Lillehammer with Kids: Olympic Park, Maihaugen & Day Trip from Oslo

Lillehammer with Kids: Olympic Park, Maihaugen & Day Trip from Oslo

Visited September 2017 · updated September 2026 with current prices and opening times

We went to Lillehammer with kids on a grey September day in 2017. Damian was 4, Marc was a toddler who napped through anything, and we were staying on a friend’s farm about 30 minutes north of Oslo. It was supposed to be a quick day out, and it became one of our favourite days of the trip.

It wasn’t one big sight that made it. The drive along Lake Mjøsa, the Olympic ski jumps above a town of wooden houses, and a sports ground where we couldn’t get in because athletes were training. That turned out better than the visit we’d planned.

Quick answers

• Is Lillehammer worth it with kids? Yes, as a day trip from Oslo or a 2–3 night stop. It’s small, calm and very walkable.
• How far from Oslo? About 2–2.5 hours by car, most of it along Lake Mjøsa, or about 2 hours by direct train.
• Best for families: the chairlift up the 1994 Olympic ski jump, Maihaugen open-air museum (the ticket includes the Olympic Museum), and Hunderfossen fairy-tale park in summer.
• Money tip: at Maihaugen you pay for the adults and one child, and up to three more children go free.

Where is Lillehammer, and why do families go?

Lillehammer sits at the northern tip of Lake Mjøsa, Norway’s largest lake, where the Gudbrandsdalen valley begins. It hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics, and many of the venues are still in use. Outside Norway most people know it from the Netflix series Lilyhammer.

For families, the appeal is that everything is close together. The Olympic Park, the old town and Maihaugen are all within walking distance or a short drive. You don’t spend half the day in the car, which with a toddler is the whole game.

Oslo to Lillehammer: drive, train, or a Lake Mjøsa road trip?

We drove up from our friends’ farm near Oslo in 2017, and it took about two hours. What I remember isn’t the road number but the view: for long stretches the road runs beside Lake Mjøsa, Norway’s largest lake, with farms and hills on the other side. It was the first two-hour drive with small kids that didn’t leave us tired. We also counted more Teslas than we’d ever seen anywhere.

Option 1: the fast way, the E6 via Hamar (east shore)

This is the motorway most people take, about 2 hours from Oslo, running up the eastern side of Mjøsa past Hamar. With kids, Hamar is the stop worth planning:

• The Norwegian Railway Museum in Hamar has old locomotives, and in summer a small garden train for kids. 2026: NOK 145–175 adult, NOK 75–105 child (4–15), family (2 adults + 2–4 kids) NOK 410–510, depending on season.

Option 2: the slow way, via Gjøvik (west shore)

The western side of the lake through Gjøvik is quieter and a little slower. You can go up one side and come back down the other, making the trip a loop around the lake.

Summer bonus: Skibladner, the world’s oldest paddle steamer

Skibladner has sailed Mjøsa since 1856 and is the world’s oldest paddle steamer still in timetabled service. It links Eidsvoll, Hamar, Gjøvik and Lillehammer, with scheduled sailings from late June to mid-August. With kids, one leg on the steamer (driver meets you at the other end) turns a transfer into the highlight of the day. Check skibladner.no for the current timetable and prices.

Option 3: the train

Direct trains run from Oslo S to Lillehammer in about 2 hours, most stopping at Oslo Airport. So you can land and go straight up. The station is in town, a short walk from Storgata. Book with Vy.

Our take: with a toddler and a car seat, the train is less stress. With kids 4+ in summer, drive the E6, stop at the Railway Museum in Hamar, and consider one Skibladner leg.

Lillehammer Olympic Park with kids

Lysgårdsbakkene ski jumps

The two Olympic ski jumps (HS140 and HS90) stand above the town, and you can see them from almost everywhere. They have a plastic surface, so jumpers train on them in summer too. In summer a chairlift runs to the top: about NOK 65 per adult, NOK 35 per child aged 7–15, or NOK 165 for a family return, at time of writing. The alternative is the 936 steps beside it. Our advice: take the chairlift up and let the kids race down the steps.

