Frequently asked.

Baardseng Gård is at Kongsvegen 75, Lillehammer, Norway. It sits on a hill above the northern end of Lake Mjøsa, right on the old Pilgrimsveien, the medieval pilgrim road that runs from Oslo to Nidaros (Trondheim). See Getting here for directions by train and by car.

The farm first enters the records in 1733, listed as an independent holding worked by Lars Ellingsen with one horse, five cattle and six sheep. The name comes from the Old Norse man's name Baardr, and for a long time the farm was a small holding under the larger estate of Skikstad. The land has been farmed continuously since.

Yes tou can. Or try several. We take small groups, families, and friends. Write to us with what you would like to do, and we reply with a day and a price.

Very much so. All activities can be tailored to your group.

Open daily 08:00–20:00 all summer long. The farmstand is right beside the Baardseng bench along the old road. The fridge is stocked with cold drinks and snacks. No booking needed. Just drop by, take in the view, and grab a bite.

We can arrange stays in nearby farm lodgings in the Lillehammer area for guests who book a multi-day experience. Write to us and we will help plan it.

Lillehammer is a town of about 28,000 people at the northern end of Lake Mjøsa, in the Innlandet region of eastern Norway. It is known internationally for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics, still considered one of the best-organized Games in history.

It is also home to Maihaugen, one of Europe's largest open-air museums, with nearly 200 historic buildings gathered from across the Gudbrandsdalen valley. And it is where Sigrid Undset wrote much of her Nobel Prize-winning cycle Kristin Lavransdatter; her home, Bjerkebæk, is now a museum.

Mjøsa is the largest lake in Norway, about 117 kilometers long and covering roughly 365 square kilometers. It is also one of the deepest lakes in Norway and in Europe, reaching 469 meters at its deepest point. The farm stands on a hill above its northern shore.

The lake has been a transport route for a thousand years. The paddle steamer Skibladner, launched in 1856, still runs on Mjøsa in summer and is the world's oldest paddle steamer in daily operation.

In 1206, two Birkebeiner warriors skied across the mountains from Lillehammer carrying the infant Håkon Håkonsson to safety during a civil war. The boy grew up to become King Håkon IV, who ended the wars and unified Norway. The modern Birkebeinerrennet ski race, from Rena to Lillehammer, retraces that rescue every March.

One of Norway's longest and most historic valleys, running roughly 230 kilometers from Lesja in the north down to Lillehammer at the southern end, where Lake Mjøsa begins. It follows the Gudbrandsdalslågen river and is named after the legendary Viking chieftain Dale-Gudbrand, who according to the sagas was converted to Christianity by King Olaf II around the year 1021.

The region is known for its folk culture: traditional timber building, wood carving, and a strong storytelling tradition. Henrik Ibsen set his play Peer Gynt in Gudbrandsdalen, drawing on its folk tales.

The Pilgrimsveien, or St. Olav's Way, is the medieval pilgrim route from Oslo to Nidaros (modern Trondheim), where St. Olaf is buried in Nidaros Cathedral. The path runs for about 640 kilometers and has been walked for nearly a thousand years. Baardseng Gård sits directly on it, and the old stone track still crosses the meadow above the lake.

A traditional Norwegian storehouse, raised on stone or wooden stilts to keep out mice and damp. Baardseng Gård's stabbur dates from the 17th century and still stands in the meadow, holding the carved gables and tools of the people who built this place.