Attractions

During the peak summer season, usually June 20 to August 20, the tourist bureau schedules several excursions. These include trips to the Maihaugen Open-Air Museum (Sandvig Collections) and voyages on Lake Mjøsa aboard the White Swan of Lake Mjøsa, an 1850s paddle steamer. Ask the tourist office for a list of activities.

Olympic Sites

The Lillehammer Olympic Park was the site of the 1994 games and is today one of the major centers for sports in Norway. In Håkons Hall there are facilities for fitness training, squash, badminton, football, handball, volleyball, and other pursuits. Visitors can attend various sporting events here, especially hockey matches, but also indoor golfing events. Check with the tourist office to see what might be in the offing at the time of your visit.

Also in the hall is Norges Olympiske Museum (Norwegian Olympic Museum), Olympiaparken (tel. 61-25-21-00), the only such museum in Scandinavia, with exhibitions not only about Lillehammer's role as host of the games in 1994, but also on the entire history of the Olympics up to the present day. In all, there are some 6,000 individual exhibits, as well as documentaries of the games. Admission is 60NOK ($9.25/£4.95) for adults and 30NOK ($4.60/£2.45) for children. It's open June to August 31 daily from 10am to 6pm. Off season it's open Tuesday to Sunday 11am to 4pm.

Lysgårdsbakkene, the ski jump tower (tel. 61-05-42-00), is open daily from mid-June to mid-August 9am to 8pm, charging 15NOK ($2.30/£1.25) for admission. You can take a chairlift to the top of the big ski jump for a panoramic view of Olympic Park and the surrounding area. The chairlift costs 40NOK ($6.15/£3.30) for adults and 35NOK ($5.40/£2.90) for children. Although you can also take the chairlift back down, it makes a lovely stroll to walk down instead.

In the upper part of the park, the Lillehammer Skiklub (tel. 61-27-58-00) has areas for cross-country skiing, plus a ski lodge and a cafeteria. The Kanthaugen Freestyle Facility (tel. 61-05-42-00) is one of the most compact facilities of its type in the world, with hills for aerials, moguls, and "ballet." Skiing instruction is offered on the ballet hill.

The Olympic Bobsled Run (contact Lillehammer's Olympic Park, tel. 61-05-42-00) is not in the park, but at Hunderfossen, 15km (9 1/4 miles) north of the town. This is northern Europe's only artificially refrigerated bobsled and luge track. The track is 1,365m (4,477 ft.) long, and the height difference from start to finish is 114m (374 ft.). The track has 16 curves. From October to March, visitors can try bobsledding or "bobrafting." The bobraft is a rubber bob that to us looks like a big bathtub. Even in the warmer months, from April to September, you can still try the wheelbob (a bobsled on wheels), which takes four passengers per trip at a speed of 100kmph (62 mph). Rates for the bobraft facility (winter only), bobsled run (winter only), and wheeled bobsled (summer only) are the same: 190NOK ($29/£16) per person.