Location: Lillehammer
Top Things to do in Lillehammer
The 10 Best Museums in Lillehammer, Eastern Norway
Lillehammer gained international fame as the host of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games. Since then, tourism has flourished in this Norwegian city. Skiing is excellent, of course, but even non-skiers can experience the thrill of the slopes by taking a lift to the top of Lysgårdsbakken Olympic ski jump site. Explore the awesome collections and structures of the Maihaugen open-air museum or hike the Fåberg Cultural Trail to the site of ancient petroglyphs.
Restaurants in Lillehammer
1. Maihaugen Open-Air Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 634 reviews
Maihaugen offers activities and experiences for the whole family. Enjoy the idyllic surroundings and experience life like in the old days. The museum has more than 200 historic houses from as far back as the 13th Century to homes of the different decades of the 1900s, including Queen Sonja’s childhood home. Grazing animals in the open-air museum. All year you can look into historical houses and visit great exhibitions, the museum shop and café. Don't miss our popular Christmas Market in November/December.
Reviewed By amandatallullah - New Ross, Ireland
Does as it says on the tin. In winter with the snow it was quite beautiful to walk around. Lots of different wooden cabins and building that represented classic style from days gone by. Set in beautiful surroundings with lakes and woodland. Nice to get out in fresh air after doing the Olympic museum. Both are situated in the same place.
2. Lillehammer Art Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 62 reviews
The museum is one of the nation's leading art museums, and houses a collection consisting of approx. 1500 works by Norwegian artists dating from the 1800s and until today. The museum also organises several separate exhibitions a year, featuring both historical art and modern art.
3. Norwegian Road Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 107 reviews
The Norwegian Public Road Museum, is one of Norway's largest technical and industrial museum facilities. The museum consists of three museums and a large open air museum. The three museums are; the Norwegian Public Road Museum (NPRM), the Norwegian Rock Blasting Museum(NRBM) and the Norwegian Vehicle Museum (NVM). The museums have a total of almost 5,000 square meters of indoor and outdoor exhibitions. In the open air museum, you will find a number of buildings that have had an impact on daily life along the roads. Such as ; country stores, petrol station and road warden's residence. There are also exhibited machines that have been used for road construction and rock blasting.
Reviewed By linetrip - Oslo, Norway
Thoroughly curated museum with both Norwegian and English information boards. Because of covid-19, the touch boards were not in use when we visited, but this is totally understandable. The mine museum was located inside a mine, which we really liked. There are benches and toilets placed around the park, and a nice café too. We recommend bringing a rain jacket in case of rain, because there will be walking from building to building.
4. Bjornstjerne Bjornsons Home Aulestad
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 29 reviews
Experience the atmosphere of beautiful Aulestad! The Nobel laureate Bjornstjerne Bjornson lived here with his family from 1875. The home is one of the best preserved artist homes in Norway. The summer of 2020 visitors can unfortunately not enter the artist home due to covid-19. You are still welcome to visit the museum. Aulestad offers a great new Bjørnson-exhitition and you will meet a guide in the garden. There is a fun exploring trail for kids there as well. Approximately 18 km from Lillehammer, follow signs from the main road E6 north of Lillehammer. From E6 take highway 225 towards Gausdal, and follow the road past the center of Follebu to Aulestad. Free parking lots by the road. There are bus connection from the train station in Lillehammer.
5. Galleri Zink
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 7 reviews
Galleri Zink is a gallery located at Sigrid Undsets Plass right in the heart of Lillehammer, and shows contemporary art and craft from most well known Norwegian artists. The gallery was established by ceramicist Johan Mæhlum in 2008, and shows 8-10 exhibitions per year in the main gallery space, as well as continually showing a wide selection of art and craft in the smaller side rooms and in the upstairs gallery space. Additionally the gallery produces and curates the Peer Gynt exhibition (located at Gala), the festival exhibition during the Norwegian Literature Festival, the Autumn Exhibition at Ilsetra (in the Øyer mountains) and the annual Christmas exhibition in the gallery. In addition to having a wide selection of contemporary Norwegian art from around the country, it is also a great place to get a feel for the local art scene, as most professional local artists are represented.
6. Sigrid Undset's Home Bjerkebaek
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 23 reviews
Welcome to the home of one of Norway’s great female writers. NB! In 2020 the home is not open for visitors due to covid-19. Still you can visit the museum. Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset (1882–1949) lived at Bjerkebæk with her three children. Here she wrote the medieval novels for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1928. Enjoy a walk in the garden, where there is also a fun exploring trail for kids. Nice exhibition on Undset’s life through her many journeys. The modern visitor centre has a nice museum shop and view to the home and a beautiful garden.
7. The Energy Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 15 reviews
The Energy Centre is an adventure centre for the Norwegian energy sector. We are located in Hunderfossen Familypark, 16 km north of Lillehammer. The centre aims at providing it's guests with knowledge about production and consumption of hydro power and other renewable energy sources, electrical safety, the climate changes and energy in general. We offer schools, groups, companies and families an «energetic» and educational adventure in our 2000m2 exhibition. In the summer we are a part of Hunderfossen Family Park. The rest of the year we are open just for booked groups.
8. Norwegian Olympic Museum
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 65 reviews
The Norwegian Olympic museum in Lillehammer is a top modern and exciting museum. Be enchanted by unforgettable olympic moments made by athletes from all over the world, and experience olympic history from ancient times to the present day. The Winter Olympics that took place in Lillehammer in 1994 and Oslo in 1952 play a central role in the museum. See medals and other original objects and get carried away by great movies. Temporary exhibitions on different topics.
Reviewed By brmusicman - Chicago, United States
I enjoyed this little museum of Olympic history immensely. It was absolutely worth the price of admission. You can get a pretty comprehensive visit in within 2-3 hours. The museum focuses on the history of the modern Olympics, with focus on the winter games hosted in Norway (Oslo in the 1950s and Lillehammer 1994) and Norway's success with winter sport more generally. This was informative and a nice peek into a source of pride for the country we were visiting. Particularly great exhibits were the large video screens with images of opening ceremonies from olympics throughout the years, and a video monitor with short videos about dozens of olympic host cities and the games they hosted, going way back into the 1900s. Each video was well-produced and very informative, addressing not only the games but the political and historical context in which they played out. There were also some strong exhibits on what a city does to host the games--for instance, the design program for Lillehammer that led to the logos, posters, etc. I would have enjoyed seeing even more in this regard! The museum has a small gift shop, and the employee could not have been nicer or more helpful. Turns out, she worked with the olympic committee, and she provided some color on questions we had from the exhibit. My only complaint: accessing the museum was a bit tricky! We rode the train from Oslo to Lillehammer and were surprised that really the only way to reach the museum in a timely manner was by foot. It wasn't a terrible walk--about 20 minutes or so (though much of it uphill) from the train station--but more bus and/or taxi options, or even clearer signage along the path, would have made our visit to the town even better. That said, the museum itself was really enjoyable and worth our time.
9. Norwegian Post Museum
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 28 reviews
The Norwegian Postal Museum at Maihaugen shows Norway’s exciting postal history. Learn how important the the postal service has been to develop our country – from the time when it took weeks to deliver a message up to today’s electronic communication. See post offices from the past, enter our old train with a postal coach and send a post card with Maihaugen’s own postmark.
10. Fabrikken
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 18 reviews
Fabrikken is a centre for creative and cultural initiatives. It comprises some 40 enterprises focusing on visual art, ceramics, jewellery design, textiles, music, theatre, film, photo and architecture. The ateliers and workshops are well worth a visit. Art, handicraft and Nordic design are available from the factory outlet.
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