Vinje around

Åmot – Rauland – Arabygdi – Haukeli – Åmot After a good night’s sleep and a cup of coffee, you’re ready to explore Vinje’s history, culture and nature.
On the way up to Rauland, you can enjoy the sight of beautiful traditional farms, and beautiful Totak with Raulandsfjell reflected in the crust.
In Rauland, you can visit the sculpture collection of artist Dyre Vaa (1903-1980).
There you can see a variety of sculptures, paintings, graphics and drawings.
Among other things, Vaa is known for his work “Man meets nature” on the Anker Bridge in Oslo.
Feel free to follow the path down to the Skinnarland Collection, which contains more than 100 of Knut Skinnarland’s (1909-1993) works, 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 your trip along the beaches of Totak, be sure to visit Telemarkstunet at the Rauland Academy.
Telemarkstunet is a collection of replicas of old houses in Rauland.
Here, you’ll definitely feel the pulse racing, with goats gently mewling and children playing freely in the courtyard.
Young and old can try stilt walking, 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’s 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 dazzling 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 courtyard is by Dyre Vaa.
Just past Myllarheimen you’ll 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 people have wondered how this could have happened, as the valley is too wide and the surrounding mountains too low to produce such a result.
And so a number of exciting legends about Urbøuri have emerged.
One legend tells us that the Viking god Thor once attended a wedding at a farm in the hamlet.
When he wasn’t served any more beer, he became enraged 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 stone wall.
Thor then walked through the mud and threw stone after stone aside to find his hammer, and this is how Torsvegen came into being.
Torsvegen is a marked hiking trail that is about 1 km long and cuts right through the mysterious stone wall.
An easy and pleasant walk, right in the middle of an attraction.
And who knows, maybe you’ll find Tor’s hammer?
Urbøuri also became nationally famous in April 1940, when the many stone passages and caves here were used as fun places for Norwegian resistance forces during the battles against the Germans.
Now take the car on to Haukeli, and back towards Åmot along Europavegen.
23 kilometers from Haukeli you come to the small village of Smørklepp. The distinctive, natural stone-built Smørklepp Art Museum, designed by renowned architect Bjart Mohr, is a treasure in itself.
Inside you can study a large collection of paintings by Henrik Sørensen, who was known above all 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 buns from Mjonøy.
The town is known far and wide for its delicious fresh yeast bread from the stone oven, and for the open-air café that serves food made from local produce in generous portions.
The courtyard is framed by a collection of old houses, and is idyllically situated by the river – with hammocks coolly placed in the shade under the tree.
After a bowl or two and a rest 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 beers that carry local culture and history in both name and taste.
Worth a visit before the last stop on the journey is the Midtbø homestead, the home of the famous author couple Halldis and Tarjei Vesaas.
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.