Five museum experiences in the summer

Norway is full of great outdoor museums.

Published 28 June 2016

There are few places you’d rather be when the Norwegian summer is at its best. With so many cold months during a year, one must seize the opportunity to be outside when the weather is warm. Here are some good tips for museums where you can spend and enjoy most of the time outside.

Maihaugen in Lillehammer is one of the biggest outdoor museums in Norway. The museum consists of more than 200 buildings, some as old as 800 years. You can also visit Norwegian homes throughout the times from the 50s and up until today.

During the summer months, many of the houses are open, and you can walk into houses that look exactly like they did when the Norwegians grew up. In addition, Maihaugen has several wandering theatres, which are an entertaining way to experience the history and stories.

The Romsdal Museum is located just a short walk outside of the city centre of Molde. It is one of the biggest and most copious folk museums in the country, established as far back as in 1912. The museum offers buildings and interesting interior from the entire region.

The “Town Street” has houses from the pre-war era in Molde. A guide can walk you through the street if you don’t prefer to explore on your own.

The Glomdal Museum is located by the Glomma river in Elverum. This is one of Norway’s largest outdoor museums, and here you can experience how people in Østerdalen valley and Solør lived and worked on farms and cottages.

During the summer months, the museum has several Norwegian farm animals on-site – cows, goats, pigs, and many more. The museum also has exhibitions about medical history and hosts big family-friendly events yearly.

Old Bergen Museum is a reconstructed town with approximately 50 wooden houses from the 1700s, 1800s and 1900s. Once upon a time, Bergen was Europe’s biggest wooden town with a distinct town environment, which can still be seen by the famous Bryggen.

Most of the houses on this outdoor museum used to be located in Bergen city centre. While you walk around the cobblestone streets, you’ll meet actors that make history come alive and give insight into how life was in Bergen more than a hundred years ago.

Not too far from where the King and Queen of Norway spend their summers, at Bygdøy in Oslo, lies the Norwegian Folk Museum. With 155 historic buildings, amongst those a stave church, this is one of the world’s biggest outdoor museums.

Inside the historic houses, you can see exhibitions about folk art, traditional costumes, pharmaceutical history, dentist tools, and much more. Outside is crawling with hustle and bustle throughout the entire summer, like the baking of traditional “lefse”, rides with horse and carriage, animal feeding, candle making, and traditional games to mention some.