Sigdal municipality has approximately 3.600 inhabitants and covers a area of 842,1 km2 and lies in Buskerud, Norway. In a wonderful atmosphere, nature and activities. Prestfoss is the administrative center. Sigdal has plenty to offer in summer as well as winter. The shifting mountain and forest terrain is ideal for long walks, and there are magnificent mountains waiting to be climbed. The bare face of Andersnatten has proved irresistible to many a mountaineer. There are well marked paths running between cabins and “seter” or mountain dairy farms. Surrounded by tarred timber walls, turf-covered roofs, and thc sound of cow bells, you will expenence old-fashioned mountain dairying and taste real “seter” cheese . . . Delicious !
On warm summer days, the fjords, rivers and mountain lakes are full of bathers. Come evening, you can rent a boat, use your fishing permit and try your luck. Good fishing!
There is excellent hunting for hares, grouse and elk in the forests and mountains of Sigdal and Eggedal. We also have reindeer, and you can use your hunting permit in several places.
A number of ancient burial sites have been found just north of Haglebu, along an old mountain track. You can also visit Haglebu Mountain Church, at Grantangen. The church is built on historical ground, where the Norwegian forces fought one of Ihe last battles of World War II on 26 April 1945.
For speed and excitement, take a trip to Sigdal Motor Centre! You can drive a rented go-cart on a king-sized outdoor track at a top speed of 70 km / hour.
GOLDEN AGE OF NORWEGIAN ART
The magnificent natural surroundings have attracted artists and inspired many well known works of art. Sigdal and Eggedal has two of the best preserved homes of artists from the Golden Age of Norwegian art, Theodor Kittetsen´s home, Lauvlia, and Christian Skredsvig´s home, Hagan.
LAUVLIA
Th. Kittelsen build his home Lauvlia in 1899. This artist is well known for his many illustrations of fairy tales, his depictions of trolls and his poetic landscapes. The home is well preserved and represents the most important presentation of the artists life and work in Norway. Every year a new exhibition is organized considering a different aspect of production. Here the visitor can compare the paintings to the beautiful lake and mountains surrounding the home which inspired the artist to his most famous renderings. There is a guided tour of the exhibit.
The museums educational program is aimed at children in particular, in that one of the outhouses has many activities, and children and their guests can paint the motifs that inspired the artist using an easel. In addition there is a beautiful trail leading up the hillside where the visitor can see where the artist was standing. The museum is beatifully located by Lake Soneren, 30 km from the rural art gallery Modums Blaafarveværk.
HAGAN
Half an hour´s drive from Lauvlia, high in the hills above Eggedal Church, lies Christian Skredsvig´s home, Hagan. A remarkable house, made up of several ditferent buildings. Both house and contents are in much the same state as they were while the artist lived. On the walls hang his own paintings and drawings and those of friends and contemporaries. The unique collection contains about 150 works.
At both Lauvlia and Hagan you will be met by specially trained guides who will ensure that you have an absorbing and unforgettable experience . . .
GRØSET SETER
Welcome to the seters. In some parts of Norway, dairy cattle are still driven up to the “seter”, or mountain pastures, in the summer, and the dairymaids and herdsmen – and fortunate visitors – still live in the picturesque, rustic cabins. Grøset Seter is located in beautiful natural surroundings, in the Troll country of Norwegian folk artist Theodor Kittelsen. Surrounded by thick, tar-impregnated timber walls peat roofs with the grass still groving on them, and with the sound of cow bells in the distance, you will be able to experiencc oldfashioned muntain dairying and taste realmountain food !
We have a varietv of animals at Grøset Seter, and you will be able to make the acquaintance of Telemark cows, sheep, hens and our billy goat. Our animals are all friendly, fond of people and used to children. Because at the farm we have real goatherds – three of them ! You will be able to join in the daily running of the farm, looking after the animals and making mountain food. We make all our farm food just the way they used to in the l9th century, with traditional old utensils and equipment !
