The tourist office is a few metres from the head of the harbour at VA?gsallmenning 1 (June-Aug daily 8.30am-10pm; May & Sept daily 9am-8pm; Oct-April Mon-Sat 9am-4pm). It has free copies of the Bergen Guide , an exhaustive consumer's guide to the city, plus plenty of free brochures. It also sells the Bergen Card , a 24hr (150kr) or 48hr (230kr) pass which allows travel on all the city's buses (otherwise a flat-rate fare of 19kr per journey is levied) and free entrance to, or discounts on, most of the city's sights, including sightseeing trips.

Budget accommodation is no great problem in Bergen. There's the basic YMCA Interrail Centre , Nedre Korskirkealmenning 4 (tel 55 31 72 52; A?5-10/$8-16; mid-June to Aug), a short walk from the stations, close to Bryggen; and the slightly more expensive Montana Vandrerhjem , Johan Blyttsveien 30, LandA?s (tel 55 20 80 70; A?10-15/$16-24), a large and extremely comfortable HI hostel with views down over Bergen from high on a hillside 6km east of the centre. The Montana offers en-suite singles and doubles, family rooms and, in the summer, dorm beds; take bus #31 from Nygaten, in the centre. Alternatively, the tourist office books private rooms at a fixed tariff - currently 295kr for a double room (185kr single; 345kr en suite). They're very popular, so you'll need to get to the tourist office early in summer.

As for guest houses , Skansen Pensjonat , Vetrlidsallmenningen 29 (tel 55 31 90 80; A?20-25/$32-40), has a smashing location right in the city centre among old clapboard houses, just up the hill from the funicular station; while the Crowded House is a lively and extremely agreeable hostel-cum-pension with its own coffeebar in HA?konsgaten 27 (tel 55 23 13 10; A?15-20/$24-32). Of the hotels, the Rainbow Bryggen Orion , Bradbenken 3 (tel 55 31 80 80; A?40/$64 and over), is a deservedly popular mid-range hotel with unassuming but perfectly comfortable modern rooms, just steps from the Bergenhus.