Lillehammer Things to Do

By bike or car (not convenient by bus) you will get a panorama view of Lillehammer from the upper road on the western bank of river Lågen. Cross the river via Vingnes or Lillehammer bridge, follow signage road 253, but turn uphill once past the main habitation at Vingnes. Follow the road as convenient and decend toward Jørstadmoen, past the military camp and cross back to Lillehammer on the Gausdals bridge.

Elvegata is a small side street off Storgata. This was a riverside insdutry road once upon a time, today there are river side cafes, restaurants and a few shops. Hardly a walk to mention; it may be a 150 meters long...

Just a short walk up from the town centre you will find a bathing pool (no facilities) which can be quite pleasant. But the water temperature is that of the river. This is not the Riviera... Wading pool for small children, good place to bring children to cool off and to relax in the sun. Sun?

During a period of two weeks in 1994 Lillehammer's main street, Storgaten became immortalized as the standing room only Olympic street. This was the time of the Olympic Winter games, when it was proven that a small town could actually put on the Games.
Several TV stations from CBS and CNN to more mundane local ones ran live programming from here, and half of Lillehammer's population got interviewed live on one or more occasion. What did this do to us? A a pride in keeping up appearences in Storgaten, and Storgaten itself, at least. There are many memories of the Olympics, some are evident as you walk through, others are more subtile, such as the design and coloring schemes that put restrictions on design and construction. The Storgaten street as it appears today is a result of commercial history since mid-late 19th century. Most wooden houses are actually log houses inside the wooden panelling. Today Storgaten is a shopping and office street most of all, second an entertainment street. Saturday lunch time is THE visit Storgaten time, where you walk into town and slowly walk Storgaten to meet people. Or sit on a bench and practice people-watching. However, after shopping and work hours, Storgaten becomes quite dead, unless there is a large event in town or there is time for a pub/club/ restaurant visit, typically Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.
For the casual visitor without much sense of a purpose, the recommended thing to do is to take a walk from Søndre Park in the south end to Lilletorget and a bit beyond in the northern end, and turn back... If nothing catches your fancy, then move on. Or, more purposefully, search out a restaurant, book (if necessary) and come back after you have visited Maihaugen Museum, the Olympic Park, the Art Museum or something else of interest. But that's it, Storgaten is only a local street with functions for local people mainly. Some intrepid fellow in Øyer made a scale copy of Storgaten which you can view more easily...

many drivers in Norway are apt to think that roads here are worth putting on a museum display. Well, here you've got it; the Norwegian Road Museum! See tip on other things do nearby (Hunderfossen Family Park).
I never went there, but know it is veeery meaningful for the young and old of the male gender and machinery buffs. Old stuff and activity stuff. Wherelse can little and big boys sit behind the wheel of a steam roller?

Hunderfossen "Family Park" is some sort of entertainment or theme park area, located near the dam site of Hunderfossen, 12 km north of Lillehammer. It is an eclectic sort of place, with a jumble of things. Still very successful, and one of the 10 most-visited sites in Norway. The theme park focus is centered on the plays, cartoons and models of Ivo Caprino, a filmmaker who made animation films out of Norwegian short folk stories. So trolls and the supernatural is perhaps the highlight of the place. A big troll model and an adventure castle can be seen sticking out of the forest from the E6 as you pass. In addition there are many events and shows for children, there is horse riding, model car driving, lots of various games, water slides, childrens bathing and play pool, fishing pool and other things like that to keep children happy and parents out of money. There is a videotheatre with films from the Olympic, the Arctic, Norway's mountain landscape and so on.
There are food outlets, one inside the Troll Cave is very good and has a special atmosphere (fillet of reindeer here!), and the other one outside the gates for a more comprehensive menu and a happier price tag (separate tip). Other food stalls available. The Norwegian Energy museum is located here, interesting in order to understand the Norwegian energy supply. A visit to the actual underground hydel station can be arranged. The Museum of Tunnel Drilling (crazy) is here, and so is the Museum of Road Construction, with lots of machinery etc. Quite close is the Olympic Bobsleigh track, which you can try, both during summer and winter.
To top it off, there is a well-rated camping site adjacent, and its own railway station.
For events, activities, camping and costs for it all; individual acivity fees and packages, consult the web address given. My impression after a few visits is that it is fairly costly... For kids it's priceless...
Off-season guiding and some activities as per appointment.

We were not here during the main tourist season as you can tell from this picture. The streets were almost deserted. We were in Lillehammer during the last week in March, too late for most of the skiers and too early for the summer tourist. But it was still a great time to see the village and get to experience the people here. The main shopping area, Storgate, is closed off the traffic and is open for walking. It was interesting to see pictures and post cards from 1994 during the Olympics. If you click on the picture to enlarge it you will see Jim standing almost alone in the middle of the street. The pictures during the Olympics showed wall to wall people. It was quite contrast.

I am not sure what this statue is all about. It could be an angry Santa Claus running off with some screaming child. Or it could be some person from the mountains rescuring a child from an accident. It caught my attention and was one of the last things I saw before I left Lillehammer. There are lots of attractions in Lillehammer. You can take a ride down the bobsleb trail, go skiing, visit the lake, climb to the top of the ski jump and view the area. Its a home to winter sports. its a friendly village with lots of folks to meet and converse. Its a great day trip from Oslo.