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Lillehammer
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Area: 477 sq. Kilometers (184 sq. miles)
Inhabitants: 24 873 (2001)
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A couple of hours' drive from Oslo, the winter sports town of Lillehammer lies at the north end of the lake Mjøsa in the mountainous Oppland region. Mjøsa, 122 m (400 feet) above sea level, is Norway's biggest lake, 362 sq. km (140 sq. feet), 117 km (73 miles) and with a depth of 443 m (1,453 feet) it is also one of Europe's deepest lakes.
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On Mjøsa you find "Skibladner", the oldest paddle steamer in the world still on scheduled service. Mjøsa's "White Swan" was built in 1856, but she bears her years with pride.
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Lillehammer's biggest attraction is the Sandvig Collection at Maihaugen, which ranks
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as the largest open-air museum in Europe and houses 185 buildings plus more than 40.000 objects. Maihaugen presents a rural society through churches, homes, farmyards and tools from the Gudbrandsdalen valley which extends north from Lillehammer. Traditional farming methods and handicrafts are also on show, and they make sure that our generation and the next will learn how our forefathers lived. During the summer, the farms and cottages are "inhabited to show how people lived and worked in times gone by.
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The municipalities around Mjøsa is among the most fertile agriculture areas in Norway.
There is also some industry associated with timber processing from local forests.
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Lillehammer is the gateway to Gudbrandsdalen Valley, in the hart of Norway; where you will find beautiful scenery and a number of opportunities for enjoyment and
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activities. Pure air and water you can be taken for granted, and there are plenty of natural gems. When it comes to fish, the Gudbrandsdalslågen is one of most abundant rivers in Norway. The "Hunder" trout is probably the grandest fish to catch, but you are hardly likely to turn your nose up at a perch, a grayling, or a pike once they bite on your hook.
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Due to the XVII Olympic Winter Games in 1994, leading to an extensive development of constructions and infrastructure in the whole region, the town now can offer a number of unique sports facilities and cultural institutions – like the National Olympic Museum, which has a total of 6,000 exhibits, and brings to life the entire history of the Olympic Games (776 BC - 2000 AD).
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