Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
April and May and again in September and October, it's open daily 10am to
4pm. Admission is 75NOK ($11) for adults or 35NOK ($4.95) for children,
with a family ticket going for 160NOK ($23). This is very much a hands-on
museum. Exhibits inform you about how fjords are formed, and there is a mul-
tiscreen audiovisual show on the Jostedal Glacier. You can perform your own
experiments with thousand-year-old glacier ice. You can also see a mammoth
tusk from the largest mammal ever to live in Norway; it's some 30,000 years old.
Exhibits also tell the story of Ötzi, “the man from the ice,” whose 5,000-year-
old body was found in a glacier in the European Alps in 1991.
Time permitting, you should also visit
Astruptunet
, lying across the south-
ern shore of Lake Jølster and reached from the center of Fjaerland after a 10-
minute drive. Celebrated for his landscapes, Nicolai Astrup (1880-1928) was
one of the country's best-known and most-reproduced artists. You can visit the
studio where he died and wander about a colony of little sod-roofed buildings.
Some of his artwork is on view. Guides bring Astrup alive again with their col-
orful anecdotes. On-site is a cafe serving sour-cream porridge, waffles, and cof-
fee. The location is at Sandal i Jolster (
&
57-72-67-82
), and admission is
50NOK ($7.10) for adults and 25NOK ($3.55) for children. It's open daily
from May 23 to the end of September from 11am to 4pm.
SHOPPING
Norway's book town offers some 20,000 books for sale in a dozen or so second-
hand shops, which remain open from mid-May to the beginning of September
from 10am to 6pm daily. Most of the titles are in Norwegian, but there are many
English-language books, including some rare ones. Contact
Den norske bok-
byen
at
&
57-69-22-10
for more information.
WHERE TO STAY & DINE
Hotel Mundal
Beloved of landscape painters and glacier hikers for
decades, this hotel dates from 1891 and has been operated by the same family
ever since. A bit quirky, with its wooden scrollwork, peaked roofs, cavernous
dining room, and round tower, it would be the Addams family's hotel of choice
if they were traveling the fjord country. In the center of Fjaerland, it lies 3km
(1
3
⁄
4
miles) from the glacier museum. Although old-fashioned, it has kept abreast
of the times with constant improvements. The helpful staff will offer bikes or
rowboats, and assist you in your mountain- and glacier-climbing plans.
Bedrooms come in a range of sizes and styles, but all are comfortably and tra-
ditionally furnished, with private bathrooms equipped with a tub/shower combi-
nation. Even if you're passing through for the day, consider stopping at the hotel's
restaurant for a traditional Norwegian meal of regional specialties. Lunch costs
from 85NOK ($12), with a lavish four-course dinner going for 415NOK ($59).
N-6848 Fjaerland.
&
57-69-31-01.
Fax 57-69-31-79. www.fjordinfo.no/mundal/contact.html. 35 units.
640NOK-975NOK ($91-$138) per person double; 1,280NOK-1,950NOK ($182-$277) suite. DC, MC, V.
Closed end of Sept to mid-May.
Amenities:
Restaurant; cafe; bar; lounge; laundry service; library. In room:
TV, beverage maker.
11 Loen/Olden/Stryn & the Jostedal Glacier
50km (30 miles) S of Hellesylt
This cluster of little towns and resorts, within easy reach of each other, virtually
form one community and are used as the base for trips to the Jostedalsbreen
National Park.
