Telemark is a county in southern Norway, two to three hours west of Oslo, running from the coast up into high mountain plateau. It gave its name to the TELEMARK TURN and effectively to modern skiing, because Sondre Norheim came from Morgedal here and the technique he developed in the nineteenth century is still named after the place.
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One honest note about the photographs. HEDDAL STAVE CHURCH, the largest stave church in Norway and the county's single most famous building, IS NOT PICTURED IN THIS POST. The only frame of it available to us carries no attributable photographer, so it is described below and not shown. The set instead holds Gaustatoppen, the autumn lakes and the skiing, which is a fair picture of the county if an incomplete one.
What Is Here
GAUSTATOPPEN AT 1,883 METRES IS THE COUNTY'S LANDMARK and the claim made for it is remarkable: on a clear day you can see roughly one sixth of mainland Norway from the summit. The frame at the top of this post is its transmitter tower. The walk up takes three to four hours return on rough boulder ground, and there is also the GAUSTABANEN, a railway built inside the mountain by NATO in the 1950s, which carries passengers up a tunnel and an inclined lift to just below the summit.
RJUKAN IS THE TOWN BELOW AND ITS STORY IS THE BEST IN THE COUNTY. Built for hydroelectric industry in a valley so deep that it gets NO DIRECT SUNLIGHT FOR ABOUT SIX MONTHS, it installed GIANT MIRRORS on the mountainside in 2013 to reflect sunlight into the town square, which works and is as odd to stand in as it sounds. The town and the VEMORK plant are a UNESCO World Heritage Site for industrial heritage.
VEMORK IS WHERE THE HEAVY WATER WAS MADE. The plant produced heavy water for the German nuclear programme during the occupation, and the Norwegian sabotage operation against it in 1943 is among the most famous of the war. The museum there tells it properly, including the civilian cost of the later ferry sinking.
THE TELEMARK CANAL runs 105 kilometres from Skien to Dalen, built in the 1890s with 18 locks raising boats 72 metres, and the old passenger boats still work it in summer. It is a slow, extraordinary journey and it was called the eighth wonder of the world when it opened.
HEDDAL STAVE CHURCH near Notodden is the largest in Norway, built around 1250 in wood with three spires, and it is the building most people picture when they think of a stave church even if they do not know its name.
When to Go
June to September is the season for Gaustatoppen, the canal boats and the walking, with the plateau clear and the light long.
September and early October give the autumn colour in the second image here, which in this landscape of birch and water is exceptional.
December to April is the ski season, with Gausta and the Bo area, and this is the county where cross-country skiing was effectively invented, so the track network is the point rather than the lifts.
The Rjukan mirrors work roughly from September to March, which is the half of the year when the valley has no direct sun, and that is when seeing them actually means something.
Getting There
By car, two to three hours from Oslo, and a car is close to necessary because the county is large and its attractions are far apart.
By bus, services run from Oslo to Rjukan and Notodden, and seasonal buses reach the Gaustabanen.
By train, the line reaches Skien and Notodden, from where buses continue.
By boat, the Telemark Canal from Skien, which is a journey of its own rather than transport.
Norway's driving rules include one limit framed in a way that makes it immediately clear and two that catch visitors by surprise. ON ALCOHOL, the FCDO says that if you are found to have A QUARTER OF ENGLAND'S LEGAL LIMIT of alcohol in your system you may get a fine and possible imprisonment, and that THERE ARE FREQUENT ROADSIDE CHECKS. In practice that is one drink too many, so the working rule is none. ON TYRES, winter tyres with a MINIMUM 3MM TREAD are required if there is snow or ice on the roads, and studded tyres or chains may also be needed. And the two a visitor simply would not know: KEEP YOUR HEADLIGHTS ON, DIPPED, DURING THE DAYTIME ALL YEAR ROUND IN ALL PLACES, and ON ROADS NOT MARKED WITH A PRIORITY SIGN, THE YELLOW DIAMOND, YOU MUST GIVE WAY TO TRAFFIC COMING FROM THE RIGHT. That second one is the genuine hazard, because a car emerging from a side road on your right has priority and will take it. Driving offences carry on-the-spot fines of up to 10,000 Norwegian krone.
One point of confusion is worth settling before you look at entry rules, because Norway sits in an unusual position. NORWAY IS NOT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION, and it IS IN THE SCHENGEN AREA. Both halves matter and they work in opposite directions. For borders, Schengen membership is what counts, so the European Entry/Exit System and its biometric registration apply here exactly as they do in Germany or Spain, and an arrival from another Schengen country is an internal movement rather than an entry. For money and goods, EU membership is what counts, so Norway is outside the customs union, keeps its own currency in the KRONE, and has its own and fairly strict duty-free allowances, particularly on alcohol, which are enforced rather than nominal. The practical upshot for a traveller is that the passport queue behaves like the EU and the customs hall does not.
