The Best Places to Travel for Free

Do you happen to own a Skyss ticket? You probably do! As an international student in the city of Bergen transport options such as the bybane and the buses can be a real saviour. But did you know that your Skyss ticket is practically a ticket to everywhere?

For just under 500 Norwegian Kroner you can travel by bus or ferry in the whole Zone A – which is a bigger area than you might have imagined. It covers a lot of fjords and islands close to the city of Bergen, and includes a lot of routes. These routes serve not only the locals, but also the eccentric tourists.

Studvest tried all possible routes and shares with you the once worth visiting.

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Route 1: Take a ferry to a Norwegian island

How to get there: take the ferry no.2070 from Strandkaiterminalen (a platform on the side of the port across Bryggen) and get of at Kleppestø.

For starters, the ferry has an outdoor deck, so you can enjoy the view of Bergen getting smaller and smaller, disappearing into the horizon. The route lasts 15 minutes but it’s so fascinating that you will feel like it was just a few seconds. There is not much more to be said to convince you to take a ferry that is included in your ticket: it’s a ferry and it’s free.

After your arrival to the island you can take the main road to the direction of the Askøy bridge. While strolling through the houses you can experience the feeling of living in a Norwegian island. Try to blend in and get lost in the small streets in between the houses. At some point you will see the street transforming into a green path and a most fairytale-ish nature to explore.  In Kleppestø’s case not only the journey but also the destination is worth it. 

Route 2: Take a bus to watch the sunset by a lake

How to get there: take the bus no.460 from platform G and get down at bus stop Kollteveit sør.

The bus ride to Koltveit, a village on the edge of the island of Sotra, may be long, but it is also very enjoyable. The bus crosses a bridge perfectly placed to offer a breathtaking view of the fjord and drives by a number of small golfs decorated with picturesque wooden houses built by the sea.

To reach the lake you need to hop out at Kolltveit sør bus station and walk through a golf course and some tunnels that will lead you there. Suddenly you are lost in between trees, water and sky. That is what is so special about this lake: even though it is so close to the highway and the village, it feels hidden from this world – a secret place that you and your friends are the first to discover.

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Route 3: Take a bus to the open sea

How to get there: take the bus no.460 from platform G and get down at the terminal (Ågotnes terminal).

Living in the country fjords is most interesting, but it can give you the feeling that the sea is no sea. That there is always a shore on the other side, to set a limit on your horizon. It was that feeling that led us to Ågotnes, a village in the north and (as far as possible) west of the island or Sotra with access to the open sea. 

You will need to reach the terminal station. From there you still have to walk another ten minutes, but the promise of the ocean at the end of the road makes every minute exciting. 

Surprisingly the golf that you reach has more than a view to the ocean. The tiny wooden houses scattered all around are standing still while the ocean waves hit them again and again. The small boats moving in the pace of the waves seem like they have a lot of stories to tell.  The trip to Ågotnes reveals a truly different Norway: a Norway by the sea, with fishermen living by the waves and ships that travel the ocean.