worth the money?
A strait about fifty metres wide with a tidal current through it, a waterfall the bow is taken in under, and a departure point in the middle of the city — all inside half a day.
Who should skip it?
Anyone who will not stand outside, anyone who booked an eleven-hour day expecting mostly boat, and anyone on a single day in Bergen who has not yet seen the city.
What is the cheapest way to try it?
$68 for three and a half hours on the Mostraumen route — the same water as the dearer two.
Which trip has the most reviews?
The original Mostraumen cruise at $75, with 10,064 ratings at 4.7.
Does the weather ruin it?
Rarely. Bergen has precipitation on roughly two days in three and the boats sail anyway. Cloud on the walls and fuller waterfalls are what most people photograph.
Go deeper
More on fjord cruises from Bergen
What it costs
From $68 to $427, and what an hour on the water is worth.
The verdictWhich cruise is best
All eleven ranked, and the three that are one trip.
The classicThe Mostraumen route
Three and a half hours through a strait fifty metres wide.
HardangerThe Hardangerfjord
A hundred and seventy-nine kilometres, and how to reach it.
RosendalRosendal and the manor
Seven hours, and a house built in 1665.
UNESCOThe Nærøyfjord
Two hundred and fifty metres wide at its narrowest.
