Stave Churches, Museums & Visitor Centre

Visit the famous stave churches Borgund, Kaupanger, Urnes and Hopperstad or one of the interesting museums and visitor centers such as Sogn Fjord Museum and Norwegian Wildsalmon Center.

We help you find the way and other information about the excursions!

Borgund Stave Church

Borgund Stave Church is located 28 km east of the holiday park. Built in 1182, it is one of the best preserved stave churches in the country. In fact, this church is so unique that it has been used as a starting point for other stave churches during restoration. Some were simply rebuilt to resemble Borgund Stave Church as much as possible. This is due to the characteristic appearance with roof over roof, gullies, dragon's head and cross on the ridge crests. In the entire building there is not a single metal bolt or nail. The church has three entrance portals, of which the west portal is richly carved, It is in the Gothic building style, and lies majestically on its original tuft. Definitely worth an extra stop, and an absolute recommendation to take with you.

200 m from the Stave Church, a Stave Church museum has been built. The visitor center has an exhibition on the role of stave churches in religious life in the Middle Ages.

There is also a cafe, souvenir shop and quiet room. The center was set up to be able to serve large tourist groups. And with 50,000 visitors in 2018, it probably came in handy!

Remember that you can combine a visit to Borgund Stave Church with a great walking or cycling tour of the historic roads in Lærdal.

Kaupanger Stave Church

Kaupanger Stave Church was built sometime in the 12th century, after the earlier church on the site burned down in 1130. The dating is seen as construction year 1140-1150. The stave church is the largest of all the stave churches in Vestland county, something that shows the central place Kaupang had in the High Middle Ages.

At the same time, it has the least decorated interior of all the stave churches in Sogn, despite the fact that Kaupanger has been a seat of nobility and gentlemen since the Middle Ages.

The underlying cause is uncertain.

What seperates Kaupanger stave church from other stave chrurches is the size and number of staves. It is the longest stave church in Norway, where the staves have cork capitals or carvings, something that gives the church an enhanced vertical feeling. This is the reason why the Kaupanger stave church is called "the cathedral among stave churches".

The church currently has 165 seats. It has been in continuous use and is still a Sogne church. That in itself gives the stave church a completely unique character.

Urnes Stave Church

Urnes stave church is dated to the beginning of the 1130s, which makes it the oldest of the 28 stave churches that have been preserved in Norway. It is also the most richly decorated stave church, especially the north portal with unique carvings that come from an even older church.

The woodwork and decor are influenced by Norse, Celtic and Romanesque art traditions, and the church has given its name to the distinctive urn style.

The stave church is powerfully situated in a magnificent fjord landscape in Lustrafjorden, and since 1979 it has been given its rightful place on UNESCO's world heritage list.

Hopperstad Stave church

Hopperstad stave church, formerly known as Hoprekstad stave church, was built after 1130. It stands on its original site in Vik in Sogn.

The stave church was restored in the 1880s. From traces in the existing building construction and with similar stave churches as models, especially Borgund stave church, it got the appearance it has today.

The church can be decorated with unique carvings, and the canopy is unique in Norwegian church architecture. It has a carved gable and a pointed arch plank vault.

Sogn Folkmuseum - The Heiberg Collections

The Heiberg collections, held at Vestrheim in Kaupanger, are the country's oldest and largest cultural history museum.

There you will find playgrounds, natural history trails, handicrafts and a living museum with people in the houses. At the open-air museum there are over 30 buildings that range from medieval barns to prefab houses from the 1980s. All placed in a living cultural landscape.

In the summer season there is traditional farming with animals, and every wednesday there is a family day with activities in the old houses and in the outdoor area. In the main building there are permanent exhibitions on agriculture, food, handicrafts, peasant art, clothing, textiles, church, superstition, beach town, Krambu and childhood.

The museum has its own cafe with homecooked food, as well as its own museum shop.

Telecom- and Postal Museum

In the center of Lærdal, adjacent to old Lærdalsøyri, is the Telecom- and Postal Museum. Telegraph and telecommunications history in Lærdal stretches back to 1856. Join us on a short journey into local, regional and national postal history through photography and illustrations, texts, objects, models and soundscapes. The well-designed museum has summer specials and free entry.

N. H. Lerums saftfabrikk AS

On the farm Sørheim in Luster municipality, there is a journey back in time. Well over 100 years ago, to the time Nils and Kari Lerum turned a coincidence into a success.

Today, we all know Lerum's juice and jam, in all flavors and varieties. We should also not forget to mention Lerum's Christmas soda, which provides its share of the Christmas atmosphere year after year. The Sørheim Trade and Industry Museum offers a tour of the restored factory, which appears as it did in 1907. There is also an opportunity to see how trade was carried out in the inviting general store from 1905. So if you have a sense of nostalgia and tradition, together with a good dose of juice and jam, this is the place for you!

Flåm Railway Museum

The Flåm Railway Museum is housed in the old station building in Flåm. There you get an insight into the construction of the world's steepest railway line, the technical development and the people behind the impressive railway art. Today, the museum shows an EL-9 locomotive and shunting locomotive, exhibitions containing pictures, sound, objects, as well as written material. You can see a video projection of a journey with the Flåm railway. The museum has protocols from the railway's previuos operation, the commercial activity in the valley and the shuttle traffic before the railway was built.

Worth a visit

Aurlandshoe in Aurland is a living exhibition center for the shoe craft, as well as the only producer of Aurlandshoes.

In the Eldhuset in Undredal, you will get a presentation in words and tones about the traditions of stilt farming, making goat's cheese and maturing white goat's cheese.

On the east side of the entrance to Sogndalsfjord lies Fimretefarm. Below the farm lies a shallow bay where the famous battle took place King Magnus V Erlingsson and Sverre Sigurdsson stood in 1184, - Battle of Fimreite.

Two men fought for royal power in Norway, which led to one of the bloodiest battles in Norwegian history. At Nornes on Slinde, just outside Sogndal, there is a memorial stone commemorating the battle. The reason it was placed there and not at Fimreite was that it was at Nornes that the fallen were taken ashore and buried. And it was easier to get to Nornes, as Fimreite did not have a car-road.

If you want an experience out of the ordinary, the White Caves in Gudvangen are not far away. The caves are about 6 km. from Gudvangen ferry dock, and offers an exciting trip in the white anorthosite mountain. The route takes you through light, darkness, colours, silence and calm, in interaction with trolls, vikings and music from Grieg.