After you have walked around Norway's Bergen fish Market and explored the old Hansa wooden warehouses on Bryggen Wharf, go and walk around the big ships in the harbour. The port of Bergen is not just for tourists. It is a fully functioning North Sea port that has many large ship movements throughout the day. They range from fishing boats, North Sea oil rig maintenance units, tugs, container ships, Cruise liners and the Hurtigruten Postal Ferry boat.

It is very rare that you can get so close to these giants of the sea. Go for a stroll along the dockside to find out what has arrived with the tide. You have to admire the skill of the crew in being able to control such a large chunk of metal this big without causing damage to the ship or Bergen Harbour's sea wall.

The ferry terminal connects Bergen with Newcastle in England, Hirtshals in Denmark and Lerwick in the Shetland Isles. The main ferry companies are DFDS Seaways, Color Line, Fjord Line, Hurtigruten Group, Smyril Lines, Tide and Fjord1 Fylkesbaatane. The Port of Bergen has more Cruise liners docking in the port than any other Norwegian port. Each year more than three hundred vessels arrive in the dock.

This is a great boost to the local economy as all the thousands of passengers spend their holiday cash on souvenirs food and drink. The container cargo handling port sends and receives goods from all over the world. It works 24 hours a day every day of the year. Smaller privately owned leisure boats visit the port as they explore the fjords along the coast.

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