The well known landmark Andersnatten Mountain towers at the end of Lake Soneren. If you are driving along national highway 287 through the Sigdal Valley, you turn off at Båsheim and follow the signs for Grøset Seter up the hillside and behind Andersnatten – about 7 km. Welcome to the seter!
MADONNA STATUE
At the Bjønnskortenatten in Eggedal´s west mountain stands the statue “Madonna with the child” at an altitude of 1020 meters. The statue is located 100 meters outside the protected border of the Trillemarka-Rollagsfjell nature reserve, and from here there are magnificent views west to Storvatn, Buvatn and Gaustadtoppen. From Eggedal centre turn off to Vestbygda, after approximately 150 meters turn to Frøvoll.
THE FOLK MUSIC CENTER
Sigdal and Eggedal Museum is a regional museum for Krødsherad, Modum and Sigdal. The Buskerud County folk music archives, complate with folk music consultant. The old buildings and green they surround are full of life – dancing, fun and arts and crafts. We have a large village green with live animals and variety of arrangements throughout the summer. Make sure to see the “Oak Building” trom 1750, with its rose-painted hall and doctor´s office dating back to about 1900. You can buy local handicrafts in “Landhandelen” (the village store).
It is important to pass on our cultural traditions if they are to survive in future generations. Children from all over Norway come to the folk music centre to learn about traditional singing and playing of traditional instruments. There are often organized courses and seminars. The teaching hall can seat 60 people, but the house also contains group rooms and can offer accomodation for 34 people. If you wish to experience a quick taste of Norwegian folk music, a wide selection can be found here.
Newly restored and filled with modern equipment, the Folk Music Centre lends itself equally well to courses, meetings and conferences and to individual tourists and groups. Simple, reasonably priced accommodation. 32 beds in rooms sleeping 4 or 5. Traditional local food, fully licensed. Hall: caters for a course with 60 people, dinner settings for 80 or a concert with 100 spectactors. Several lounges and group rooms. Exhibitions, folk music and dancing. Sale of folk music and instruments. Outdoor amphitheatre – dance floor sound studio. Canoe rental.
SIGDAL and EGGEDAL MUSEUM
It is not just the nature, but also the cultural traditions, that makes Sigdal a miniature of Norway. Sigdal and Eggedal museum is not a lifeless token of a past time. In the centre of an environment with buildings from the 18th century, you will find a pulsating and blooming cultural life.
You are on historic grounds. In this area an old nickel works from the end of the 19th century was situated. You can view the slag heaps that are still there as a memorial down towards the Simoa river. The mines were situated at Grågalten mountain and in Ramstadmarka. In 1930 it was decided that a museum should be built here. In 1944 a large two-storey building from Eikje by Prestfoss was erected on the grounds. The ground floor originates from about 1750.
If you walk up the stairs, you will enter a beautiful hallway decorated in floral paintings. Soon several other old timber buildings turned ip, and the museum was quickly transformed into a farm from the 18th century. In the courtyard you can find a small cabin, a hay barn, cattle barn, forge, storage house, stables, granary, brewery, mountain hut and many other features representing the old peasant environment.
In the centre there is an old store where you can buy lasting memories from the visit. Around the various exhibitions you can feel the pulse of how people lived before our time. You may also take a five kilometre walk along an old path. In the middle of the woods, you will find an idyllic cottage farm. Take a trip by the museum during the wildlife day in autumn. On that day you will witness sharpening of knives and smoking of fish, demonstrating that the oldest techniques still are honoured customs.
HUNTING
There is excellent hunting for hares, grouse and elk in the forests and mountains of Sigdal and Eggedal. We also have reindeer, and you can use your hunting permit in several places.
FISHING
You can rent a boat, use your fishing permit and try your luck. Good fishing ! You can fish in, the fjords, rivers and mountain lakes. Sigdal´s hilly woodlands and river valley are readily accessible for leisurely visits and challenging sports activities.
GOLF
Golfclubs in Buskerud.