Is Telemark Safe for Women?
Telemark is rural, prosperous Norway with very low crime and the risks are mountain and weather. Norway's advisory describes the conditions a packing list has to answer, and it is worth quoting rather than paraphrasing. THE WEATHER CAN CHANGE QUICKLY, PRODUCING ARCTIC CONDITIONS EVEN IN SUMMER ON EXPOSED MOUNTAIN TOPS. THE WINTER IS LONG AND CAN LAST WELL INTO APRIL. TEMPERATURES CAN DROP TO MINUS 25C AND BELOW. THERE IS ALSO A HIGH WIND CHILL FACTOR, PARTICULARLY IN UNSHELTERED AREAS AND MOUNTAIN RANGES. Three things follow from that and they are not the same thing as owning a warm coat. A long winter means the shoulder seasons are winter, so an April trip is a winter trip. Wind chill rather than air temperature is what you dress against, which makes a windproof outer layer worth more than a thicker insulating one. And conditions changing quickly on a mountain in summer means carrying the layer you do not currently need, which is the entire argument for base layers that pack to nothing and do not hold damp.
GAUSTATOPPEN IS A REAL MOUNTAIN AND THE BOULDER FIELD IS WHY. The walking route is three to four hours return over large loose rock, which is hard on ankles and genuinely slow, and the summit is exposed with weather that turns quickly. Many people take the Gaustabanen up and underestimate the walk down.
The plateau above the treeline has no shelter and the Hardangervidda beyond it is serious terrain where Norwegian conditions apply in full.
Winter driving in this county is a genuine skill, with long distances, steep valley roads and few services between towns.
Ticks are present in the lower valleys from spring to autumn and tick-borne encephalitis vaccination is worth discussing with a travel clinic if you plan to walk in forest or long grass.
Two Norwegian rules exist that a visitor is likely to break by accident and neither is about driving. POLICE ENFORCE BANS ON CAMPFIRES IN MANY HIKING AREAS DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS, which sits oddly beside Norway's famous right to roam: you may legally camp in a great deal of open country and still not be allowed to light anything. And DRONES require registration as an operator in Norway or an EU or EFTA country plus LIABILITY INSURANCE, with no-fly zones in force, so a drone packed for the fjords is a licensing question before it is a photography one.
The Telemark Packing List
A county from sea level to 1,883 metres, with boulder fields and a six month shadow.
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is the Norwegian default and on Gaustatoppen it is the specific answer to a specific problem: the climb is three to four hours of hard work over boulders, which makes you sweat, and the summit is an exposed 1,883 metre plateau where you then stop. That transition is where cotton becomes dangerous and wool does not. A heavyweight merino base layer from September through May and for the summit in any month.
Over it, an insulated mid layer and a Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket, because the plateau has no shelter at all.
Merrell Moab 3 waterproof hiking boots with Darn Tough merino socks, and the Gaustatoppen boulder field is the reason. Large loose rock for hours is where ankles go, and this is not a trainers mountain.
Kahtoola MICROspikes from October to May for the trails and the town paths.
Not linked and worth packing: a HAT AND GLOVES for the summit in any month; a HEADTORCH, because the autumn days shorten fast and the descent is slow; WATER AND FOOD for Gaustatoppen, which has a summit cafe with limited hours and nothing on the route; INSECT REPELLENT for the summer valleys; and a PAPER MAP for the plateau, where cloud erases the markers. Norway is card-based so cash is unnecessary.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Telemark
Emergency numbers: Norway uses three direct numbers and the distinction matters more here than elsewhere, because 112 IS THE POLICE NUMBER rather than a general router: 112 for police, 113 FOR AN AMBULANCE and 110 for the fire service. For a medical emergency, 113 is the faster call. All three work from any phone including a locked mobile and operators speak English. For a non-urgent medical problem, 116117 reaches the out-of-hours doctor service. And the one specific to this country: in the mountains and at sea, remember that the FCDO states EMERGENCY MEDICAL ASSISTANCE AND SEARCH AND RESCUE ARE LIMITED across the half of Norway inside the Arctic Circle, so the call connects quickly and the help may still be a long way off.
