Bryggen

A procession of steep wooden gables in ochre, red and white lines Bergen's harbour, each building following roughly the same pattern while quietly ignoring its neighbour's proportions. It's one of Norway's most photographed waterfronts, although the most interesting part of Bryggen is easily missed.

Step between the façades and you'll find narrow wooden passages, timber galleries and former warehouses. For centuries, this stretch of Norwegian waterfront was effectively a German merchant colony, built around a surprisingly lucrative commodity: dried cod. The Hanseatic merchants traded Norwegian stockfish across Europe, organising their buildings into long compounds that combined offices, storage and living quarters.

With so much timber packed together, fire was an understandable obsession. Merchants even had separate communal buildings where they could gather around a hearth. Repeated fires devastated Bryggen, and most of today's buildings date from reconstruction after the great blaze of 1702. Remarkably, the medieval street layout survived.

Today, independent shops, craft workshops and galleries occupy the old trading quarter, recognised by UNESCO since 1979. The waterfront can get crowded, especially when cruise ships arrive, but exploring the passages behind it is free and far more engaging than simply admiring the view. Allow an hour to wander, preferably before the busiest part of the day. For a closer look at the merchants' unusual way of life, visit the nearby Schøtstuene assembly rooms.