Day Trip to Lillehammer

With very little time left here in Norway, I am doing my best to cross off some of the must-visit locations in the country. On the top of my list was Lillehammer, a municipality two hours by train from Oslo with a population around 25,000. Today, Lillehammer is best known for hosting the 1994 Olympic Games. 

My first stop was Maihaugen, Lillehammer's folk museum. It is the largest  open-air museum in Norway! Maihaugen sits high enough to offer a view of Mjosa, the lake that Lillehammer sits beside.

 The next stop was the Norwegian Olympic Museum. It was stellar! The exhibit brings you through the history of the Olympic Games, from the Greek beginnings in 776 BC all the way to the Vancouver games. Various famous Norwegian athletes were highlighted along the way, including ice-skater Sonja Henie and incredible single sculler Olaf Tufte.

 The exhibits had some iconic apparel used in each Olympics, evolving through the ages. Below is the Norwegian "uniform" for the 1960's Squaw Valley games.

Who could forget the infamous curling pants of the Norwegians from the Vancouver games in 2010?

I spent the rest of the afternoon hiking up the Mesna River that flows right through town and empties into Mjosa.

Lillehammer holds many other claims to fame, including being home to Sigrid Undset, the Swix ski wax factory, the Nansen Academy, and the finish line of the Birkebeinder race, but you can't see it all in a day. More reason to return in the future!