Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Around
Buses connect Rjukan to Oslo (Nkr355, 3½ hours) via Notodden (where you need to
change buses) roughly every other hour between 5.30am and 3.30pm. These buses also
stop in Kongsberg (Nkr240, two hours).
Rjukan'slineardistanceswillseemintimidating,butthelocalBybussrunsfromVemorkto
the eastern end of the valley. Bike hire from the Rjukan Gjestegård costs Nkr150 per day.
Tuddal
Lying beside a deep blue lake surrounded by snow- and forest-dappled peaks, the handful
ofcolourfulwoodenhousesthatmakeupthetinymountainvillageofTuddalhaveasetting
that is hard to top. There's nothing much to do here except relish the peace and quiet and
maybe embark on a gentle ramble or two.
The village sits at the foot of a bleak and spectacular summer-only mountain road
between Rjukan and the E134 Notodden-Seljord road. Halfway along this mountain road
is a summer tourist office booth that has maps and route descriptions detailing a number of
excellent hikes.
The village has a couple of idyllic campsites with lakeside settings.
Seljord
POP 3000
Lakeside Seljord is known mainly as the home of Selma the Serpent, the Nessie-type mon-
ster that inhabits the depths of the lake Seljordvatn. Other creatures of legend call the
nearbyhillshomeandhikerscanalsoseekoutthefeudingtrollwomen,Ljose-Signe,Glima
and Tårån. Personally we haven't seen them but locals assured us that they're there. Sel-
jord was also the inspiration for some of Norway's best-known folk legends, including As-
bjørnsen and Moe's
The Three Billy Goats Gruff,
known the world over.
Sights
The charming Romanesque
church (admission free; 11am-5pm mid-Jun-mid-Aug)
was built in the 12th century in honour of St Olav; it looks as if someone built a stave
church and then changed their mind and tried to build a house around it. In the grounds,