The view from the top takes in the town, the lake and the valley. On a clear day it’s the best view in Lillehammer.

What we saw: athletes training in September

We tried to go into one of the Olympic venues and couldn’t, because a competition was on. Instead we stood at the fence and watched athletes training on roller skis: long, narrow skis on small wheels that cross-country skiers and biathletes use when there’s no snow. If you visit between May and October, look out for this. It shows how seriously Norway takes winter sport, even in summer.

Maihaugen and the Norwegian Olympic Museum

Maihaugen is a large open-air museum. Old farmhouses, workshops and a whole street of historic buildings were moved here from around the Gudbrandsdalen valley. For kids it’s space to run between houses, with things to peer into. For parents it’s the most complete picture of old rural Norway you’ll get in a single afternoon.

The same ticket includes the Norwegian Olympic Museum on the same site. So on a rainy day you get the ski history indoors and the open-air museum when it clears.

Maihaugen 2026	Adult	Child 6–25
High season (22 Jun–16 Aug)	NOK 235	NOK 90
Mid season (incl. 17 Aug–11 Oct)	NOK 205	NOK 85
Low season	NOK 180	NOK 80

Under 6: free. The family discount is the one to know: you pay for the adults and one child, and up to three more children go free. For two adults and two kids in September, that’s NOK 495 instead of NOK 580. From September it’s closed on Mondays, so check the opening days before you drive up.

Hunderfossen and Hafjell: worth adding with kids?

We didn’t have time for either, so this is planning information, not experience.

Hunderfossen Eventyrpark, just north of Lillehammer, is Norway’s fairy-tale theme park: trolls, Norwegian folk tales and more than 60 rides and activities. It runs through the summer and some autumn weekends, and online tickets start at NOK 459, with the price depending on the date. A new winter park opens in February 2027. With kids aged 3–10, it’s the one reason I’d stay a second night.

Hafjell, the 1994 alpine venue a little further up the valley, is a ski resort in winter and a bike park in summer. That’s worth knowing if you come back with older kids.

Walking the town

Lillehammer’s centre is small enough to cover with a stroller in an hour. The pedestrian Storgata is lined with 19th-century wooden buildings, and from any slope you see Mjøsa below. It feels like the Norway in picture books, without the fjord crowds.

Where to stay in Lillehammer with kids

We did Lillehammer as a day trip, so we haven’t slept here. If you stay, these are the three I’d shortlist, based on what matters for families in an expensive country:

• Birkebeineren Hotel & Apartments: 60 m² apartments with three bedrooms and a full kitchen. In Norway, making your own dinner saves more than any discount.
• Home Hotel Hammer: central, with breakfast, afternoon fika and dinner included. With kids, a dinner that’s already paid for takes away the evening restaurant stress.
• Scandic Lillehammer Hotel: indoor pool and a kids’ playroom, 1.1 km from Maihaugen. The pick for a rainy stay.

A one-day Lillehammer plan with kids

1. Morning: drive or train up from Oslo and walk along Storgata.
2. Late morning: the Olympic Park. Chairlift up Lysgårdsbakkene, steps down.
3. Lunch: a picnic with a view. Supermarket food is the budget move in Norway.
4. Afternoon: Maihaugen and the Olympic Museum (check the opening days).
5. Summer only: swap Maihaugen for Hunderfossen if your kids are under 10.

What I’d do differently

I’d check the Olympic Park events calendar before going. We lost our planned visit to a competition, although watching the training was a fair trade. I’d also stay one night, because one day doesn’t cover the ski jumps, Maihaugen and Hunderfossen with a toddler.

Lillehammer was one day of a week in Norway. For the rest of the trip, see our 2-day Oslo with kids itinerary and our six days on a Norwegian dairy farm. On a budget in Oslo? Start with our list of free things to do in Oslo. All our posts are on our Norway page.

Planning a night in Lillehammer? Compare family hotels in Lillehammer →