What to do and see in Oppland, Eastern Norway: The Best Free Things to do

Activities Worth seeing Events Accomondation Transport Eat and drink Useful information Jotunheimen> National tourist routes> Sognefjell Explore the region Click the map to visit the regions Select region Sognefjell - Across the roof of Norway In majestic surroundings, high in the mountains past blue ice, jagged peaks and emerald lakes, the Sognefjell Road runs between Sognefjord, the world’s longest fjord, and the Gudbrandsdal valley. The Sognefjell Road was designated Norway’s first tourist route in 1997 and has just been upgraded to a National tourist route in 2003. The Sognefjell Road has carried traffic since time immemorial. Fish and salt from the west and butter, hides, iron and tar from the east were carried by people on their shoulders or on horseback. The cairns helped travellers find the way in all kinds of weather. The Sognefjell Road gives you access to Jotunheimen National Park, with Galdhopiggen, Norway’s highest mountain, and several of the other of the highest peaks in Norway, and to Jostedalsbreen, Norway’s largest glacier. Here your can poke about on your own among soaring peaks, take a tour over glaciers and mountain tops with experienced guides, and go skiing all year round. The route between the inland valley, high mountains and fjord offers breathtaking contrasts in climate and topography and a variety of plant and animal life, from lower elevations with farms, pine forests and the conditions for human settlement to the alpine terrain approx. 1,000 metres above sea level. Up here you’ll find bare rock with clear traces of the last Ice Age, with grass, moss, lichen interspersed with juniper and willow. Here you’ll also find hardy polar plants such as arctic buttercup, with mountain birch here and there. Wild as well as tame reindeer live on Sognefjell, and down towards the valleys there are moose and deer. In the high mountains, eagles and rough-legged buzzards thrive. In eastern regions there may be bears, lynx and wolverines, though they are few and very shy. For more informaton on the touristroutes

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.

With the very edge of the mountains as starting point, visitors have every opportunity to experience cross-country skiing at its best. The network of trails connects to the Lillehammer, Hafjell and Sjusjoen networks, and over 2,500 km of trails are available in total. The mountain plateaus, offering cross-country ski trails through open and gentle terrain, are within easy reach. If the weather turns bad, the forests close by provide excellent shelter from the wind. Nordseter offers excellent ski and equipment hire facilities.

Sosterkirkene – the Sisters Churches - on Granavollen are an impressive landmark and have a mysterious history. Two churches are placed next to each other. Their steeples have inspired the design of the Gran municipal coat-of-arms. We are still speculating why there are two churches on Granavollen. The popular explanation is that there were two sisters who disliked each other and built each her own church. But if we go back to the Middle Ages, the time at which the churches were built, it wasn’t unusual that one built two or three churches in the same vicinity. They then had different functions, for example cathedral, monastery church, or parish church. Only on Granavollen Today, it is only on Granavollen that we find two medieval churches so close together on the same churchyard here in Norway. The larger one, Nikolaikirken was probably the county church while the smaller one, Mariakirken, was the parish church.They were likely built during the 12th century. At that time, the churches were quite often given the names of saints. The larger one is named after the saint bishop Nikolaus of Bari, the patron saint of travellers. The smaller one was named Mariakirken after the mother of Jesus. A Gathering Place and a Power Centre Sosterkirkene are freely located high above the village. Granavollen has been a gathering place through centuries, both in prechristian times and in the christian era. One of the oldest finds from christian time is a rune stone from the 11th century. The burial grounds, the rune stones and written source material tell us that this has been an important religious and political power centre.

viewpoint SNØHETTA is closed during winter. The building is open all day to the public from 1. June until medio October. Welcome back in the summer - visit the award-winning viewpoint SNØHETTA (The Norwegian wild reindeer pavilion) at the roof of Norway - Dovrefjell, and learn about nature trough experience! A 1,5km hiking trail from the parking lot leads you to the building with the amazing view

In Stein Center you will find a jewelery gallery and shops where we lay emphasis on jewelry, souvenirs and artifacts in Norwegian rock. We find most of råstein themselves, and most products are made by our own producers. In our museum you will find the largest exhibition of Norwegian mineral and gemstone in the country. Free entrance

The Besseggen ridge is one of the most famous hikes in Norway, Jotunheimen National Park.