Bergen

Cruisers swamp the harbor area from 10 to 3. Try to be elsewhere. Tourist office on harbor (upstairs) is very helpful. You may be able to find opening hours here:
T.O. website

RS has a walking tour in his guidebook; the book will save you money. Norway is super expensive. If the grandparents are seniors, there may be savings on admission fees, etc.

Bryggen Walking Tour: 90 min., incl 20 min in Bryggens Museum, 20 min in Hanseatic Assembly Rooms, and 20 min. in Hanseatic Museum (which may still be closed). Rest outdoors in touristy, much-rebuilt Bryggen district.

Bergen is beautiful and great for walking, but it is hilly. Among the most picturesque areas: Bryggen, streets climbing hill behind Floibannen station, Nordnes (peninsula running NW of center, including S shore of main harbor) and Sandviken (area N of Hakonshallen). Sandviken has cobbled streets and clapboard cottages housing designers’ studios.

This list is organized geographically rather than being prioritized.

• Gamle Bergen (Old Bergen): Fifty 18C-20C buildings. Seeing facades is free. Take any bus heading west from Bergen, get off at Nyhavnsveien (after tunnel) and follow signs for 200 yd.

• Floibanen (Mount Floyen funicular): City, island and fjord views. Hiking trails at top; at least one easy option. Trail map next to playground; T.O. has maps. Can walk 25-30 min back down (get Floyen Hiking Map when buying ticket), but tough on knees.

• Bergenhus Festning (Fortress): Includes 13C Hakonshallen (ceremonial hall, reconstructed post-WWII) and Rosenkrantz Tower. Cheaper combo ticket). Good tour included.

• Bergenhus Festningsmuseum (Fortress Museum): Norwegian military history and Nazi occupation. Ask for English translation of labels. Free in 2022.

• Mariakirken (St. Mary’s Church): 12C with 15C frescoes and colorful pulpit. Reopened after extensive restoration. Hours may be limited to Tue and Fri 1200-1400.

• Bryggens Museum (big modern building): Archaeology. Inexpensive cafeteria. Museum entry includes tour. Bryggens walking tour ticket (see above) allows same-day re-entry.

• Hanseatic Museum, Bryggen harbor front: Old merchant house. Mostly closed till 2024 but Schotstuene (reconstructed Assembly Rooms) has reopened with new exhibits. Entry fee includes 45-min tour, helpful given scant English explanations.

• Fish market.

• Cathedral: Plain interior but may have free organ recitals Sun and Thu.

• Lepramuseet (Leprosy Museum): Former hospital. Meager exhibit most worthwhile if you borrow an English translation or take included tour. Must ask to visit adjacent church.

• KODE Art Museum: Four buildings of which just three were open in 2022.

• Gestapomuseet: Gestapo Museum website

• Bergen Akvariet (Aquarium)

• Kultur-Historik Samlinger: Ethnographic museum. Was closed as of last summer.

• Damsgard: 1770 manor. Norway’s finest example of 18C rococo timber architecture. Over-the-top garden with sculptures, ponds, plants.

• Ulriken643 Cable Car: Ascends Bergen’s highest mountain. Great views, trails, restaurant. Chart shows well-marked trails and easy hikes. Can walk 40 min back down. Public bus goes within 200 yd. of lift station at base.

• Fantoft Stavkirke (stave church): Rebuilt after arson. Accessible via light rail and very steep uphill walk. Fantoft website.

• Grieg house, Troldhaugveien 65: Architecturally beautiful home of Edvard Grieg in stunning setting (gardens) well outside Bergen. Concert/tours avoid 20-min. walk. Grieg House website

Ran out of room. A bit more info in second post.

Norwegian restaurants tend to be very expensive, and the food is sometimes bland. Choose wisely if you want to get good value for your money. Rick has said somewhere that it pays to spend more in Norway, because the high labor rate affects all restaurants. You are likely to see a noticeable difference in food quality if you spend more. I suspect that is true, but I didn't really test out that theory myself.

