Lillehammer
Municipality · Innlandet
About Lillehammer
Maihaugen open-air museum, Sigrid Undset's home at Bjerkebæk, the Olympic ski jumps at Lysgårdsbakkene and Norway's literature festival each spring.
What to do and where to stay in Lillehammer
Places to stay are run locally, with no hotel or campsite chain behind them.
1MaihaugenHistory & culture
Open-air museum founded by dentist Anders Sandvig and opened in 1904, with over 200 houses from the 1200s to today, including Garmo stave church.
Maihaugvegen 1, a short walk south-east of the centre · 3–4 h · All year; most houses open and staffed in summer
2Lysgårdsbakkene ski jumpsViewpoint
The 1994 Olympic ski jumps where the opening and closing ceremonies were held; climb the 936 steps or take the chairlift for the town's best view over Mjøsa.
Kanthaugen, above Håkons Hall and the Olympic Park · 1–2 h · Steps all year; chairlift in summer
3Bjerkebæk – Sigrid Undset's homeHistory & culture
The house and garden where Sigrid Undset wrote the novels, Kristin Lavransdatter among them, that won her the 1928 Nobel Prize, shown on guided tours.
Sigrid Undsets veg 16E, a short walk from the centre · About 2 h · Late May–September (2025: daily in summer, weekends in September); reopens 20 May 2027; garden open outside museum hours
4Norwegian Olympic MuseumHistory & culture
Olympic history from 1896 to today, with Norway's 1952 and 1994 Winter Games and a biathlon simulator, in Maihaugen's visitor centre on the same ticket.
Maihaugen visitor centre, Maihaugvegen 1 · 1–1.5 h · All year
5StorgataSight
The pedestrian main street, said to be Norway's longest street of small buildings, lined with two-storey wooden houses from the late 1800s with bay windows.
Town centre · 1 h · All year
6Mesna cultural trailHike
Follow the Mesna river up from Mjøsa past old mills, the 1894 power station and the Helvetesøhølen falls, where townsfolk bathed in the 1800s.
From Strandtorget up the Mesna to Collett bridge · 1–2 h (about 200 m climb, easy) · May–October
7Hunderfossen EventyrparkActivity
Fairy-tale theme park from 1984 with over 60 attractions built on Asbjørnsen and Moe's folk tales and the giant troll at Hunderfossen.
Hunderfossen, about 15 km north of the centre, west of the Lågen · Most of a day · Summer; winter park February–mid-March
8Norwegian Road Museum (Norsk vegmuseum)History & culture
Free road museum open all year with 4,000 m² of indoor exhibits and an outdoor area with a 1700s inn, a 1950s shop and a 1960s campsite.
Hunderfossvegen 757, Hunderfossen · 1.5–2 h · All year; outdoor buildings staffed in summer
9Lillehammer Olympic bobsleigh and luge trackSight
Built for 1994, it is Northern Europe's only artificially frozen bob and luge track (1,710 m, 16 curves); in summer visitors ride wheeled bobs.
Hunderfossen, Fåberg, about 15 km north of the centre · 30 min–1 h · Summer wheeled-bob rides (season from May)
10Lillehammer Art MuseumHistory & culture
Over 1,800 works of Norwegian art from the 1830s to today, from Thaulow and Munch to Weidemann, in a Snøhetta building made for the 1994 Olympics.
Stortorget 2, town centre · 1–1.5 h · All year