Vinje round

Åmot - Rauland - Arabygdi - Haukeli - Åmot

After a good night's sleep and a cup of coffee in the cabin wall, you're ready to explore Vinje's history, culture and nature. On the road up towards Rauland, you can enjoy the sight of beautiful traditional farms, and beautiful Totak with Raulandsfjell reflected in the muddy crust.

In Rauland, you can visit the sculpture collection of the artist Dyre Vaa (1903-1980). There you can see a variety of sculptures, paintings, graphics and drawings. Among other things, Vaa is known for the work "Man meets nature" on Ankerbrua in Oslo.

Follow the path down to the Skinnarland Collection, which contains more than 100 of the works of Knut Skinnarland (1909-1993), in the form of sculptures, drawings and prints. The museum also has a copy of his studio in Rauland. In addition, there are new special and hall exhibitions every year. More information about the museums in West Telemark can be found at www.visittelemark.no

Before continuing along the beaches of Totak, you must visit Telemarkstunet at Raulandsakademiet. Telemarkstunet is a collection of replicas of old houses in Rauland.

Here you'll definitely get your pulse racing, among goats gently meandering and children freely playing in the yard. Young and old can try stilts, horseshoe throwing and a nature trail with questions about nature, culture and bird life. If your stomach starts to rumble, you can enjoy rjomegraut and cured meats in Årestoga, and it will be hard to resist the smell of freshly baked sunshine balls from the stone oven bakery in Eldhuset.

Now the journey continues towards Arabygdi. The road here is narrow, with Totak glistening on one side and majestic Raulandsfjell on the other. In Arabygdi you'll find Myllarheimen, where the famous and beloved fiddler Myllarguten spent the last years of his life. The memorial to Myllarguten in the yard was made by Dyre Vaa.

Just past Myllarheimen you come to what is probably Northern Europe's largest stone clock - the enigmatic Urbøuri. The clock lies across the valley and fills the entire area with stone. Many have wondered how on earth this could have happened, as the valley is too wide and the surrounding mountains too low to produce such a result. And so several exciting legends about Urbøuri have emerged. One legend tells that it was the Viking god Thor who once attended a wedding at a farm in the hamlet. When he was not served more beer, he became furious and smashed his hammer into the mountain in anger. The rocks fell down on the people and the farm, and the hammer slipped out of Thor's hands and disappeared into the rocks. Thor then went through the mire, and threw aside stone after stone to find his hammer, and so Thor's road came into being.

Torsvegen is a marked hiking trail that is about 1 km long and cuts right through the enigmatic stone wall. A nice and easy walk, right in the middle of an attraction. And who knows, maybe you'll find Thor's hammer?

Urbøuri also became nationally famous in April 1940, when the many stone paths and hills here were used as fun cities for Norwegian resistance forces during the fighting against the Germans.

Drive on to Haukeli, and back towards Åmot along Europavegen. 23 kilometers from Haukeli you come to the small village of Smørklepp. Here you'll find the distinctive, natural stone-built Smørklepp Art Museum, designed by the famous architect Bjart Mohr - and a treasure in itself. Inside, you can study a large collection of paintings by Henrik Sørensen, who was best known for his evocative depictions of nature in Telemark. You can also see pictures by the famous artist Harald Kihle here.

From the museum, you can almost smell the freshly baked balls from Mjonøy. The town is known far and wide for its delicious fresh yeast baked goods from the stone oven, and for the open-air café that serves food made from local ingredients, in generous portions. The courtyard is framed by a collection of old houses, and is idyllically situated by the river - with hammocks placed in the cool shade under the trees.

After a bowl or two and a wedge in the shade, you're ready to visit the newly opened Vinjesenteret. The Vinje Center is a national center for poetry and journalism based on some local journalists and poets that you may have heard of before: Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, Aslaug Vaa, Tarjei Vesaas and Halldis Moren Vesaas.

The journey continues past Vinje Brewery in Bøgrend, where you'll find locally brewed beer that carries local culture and history in both name and taste. Worth a visit before the last stop on the journey is the homestead Midtbø, the artist's home where the famous writer couple Halldis and Tarjei Vesaas lived. The house and life there are depicted in several of their poems and books. Midtbø is still owned by the family, and has been open to visitors during the tourist season since 2016.