Maihaugen, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Lillehammer, is an open-air museum comprising 200 old and new buildings with exhibitions, cafés and lots of activities. The museum was founded by the dentist Anders Sandvig in 1887, and was moved to Maihaugen in 1904. Under the motto “Who wishes to attain distant goals, must learn the art of waiting", the dentist Anders Sandvig began in 1887 the difficult task of gathering buildings and relics from the Gudbrandsdal valley. Today, the museum comprises over 50,000 items and 190 buildings, each of which has its own history. At Maihaugen, many of these stories are told. There are buildings and dwellings from towns and hamlets - old as well as new standing side by side – and even a house illustrating how we depicted the future in 2001 is included! Amongst all the buildings are animals such as horses, cows, sheep, pigs, hens, rabbits and the odd baby goat. Visitors can enjoy a chat with the farmer in the medieval farm, or listen to what the daughter of the 1980s house has to say.
The stories are good and there are many who are more than willing to tell them. When your head is bursting with new impressions and your legs are getting tired, park yourself on a bench in the town, try a pretzel from the bakery in the market square and tap your feet to the rhythms played by street musicians. Inside the exhibition halls, you can enjoy the “We won the land” exhibition. On your journey through Norway's history, from the ice age to the present day, you can see rats dancing on the table during the Black Death period, experience the tangy smell of the dried fish, hear “London calling" and lots, lots more.