Mountains, water, history and roads worth taking.
Gaustatoppen above the plateau. Rjukan deep in Vestfjorddalen. Møsvatn opening toward Hardangervidda. Dalen at the end of Bandak. And the roads, seasons and winter days that connect them.
Go somewhere for the story, not just the view.
Each guide is built around one place: what shaped it, what it feels like and what is worth giving time to when you get there.
Gaustatoppen
The classic hike from Stavsro, Gaustabanen inside the mountain and the weather around the summit ridge.
Rjukan
The sun mirrors, hydropower, Vemork, the heavy-water story, Mæl and Tinnsjø.
Hardangervidda
Water, weather, wild reindeer and the route from Rauland through Møsvatn and Mogen into open high country.
Møsvatn
Fjellvåken, Mogen, roadless farms and a lake that still functions as a route through the mountains.
Dalen
Lake Bandak, the Telemark Canal, Dalen Hotel, Eidsborg and a valley shaped by travel and water.
Bø
Sommarland, climbing and one full summer day built around play.
The journey can be the destination.
Drive toward Austbygdi and Veggli, follow Tinnsjø toward Mæl and Rjukan, drop down to Dalen or take the high road toward Gaustatoppen.
These routes are less about collecting viewpoints than watching Telemark change around you: forest, frozen water, old farms, steep valleys and open mountain.
Read the scenic drives guide →
The same landscape changes completely with the season.
Long summer evenings, Christmas in deep winter, snowmobile trails and family weeks where not everyone needs the same plan.
Summer in Rauland
Long light evenings, hiking, cold lakes, paddling, riding, fishing and the slow change toward autumn.
This is where the perfect Christmas lives
Snow, timber cabins, skiing and the Rauland setting behind much of Netflix’s Christmas as Usual.
Snowmobiles, huskies and dark winter evenings
More than 200 kilometres of snowmobile trails, guided safaris, rental, skating, ice fishing and winter play.
A winter week that does not need one plan
Alpine, cross-country, snow play and enough flexibility for different ages to want different things.