I had two reasonably priced lunches at the little cafe in one of the branches of the KODE art museum. There was a sign on the sidewalk outside. The menu is very limited; I think I had fish soup (very tasty) the first day. The second day the special sounded good (some sort of fish), and I liked it, too. I don't know that the odds of all 8 of you finding something you're in the mood for on the very short menu are very good, though. Those meals are two of the very, very few I remember positively over the course of my 3 weeks in Norway. (Again, I didn't spend a great deal anywhere.)

Pingvinen Pub on Vaskerelven 14 is a Rick recommendation, I think. It has drawn some positive comments here. It's a small place with limited options--note that it's called a "pub" rather than a "restaurant". I didn't find much that interested me on the menu; what I was served was OK, but plain. I'd have no particular desire to return. www.pingvinen.no/menu/

Something I enjoyed several times in different cities in Scandinavia (though not in Bergen) was Toast Skagen. It's a large (usually), open-faced sandwich piled high with shrimp salad. You probably need to like dill. You'll see it in cold cases sometimes. They use a good, sturdy bread, so it won't be soggy.

Oh--I should mention the hotel breakfasts. The buffets are usually very generous, and the various offerings are good quality.

acraven - what a great, comprehensive response. I will save it as well! thank you

Fantastic responses, thank you so much! I am printing out to take with us for use in Bergen.

Perfect timing! I leave in a week! Thanks for the complete info!

I would make sure to double check hours of operation for sights you want to see. We took transit and walked to the home of Greig last summer only to arrive and discover that it was closed. Our RS guidebook was at that time the most recent one and stated it would be open. Note to self, always double check!

Absolutely check the websites of places you want to go rather than just showing up. The websites for Norwegian sights are usually very easy to use, but sometimes you need to click on the 3-bar icon and choose "In English" rather than looking for the Union Jack.

As recently as last summer and early fall, quite a lot of tourist sights (not referring specifically to Norway here) seemed not to have returned to full, pre-pandemic schedules. Then we had winter, which often sees an adjustment in hours (and sometimes days) of operation. I'd hope that things are back at full speed now, but printed reference books aren't likely to be up to date.

Secondary attractions that run partially on volunteer labor (often the case with churches, for one example) may still be struggling with staffing.

Thank you for all this detailed info. I'll definitely be saving it for future reference.

Edvard Grieg House UPDATE:
I just checked the link above and it looks like they may have changed it, but I found the site and the latest info as of today.
Visiting Without a Car
Take the Bybanen from Bergen city center to Hop. From the stop, it is around 25 minutes to walk. Follow the signs to Troldhaugen, walk past the museum's car park, and into the avenue that leads to the museum. You can also take bus number 53 or 67 on weekdays.
Open Hours:
Monday: Closed Tuesday to Sunday: 10.00–17.00 Summer opening times apply until 30 September. Closed May 17
Website:
https://www.kodebergen.no/besok?museum=troldhaugen

There used to be frequent, short midday concerts, and I think there was a package deal that included a direct bus from town--at extra cost, naturally. I think that info was in Rick's guidebook. I don't know that those concerts have resumed, and I didn't make it out to the Grieg house myself.

We spent three days in Bergen at the beginning of June. We walked a lot from our hotel in the Bryggen. The fortress was good. We enjoyed the free museum there. They had a very comprehensive exhibit on World War II. The Medieval Museum was just outside of our hotel's door. We liked the maritime museum. It was a good place to spend a few hours. We had lunch at (I think) the Botanical Gardens which was a short walk away. We had a big, very fresh sandwich, bottled drink and a pastry for around $15 and ate at the tables overlooking the garden. We saved the pastry for later.

There's also sort of a "pocket" amusement park with a few rides near the fortress. It might interest your kids. It's in a very narrow strip between the road and the harbor.

One of the best things we ate in Bergen was reindeer hot dogs. They were reasonably priced and quite good.

We were not impressed with the fish market. Very touristy and some of the fish didn't look that fresh. Any place that sells whale meat is not a place that I'm going to patronize.