What to do and see in Telemark, Eastern Norway: The Best Museums

Porsgrunn Museum The Parsonage, built 1784, is the best-preserved parsonage in Telemark, and other 18th century houses typical for this region surround it. The beautiful garden from the last part of the 18th century is reconstructed with historic documented plants.

The valley of ’Smorklepp’ in Vinje has made a lasting impression on the artist Henrik Sorensen. Right in the middle of this natural wilderness you can visit this unique and impressive gallery built with local rock and view a large collection of paintings by Sorensen. Harald Kihle is another artist who is displayed in the gallery. Sorensen and Kihle both worked and lived in the valley of Smorklepp.

The collection of Lundetangen Brewery is unique with old labels, bottles and various things which shows the history of the Lundetangen Brewery established in 1854. Guided tours arranged in advance tel.+47 40 49 34 00

Norway’s most significant Empire-style building Step inside the splendid home of the Aall family, where many decisions, big and small, have been made over the past 200 years. Niels Aall, who had the Empire-style manor house built in 1807, was minister of trade when the Norwegian constitution was adopted in 1814.

The museum has buildings and artefacts dated back to the middle ages, and aims to bring to life the colourful history of Fyresdal. In the summer season the old buildings are open every day. There is no guide at the musuem, but guided tours for groups of 10 persons or more can be submitted from the Fyresdal tourist information office or West Telemark Museum.

Mjonoy is a distinctive venue with arts, crafts and traditional cultural attractions and cuisine. Here you will find a traditional wood-fired stone oven bakery, a felting press, cabins for rent, cultural events, a farm shop and a crafts exhibition. The centre was Vinje's millennium project and has won a Norwegian cultural heritage award.

To experience the rich cultural heritage and traditions of West Telemark, West Telemark MuseumEidsborg is an excellent place to start. The museum consists of a collection of more than 30 buildings, an open air museum with Norway’s oldest pagan wooden building from 1167, the famous Eidsborg stave church dated back to the 13th century and a new, modern museum building with several exhibitions. There are many blockhouse constructions among the buildings at the museum, a building technique still in use. The museum is situated by R45 next to Eidsborg stave church in the beautiful and dramatic landscape of Tokke. In the modern museum building, opened in 2012, there are magnificent exhibitions telling the history of the folk art and culture of Western Telemark. There are collections of beautiful pieces of traditional art on display like rosepainting, woodwork, knives, silver and textiles.