Bergen

Bergen wears its weather like a badge. The rain is constant, the clouds sit on the seven surrounding mountains, and the city gleams. Bryggen, the UNESCO-listed waterfront of tilting Hanseatic wooden buildings, is the most photographed sight in Norway, and it earns every frame — the colours shift with the light, the alleyways between the buildings are narrow and crooked, and the fish market at the harbour’s edge has been trading since the sixteenth century.

Take the Floibanen funicular up Mount Floyen for a view that explains everything — Bergen laid out below, the harbour, the mountains, the fjords stretching inland. The descent through the forest trails is one of the best urban walks in Europe. The city’s Bergenhus Fortress, the Edvard Grieg Museum at Troldhaugen, and the narrow lanes of the Nordnes peninsula fill days effortlessly.

When to go: May through September for the best weather, though rain is always possible. June has the longest days. Bergen’s Christmas market in December is atmospheric. The Bergen International Festival in late May brings music and theatre.