Maihaugen

Maihaugen is an open-air museum in Lillehammer containing more than 200 historical buildings from different periods. The structures are arranged in three areas: a rural village, an urban district, and a residential neighborhood, each showing life from separate eras.

The museum was founded in 1904 based on Anders Sandvig's private collection of buildings and artifacts from the Gudbrandsdal region. This collecting effort in the late 1800s preserved structures that might otherwise have disappeared as modernization took hold.

Craftspeople demonstrate how inhabitants worked and lived across different eras, with tools and techniques openly visible throughout the grounds. Visitors can watch traditional skills like weaving, blacksmithing, and woodcarving being practiced in real time.

The museum grounds are large and designed for walking, so comfortable shoes are important and visitors should plan for considerable time. The visitor center provides orientation and information about the different sections of the site.

A residential house in this section once belonged to the family of the current Queen Sonja and is furnished with original pieces and personal belongings from the 1930s. This house offers a rare window into the private life of a royal family before their prominence on the world stage.