Maihaugen Museum

Garmo Stavkirke - Maihaugen
  • Garmo Stavkirke - Maihaugen
  • Museum visitors meeting an actor in front of Garmo stave church.
  • Woman with headscarf and apron in window.
  • Mountain farm maid making butter.
  • Product Image
  • Queen Sonja's childhood home at Maihaugen.
  • Product Image
  • Adults and children entering a historic timber house by Garmo stave church.

About

Maihaugen offers activities and experiences for the whole family. This is the largest open-air museum in Norway with more than 200 historic houses from the 13th century until today.

See opening hours at Maihaugen!

In the summer you meet actors, guides and working craftsmen in the open-air museum.

Have a peek into historical homes

In the idyllic open-air museum there are more than 200 historic houses from as far back as the 13th Century until today. All year it is nice to stroll around and get an impression of how we lived in the past. Several of the historical houses have open doors so you may have a peek through the door.

A main attraction is the Garmo stave church from the 1200s

Queen Sonja's childhood home

Dream back to the various decades of the 20th century. In the Residential Area in the open-air museum, you can refresh childhood memories and share them with your family.

In the Residential Area you may also see the 1930s house which was Queen Sonja's childhood home. The house was built for the Haraldsen family, and Sonja lived here most of the time until she married Crown Prince Harald in 1968. The house is open 1 June – 17 October. The rest of the year you may take a look in through the windows.

Maihaugen does not only show historical homes from different times. The open-air museum also has a part with mountain cabins telling how the Norwegians cabin dream has developed over time.

Great exhibitions

There are open exhibitions both in the main building and outdoors in the open-air museum.

All year you can visit Maihaugens main exhibition Impulses with over a thousand Norwegian cultural treasures such as folk art, textiles, toys, musical instruments and weapons. The main theme is influence and contact across national borders.

You may also visit visit the exciting exhibition on Norway's history back from the Ice Age, We won the land.

In the Town there are open doors to the photo studio and book bindery.

Animals and farm work

Both children and adults enjoy meeting the animals at Maihaugen. All summer, there are cows and sheep all around the idyllic grazing areas of the open-air museum.

The horses also graze on the meadows when they are not helping the museum farmers with different farm work done in the traditional way. The farmers are happy to show you their daily work. You can also meet pigs and chickens. The animals are outside until mid October if the fall does not get to chilly.

Café and Museum Shop

The Museum Shop and the café in the visitor center is open every day in the museum's opening hours.

You may also bring your own food for a nice picnic somewhere in the open air museum. Several places there are benches with a nice view.

The Norwegian Olympic Museum is located in the visitor center at Maihaugen and is included in the museum ticket. The Olympic Museum is telling the history of the 1994 Winter Olympics, among other Olympic moments from all over the world. 

Guide Prices

Ticket TypeTicket Tariff
StudentNOK75.00 1 day
AdultsNOK165.00 1 day
Child 0–5 yearsFree
Children/young person 6–25 yearsNOK75.00 1 day

The prices are valid until December 31th. See www.maihaugen.no for high season prices.

Family discount! Pay for the adults and one child. Bring up to three extra children for free.

Visit more museums! We offer a 25 % discount when you buy tickets for two or more of the museums in the Lillehammer Museum Foundation at the same time. This applies to Maihaugen (included The Norwegian Postal Museum and The Norwegian Olympic Museum), Lillehammer Art Museum, Aulestad and Bjekebæk.

Facilities

Classification

  • Eco-certified

General facilities

  • dogs on a leash are allowed
  • Family friendly
  • open all year
  • outdoor parking - surcharge
  • Restaurant/Cafe
  • shop

Museums, Galleries and crafts

  • museum
  • museum shop

Awards

  • Stiftelsen Miljøfyrtårn Eco-Lighthouse
From NOK0.00

Get in touch

Tel: +47 61 28 89 00

Maihaugvegen 1
2609 Lillehammer

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