Hiking holiday: Discover Norway on Foot

Holiday dates

2024 dates:

9th – 16th August 2024

A performance of Peer Gynt can be added to this holiday

Places available

Holiday price

2024 price:

From: NOK 18950,-

Per person, based on a twin/double room share

 Book this holiday here

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Booking

  • Easy online booking
  • No deposit required, card details secure your place*
  • Choose your preferred type of room
  • Solo travellers – email us to book a shared twin room
  • Add any extras as you book

*late cancellation charges may apply, please read our booking terms and conditions

Walking holiday grade

Moderate hiking for the active traveller

8-13km hikes, a maximum of 415m ascent and descent on tracks and hill paths with some rocky paths and muddy areas.
Expect to be out for 5 – 6 hours.

We use short transfers by hotel minibus to help us explore the area.

See our hiking holiday grades page.

Small group size

Minimum 4, maximum 10.

Please do not make travel arrangements until your receive your booking confirmation and the holiday is guaranteed to run.

Hike and discover one of the most beautiful countries on Earth

Explore the scenic landscape of Eastern Norway, best enjoyed on foot. Discover the rich Norwegian heritage that has grown out of this magnificent land. On this centre-based walking holiday we combine walking in wild reindeer country with fascinating cultural experiences.

Enjoy nature and wilderness and gain insights into local history and culture: from 6000 years ago to the present day. We visit the fascinating Maihaugen outdoor, living museum and the historic stavechurch at Ringebu via a section of St Olaf’s Pilgrims’ route. We will hear stories of life at the summer farm over a lunch of traditional, local foods.

Venabu has a reputation as a warm and welcoming hotel. The friendly and inclusive atmosphere in the hotel makes a great destination for solo travellers. Read more about holidays at Venabu as a solo traveller

A hiking holiday for active travellers

The walking and pace on this holiday is moderate, perhaps even gentle, and designed for people who lead active lives. It is a holiday on which to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of an open landscape with big skies.

Appreciate the contrasts between the pastoral family farms and wild upland areas.

Cultural experiences woven through the programme give insights and context alongside hikes in the mountains of Eastern Norway.

“Great walks”

“Thank you for the great walks and good guides in this beautiful Norwegian region. I really enjoyed learning about nature!”

Annemarie (The Netherlands)

holiday highlights

  • Discover the Nordic flora and fauna, migratory and ground nesting birds, birds of prey and rare arctic alpine plants
  • Enjoy a traditional lunch and storytelling at the summer farm or ‘seter’
  • Guided tour to Ringebu Stavechurch and the Vicarage art gallery and garden
  • Gain insights into Norwegian mountain heritage on the visit to Maihaugen open-air, living museum
  • Relax in our comfortable, family run mountain hotel on this centre-based walking holiday
  • Ideal for solo travellers, friends and couples who would like to share their walking holiday with like-minded people
  • The 2023 holidays both include an evening celebration when people gather by the Lake with a bonfire and music: 23rd June celebrates St Hans and 29th July Olsok.
  • Make this holiday a superb cultural experience by adding a visit to the Peer Gynt Festival to your holiday (possible for start date 28th July 2023)

Holiday itinerary

Summer farm buildings and a grassy meadow with flowers
Day 1. Arrival

19.00: Dinner is served.

This evening we will meet after dinner for the holiday briefing. After a day of travelling this is an evening to meet everyone and settle into your week.

Day 2. The Pilgrim’s Road and Ringebu Stavechurch

Walk details: 8km, 400m ascent

We start our holiday with a gentle introduction: after a short transfer we enjoy a morning walk above the magnificent river valley of Gudbrandsdalen along a section of St Olav’s Pilgrim Road, featured in The Guardian: Nordic Walking: a pilgrim’s route from Oslo to Trondheim. We visit the site of a historic hillfort and hear about St Olav and the origins of Christianity in Norway.

There follows a guided tour to Ringebu Stavechurch, one of Norway’s 28 remaining stavechurches, and a visit to the Prestegard or vicarage with its garden and gallery. The gallery’s summer exhibition features high quality, original work by internationally known Norwegian artists. We return to the hotel by minibus (twenty minutes).

