Hallingal Museum

Buy tickets with a 10% online discount here.

Hallingdal Museum offers visitors a close encounter with the history of Hallingdal, set in a scenic area along the Rukkedøla River. The museum preserves cultural history from the Middle Ages to the present, with a focus on rural and industrial life in the 18th and 19th centuries. Visitors can wander among historic log buildings and see Staveloftet from 1340 — the oldest non-ecclesiastical building in Hallingdal. Several exhibitions are also displayed indoors during museum opening hours.

Previously known as Hallingdal Folkemuseum, the museum was founded in 1899 by Director of Agriculture Gudbrand Tandberg and is one of Norway’s oldest open-air museums. Hallingdal Museum Nesbyen now serves as the main office for a broader network of local museums in Gol, Hemsedal, Ål, Hol, and Dagali. Activities for all ages are held throughout the year — more information is available on the museum’s website.

8 Exhibitions:

• Tubfrim: stamps, volunteerism, and public health

• 80 Years of Freedom

• World War II in Hallingdal

• Children’s Lives in Hallingdal, 1800–1960

• The Cabin: Four Walls Around a Dream (photo exhibition)

• Traditional Costume Exhibition

• The Silver Workshop of Morten Espeset

• The Gunsmith Workshop of Lars Grasdokk

• Scythes and Scythe Forging in Hallingdal

Summer at the Museum

Every Wednesday during the summer months is Activity Day with theater in Staveloftet, blacksmith and weaving demonstrations, an open general store and café, along with a variety of family-friendly activities.

Every day, visitors can join guided tours of the historical buildings (offered several times daily as needed). The buildings and outdoor area can also be explored independently; most buildings have informational signs outside. To view the interiors, however, you must join a guided tour.

Group Tours

It is possible to book guided tours for groups by arrangement, preferably one week in advance. For groups under 10 people, the cost is NOK 800. We do our best to accommodate special requests and are happy to unlock individual buildings when possible.