Known as the ‘Gateway to the Fjords’, Norway’s second city is also one of its most attractive. Bergen has a delightful natural setting, with seven imposing mountains surrounding it on three sides forming a dramatic backdrop for the rainbow-painted houses that cling all the way down to the waterfront. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Bergen history
With its sheltered harbour and the proximity to rich fishing grounds, Bergen quickly established itself as one of Norway’s most important towns. By the beginning of the 13th century, it was Norway’s capital, a status it enjoyed until the late 1200s, when the seat of government transferred to Christiania – the city nowadays known as Oslo.

Economic success was further assured in the 14th century when the Hanseatic League chose Bergen as one of its four main bases. By 1600, the city was Scandinavia’s largest, with 15,000 inhabitants. Bergen has remained a successful trading port since (not least because of the discovery of oil in the North Sea in the mid 1960s) and an international business and tourist centre.

When to go
The peak tourist season runs from May to September, although it is just as likely to rain then as at any other time. The area has the dubious honour of experiencing one of Europe’s highest average annual rainfall counts.

However, this should not spoil a visit completely, as there is plenty to do indoors – Bergen has some of the country’s best museums and art galleries. Between November and March, the rain turns to sleet or snow but even the worst winter weather is not harsh by Norwegian standards, with temperatures rarely sinking below -5ºC (23ºF).

Norway's capital city boasts a spectacular setting at the head of a 110km (70-mile) long fjord. One of the best ways to approach Oslo is by sea with the journey taking you along scenic fjords where fishing boats jostle with cruise liners and luxury yachts. Whilst sailing through luscious green islands and outcrops the city unfolds before your eyes – sprawling out from its compact centre around the quays to the flanks of the surrounding hills.

Drenched with historic charm, Oslo is the oldest of the Scandinavian capitals and was founded around 1050 by Norwegian king Harald Hardråde. The look of the city was intrinsically shaped by these early founders, as seen in the imposing castle and fortress of Akershus Slott, which was built in the late 13th century by Håkon V Magnusson.

Originally Oslo was a wooden city, but after a roaring fire in 1624 it was burned to the ground. However, keen to rekindle the city's former glory, King Christian IV ordered a rebuild and the city was renamed Christiania in his honour – a name it kept for 300 years.

Perhaps due to these early tribulations, Oslo is not noted for grand architecture. However, much of the city's history can still be seen in medieval buildings like Akershus Slott, which stands across a park from the austere angular bulk of the 1930s-style Rådhus (City Hall). A highlight is the Slott (Royal Palace), which elegantly dominates the view west along Karl Johans Gate past the Storting (Parliament).

As the city grew in size so did its importance as a major financial, military and administrative centre. The subsequent development of shipping, industry and forestry helped give it the dominant role that it still enjoys in the nation's economy.

In more recent years Oslo has undergone further expansion due to a boost in the city's financial standing from the wealth created by the discovery of vast oil reserves in the North Sea during the 1960s. This has prompted a modern architectural face-lift, which is reflected in the development of the bustling docks and the lively retail and leisure sector around Aker Brygge – a transformed former warehouse area along the quay.

The population of just over half a million is small for a major city, but with its late-night shopping, crowded cafes, pubs, restaurants and theatres playing to full houses, Oslo has a self-assured and cosmopolitan feel with a lively nightlife and growing investment in arts and culture. With the influx of oil money, Oslo has become a thriving and vibrant city where visitors can enjoy a whole host of activities, from cross-country skiing in the freezing winter months to relaxing on the fjord's many beaches during the gloriously long summer days.

Stavanger is situated on a peninsula on the southwest coast of Norway. It is a pretty city surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery Norway has to offer.

In the Jæren area out by the coast to the southwest are white sandy beaches as far as the eye can see. Further inland, the landscape rises somewhat, and gently rolling hills give way to big mountains. To the east of Stavanger are fjords that boast narrow passages inland between tall, extremely steep mountainsides.

The famous Prekestolen (The Pulpit Rock) is a particular highlight, with its square horizontal plateau like a floor on top of a rock that rises 600m (1,968ft) straight up from the fjord down below. 
 
Stavanger's natural riches also extend far out into the North Sea, where big parts of Norway's oil and gas resources are located below the seabed. Stavanger is the oil capital of Norway as most of the oil industry is concentrated here. Not surprisingly, therefore, it is an affluent city with a strong international orientation. Some 4,000 residents working for the oil and gas industry come from abroad.

Yet Stavanger has managed to preserve its local identity in the midst of globalisation, and it still exudes a certain small town charm. A good example of this is Old Stavanger, a part of the city centre that consists of more than 170 small wooden houses mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries.

A significant historical event in the country's history took place just outside Stavanger in AD 880 when Harald Hårfagre (Harold Fairhair) defeated the other chieftains in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, and thereby became the first King of Norway, as he was the first to turn the county into one political unit.

Being a university town and a city with a large international presence, both through academia and the oil industry, Stavanger has a vibrant cultural scene and nightlife, with a concerts, shows and events and a great number of fun and welcoming pubs and bars attracting the crowds every night. It also has some of the best restaurants in Norway.

The city's cultural riches will be celebrated and put on full display in 2008, during which Stavanger is European Capital of Culture. A wide-ranging programme of events will show the world the best of Stavanger and the region surrounding it.