19.00 Dinner is served.

Day 3. Local peak Dynjefjellet, 1151m

Walk details: 12km, 250m ascent and descent

Our start point today is a summer farm with a colourful history. A steady path leads to the summit of Dynjefjellet. The high peaks of the Rondane are visible to the north. The wild land of Venabygdsfjellet opens before us. Distant to the west are also the glaciated peaks of the Jotunheimen. Learn about the lives of the wild reindeer that migrated up here as the last ice age ended and the glaciers retreated. People followed the reindeer 6000 years ago and we visit the special features they created to hunt the reindeer.

19.00 Dinner is served.

Day 4. Canyons and waterfalls: Dørfallet and Myfallet

Walk details: 12.5km, 300m ascent and descent

The highlight of today’s hike is the walk to the dramatic Dørfallet and Myfallet canyons and waterfalls. Experience for yourself the powerful forces that carved this landscape.

19.00 Dinner is served.

Day 5. Visit to Maihaugen

 

A change of pace and location today as we visit the excellent Maihaugen living museum in Lillehammer, one of Europe’s largest open-air museums. Curated with care, the museum is home to original houses and farms from different periods of Norwegian history. The creative exhibitions and experiences include walking plays and invitations from ‘locals’ into their homes, each furnished from a particular decade. This is a fascinating and fun day giving a lively insight into Norwegian village, rural and town life throughout the ages.

19.00 Venabu serves its special dinner: ‘A Taste of Norwegian Tradition’.

Day 6. Walk to the summer farm for lunch

Walk details: 12km, 270m ascent and descent

Another contrast again today as we walk to our summer farm, Lykkesetra, set in the meadows below Forbundsfjellet. Over a lunch of local, traditional food the farmer will tell stories from lived experience about the history and folklore of summers spent in the mountains. We hear about life on the farm and the hard work of producing the fabled Norwegian delicacy, brown cheese. Time spent at the summer farm was always special, much enjoyed by the farming families and it remains close to the heart of Gundbrandsdalen today.

19.00 Dinner is served.

Day 7. Finnsjøvola

Walk details: 12km, 380m ascent.

Both tranquil and sublime Finnsjøvola offers us an easier yet spectacular day. We ascend steadily through delightful, pine forest to open land and sparkling lakes. There are views of the Rondane massif and east towards Sweden. As we walk and soak up the beautiful scenery, we may be lucky enough to see wild reindeer and the almost mythical cloudberries, ‘the gold of the mountain’.

After the walk we make a cultural visit in Sollia, where our tour ends.

19.00 Dinner is served.

Day 8. Departure day

Departure after breakfast.

Please note that the order of the itinerary may vary to adapt to the weather and the needs of the group.

What’s included

  • 7 nights accommodation in our comfortable mountain hotel
  • Breakfast and evening meals, packed lunches and flasks filled
  • Guided walks on 6 days with our expert guides
  • Entry to Maihaugen
  • Entry and guided tour of Ringebu Stavechurch and vicarage
  • A traditional lunch and storytelling at our summer farm or ‘seter’
  • Transfers to and from Ringebu at the start and end of the trip.
  • All transfers for guiding

Optional extras:

The Peer Gynt Festival

This festival at Gålå, close to Venabu, is one of Norway’s premier outdoor cultural events. The festival celebrates Henrik Ibsen’s work of the same name. We offer a special package for this superb spectacle. The Peer Gynt package can be added to the August holiday: extend your holiday by one day and enjoy the hotel’s escorted Peer Gynt offer, including ticket for an additional 2000 NOK,  please contact us for more details.

A homemade blueberry tart Venabu Fjellhotell

“Lovely”

“Lovely place and wonderful stay. Thank you!”

Kim (USA)

Wonderful visit

“Many, many thanks for yet another wonderful visit to Venabu – our first in Summer/Autumn. Our wonderful trip with Wenche, great company..”

Anne and Chris (UK)

You may also enjoy these other hiking holidays at Venabu

Wild Reindeer Country Explorer

Norwegian National Parks Challenge

Autumn Hiking Experience

Questions about this holiday?

Get in touch

e: [email protected]