Notodden
Municipality · Telemark
About Notodden
Heddal, Norway's largest stave church, the UNESCO-listed Rjukan–Notodden industrial heritage and the Notodden Blues Festival.
What to do and where to stay in Notodden
Places to stay are run locally, with no hotel or campsite chain behind them.
1Heddal Stave ChurchHistory & culture
Norway's largest surviving stave church, a triple-nave wooden church from around 1200 with carved portals and remnants of medieval wall paintings.
Heddal, Heddalsvegen 412, west of Notodden · 45–60 min · guided tours on the hour in high season; on request all year
2Kafé Olea at HeddalFood & drink
The ticket desk and café for the stave church, in the red vicarage barn with views of the church, serving waffles, cakes and light meals.
Prestegårdslåven, by Heddal Stave Church · 30 min · 18 May–13 Sep 2026, daily 10–16
3Heddal BygdetunHistory & culture
An open-air museum near the stave church with 15 buildings from the Middle Ages to the 1930s, including a room painted by Olav Hanssen in 1784.
Heddalsvegen 385, Heddal · 1 h · summer – check nia.no
4Bok & BlueshusetHistory & culture
The town's cultural house by Heddalsvatnet, with a blues museum, library, cinema and café on the site of the old Tinfos ironworks.
Storgata 1, Notodden centre · 45–60 min · all year
5Telemark Art Museum and World Heritage CentreHistory & culture
An art museum that also holds the Rjukan–Notodden World Heritage Centre, on how the two towns grew around Birkeland's arc furnace, Sam Eyde and Norsk Hydro.
O.H. Holtas gate 27, Notodden centre · 1 h · all year; Tue–Sun (daily 22 Jun–9 Aug)
6Hydroparken and GrønnebyenHistory & culture
Lakeside factory buildings from 1907 to the 1920s where Norsk Hydro ran trial production, near the workers' houses of Grønnebyen built in 1906–11.
By Heddalsvatnet, Notodden centre · 45 min walk · all year (outside)
7Linna path and Myrens damLocal oddity
A riverside path along the Tinnåa built in 1882 as a horse-drawn railway, past Tinfos power station to Myrens dam, which you can walk into and climb.
Tinfos to Heddalsvatnet, Notodden centre · 1 h · all year
8HeddalsutsiktenHike
A blue-marked walk up Heddalsåsen from Nord-Tinnes farm to a viewpoint over the Heddal valley, 7.2 km there and back.
Nord-Tinnes, Heddalsåsen · 3 h (7.2 km return, 239 m up) · all year
9Tinnoset stationLocal oddity
A log station from 1908 in national romantic style by Thorvald Astrup at the south end of Tinnsjøen, where passenger trains ran until 1991.
Tinnoset, north end of Notodden municipality · 20 min · outside all year
10Folkestien along HeddølaHike
A flat, marked 8 km riverside path on the east bank of the Heddøla through the wide Heddal valley, from Skilrudtjønna by the airport to Slåtta.
Skilrudtjønna (Notodden airport) to Slåtta, Heddal · 2.5–3 h one way (8 km, 21 m up) · all year (best in spring)