Across the Old Town Bridge from the cathedral, Bakklandet is the most atmospheric quarter of Trondheim. Its painted wooden houses and cobbled lanes survived the great fires that levelled the rest of the medieval city, and the layout has barely changed since the eighteenth century. The river runs along its western edge, with old timber warehouses on stilts sitting in the water; the hillside above is a tangle of stairs and gardens.
By day the district is mostly cafés, antique shops, and small galleries; in the evening the bars and restaurants fill up with students and a younger Trondheim crowd. Walk up Øvre Bakklandet, take the cobbled side streets to the foot of Kristiansten Fortress, and look back across the river for the postcard view of the city.