GAUSTATOPPEN IS 1,883 METRES AND THE WALKING ROUTE IS THREE TO FOUR HOURS RETURN OVER A LARGE LOOSE BOULDER FIELD, which is slow, hard on ankles and not a trainers route. The GAUSTABANEN, a railway built inside the mountain by NATO in the 1950s, carries passengers to just below the summit, and people who ride up routinely underestimate the walk down. The plateau has NO SHELTER and weather turns fast. RJUKAN GETS NO DIRECT SUNLIGHT FOR ABOUT SIX MONTHS and its mountainside mirrors operate roughly September to March, which is when seeing them means anything. The county is large and a car is close to necessary. Ticks are present in the lower valleys.
US State Department travel advisory: the Norway advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/norway, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Main hospital: Telemark Hospital at Skien is the county hospital with a full emergency department, with smaller facilities at Notodden and Rjukan and Oslo's major hospitals two to three hours away. Mountain incidents on Gaustatoppen and the plateau go through 113, with air ambulance covering the county. Norway is in the EEA rather than the EU, and that distinction does not cost you anything here: a UK Global Health Insurance Card or an EU European Health Insurance Card gives you state-provided medically necessary care on the same terms as a resident, which in Norway means paying the same patient contribution a Norwegian pays rather than nothing. Travel insurance sits on top of it, and in Norway it should specifically cover SEARCH AND RESCUE AND AIR AMBULANCE, because the terrain rather than the medicine is what makes a Norwegian incident expensive. A pharmacy is an APOTEK, they handle minor problems without an appointment, and the larger towns have one open late. TAP WATER IS AMONG THE BEST IN THE WORLD and buying bottled water here is purely a waste of money. There are no required vaccinations and no endemic tropical disease. TICKS occur along the southern coast and in the south east, carrying Lyme and, in a narrow coastal band, tick-borne encephalitis, which is a reason to check after walking in long grass. The real medical risk in Norway is environmental rather than infectious: cold, wet and exposure, which is what the clothing on this page is for.
Official health authority: Helsenorge, the Norwegian public health service portal. covers the Telemark hospital network
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Oslo.
Official tourism authority: Visit Norway, the official travel guide. publishes the Gaustabanen arrangements, the Telemark Canal boat timetables and the Rjukan mirror and Vemork visitor information
Takeaways
Climb Gaustatoppen for the view, not the walk. A sixth of Norway on a clear day, over hours of boulders.
Go to Rjukan between September and March. The mirrors only matter when the valley has no sun.
Take the canal boat. One hundred and five kilometres, eighteen locks, and 1890s engineering still working.
Bring a car. The county is large and its best things are far apart.
Solo women safety assessment: Telemark is rural, prosperous Norway and travelling here alone is straightforward, with very low crime, small ordinary towns, universal English and a landscape in which solo walkers are entirely normal. NORWAY'S EMERGENCY NUMBERS ARE SPLIT RATHER THAN POOLED: 112 IS THE POLICE, 113 the ambulance and 110 fire, so dialling 112 for a medical emergency reaches the wrong service. The FCDO's Norway advice carries no crime warning of substance and concerns itself with weather, water and the outdoors, which is the correct emphasis for this county. THE FIRST HAZARD IS GAUSTATOPPEN, and specifically its BOULDER FIELD: the walking route is three to four hours return over large loose rock, which is slow and hard on ankles rather than technically difficult, and the summit at 1,883 metres is exposed with weather that changes quickly. The particular trap is the GAUSTABANEN, the railway built inside the mountain, because people ride up effortlessly and then decide to walk down, which is the harder direction on that ground. THE SECOND IS THE PLATEAU, which has no shelter at all and runs on into the Hardangervidda where Norwegian mountain conditions apply in full: carry a paper map, because cloud erases the markers, and tell someone your route. THE THIRD IS DRIVING, because this is a large county with long distances, steep valley roads and few services between towns, and winter driving here is a genuine skill. TICKS are present in the lower valleys from spring to autumn and tick-borne encephalitis vaccination is a reasonable conversation before a walking trip. Norwegian drink-driving limits are far stricter than most visitors expect, police enforce summer campfire bans in many hiking areas, and the country is card-based throughout.
Reading On
Telemark is southern Norway between Oslo and the fjords. The Oslo packing list covers the capital two to three hours east and the Tonsberg packing list the old town on the fjord south east. West, the Trolltunga packing list, Bergen packing list, Flam packing list and Aurland packing list cover Hardanger and the Sognefjord, with the Olden packing list, Geiranger packing list and Alesund packing list further north and the Stavanger packing list south west. North, the Lillehammer packing list and Trondheim packing list lead to the Arctic, where the Lofoten packing list, Tromso packing list and Svalbard packing list continue. For the country the Norway travel guide for women and the Norway packing list carry the transport, the weather and the practical material in full. For why wool matters when you sweat up a boulder field and then stop, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
