The best museums Vestlandet

The small, enchanted villa of the great Norwegian composer and pianist of classical music (Romantic period) is situated high up on a point of greenery overlooking Lake Nordås. Built in 1885 for Bergen-born Edvard Grieg, the house has been preserved in its original state since his death. This museum, which houses all Grieg's period furniture and personal objects, is a house that lives on thanks to the intimate concerts that are still held on the master's old piano. Grieg lived here for over twenty years at the end of his life. Today, there are concerts every day during the International Music Festival, as well as summer concerts on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are on sale at the tourist office. The new, larger concert hall is fortunately hidden under the bridge just before the house. A little further down the road, Grieg's very basic little working hut is practically at the water's edge. His coat, hat and violin still hang on the wall. From the only window, you can see the lake through the branches of the large weeping birches. Another historic building nearby, the Fantoft Stavkirke, a wooden church dating back to 1150, sadly went up in smoke in June 1992, in the wave of arson and Satanism that swept the country. It has since been rebuilt to its original appearance.

This open-air museum features 50 wooden houses from an old district of Bergen dating back to the ^17th century. In the old bakery, you can watch the making of Skillingsboller, Bergen's buns. There's also the old barber's shop, the photographer's, the tooth puller's... The rich bourgeois interior could have been the perfect setting for Ibsen's play Doll' s House. An attractive restaurant serves dishes that can be enjoyed on the terrace.

During the renovation of the city's iconic museum, the tour is in Schøtstuene and provides an opportunity to learn more about the wealthy Hanse traders who had a monopoly on trade in the north (dried cod, grain, salt). Bergen and Novogorod were among their most important trading posts. These great merchants lived separated from the rest of the population of Bergen in high houses lined up a few meters from the harbour. A nice visit.

KODE is the union of four art museums, all on the same campus, which present one of the best overviews of Nordic art in all of Scandinavia.

KODE 1 is the former Design Museum (located at Nordahl Bruns gate 9). The building houses the most important collection of Buddhist marble sculptures in Northern Europe. The permanent exhibition, "Man and Objects", tells the story of design and applied arts through 5 centuries.

KODE 2 hosts the annual temporary exhibitions, as well as the permanent collections of contemporary art.

KODE 3 houses the Rasmus Meyer collection, including several works by Edvard Munch, twenty large oil paintings, including Melancholy, Evening on Karl Johan, Jealousy and The Three Ages of Women, as well as works by the great Norwegian masters of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Romantic period is well represented by J.-C. Dahl with The Birch in the Storm and The Monastery of Lyse. We see Tidemand and Gude, the former with The Bad News and the latter with his High Mountain Landscape. Christian Krogh's stark realism shines through in The Struggle for Survival, while Kitty Kielland's magical light is captured in her Jaeren Landscape.

KODE 4 is devoted to 20th-century art, including Harald Solberg's numerous sketches of the Rondane Mountains. Also worth seeing are the Klee, Picasso, Miro, and the KunstLab, an art laboratory for children.

IDDIS is a new museum, which will be opened in November 2021. It is located in the old town and combines the Cannery Museum and the Printing Museum. The name IDDIS is a nod to the Stavanger dialect: a label is called etikett in Norwegian, but iddikett in the local dialect, which later became iddis. A great idea to bring together these two museums that share a common history related to images, graphics and printing. Super café + nice shop.

This former pharmacy, and home of the pharmacist, is now a museum dedicated to Art Nouveau, of which Ålesund is certainly one of the best showcases. A time machine (an elevator...) plunges the visitors in the heart of the fire of 1904. On the^first floor, the pharmacist's apartment hosts temporary exhibitions. The café is pleasant, the pastries are nicely presented and the museum shop has very nice wooden counters!

The Romsdal Museum is dedicated to the preservation and presentation of the history of the Romsdal area. It houses a diverse collection of artifacts, artwork, and exhibits that trace the local history. Visitors can explore different periods of the region's history, such as the Viking Age, the Medieval Age, and modern times. The museum also features outdoor exhibits where visitors can see wooden houses, farms, and barns that represent the region's past architecture and way of life.

Not in Stryn exactly. A very small museum which is however worth the detour (especially if you pass by there in fact!) mainly for the 13 minutes film on the glaciers which is proposed. Very informative, clear and with very well done models. It is also available in 8 languages, including French. Nice view on the lake next to the museum and the snowy peaks. A welcome cultural stop. A café offers tea and coffee, muffins, etc. Wifi. Souvenir shop.

Close to Mosvann lake and the youth hostel, unfortunately a bit far from the centre (25 minutes walk from the city centre, and 5 minutes by bus), this modern museum has about 1,500 paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries and exhibits about two thirds of Lars Hertervig's total neo-romantic works. The museum also has paintings by Kitty Kielland. Cafeteria in the building. Guided tours. Activities for children and families.

The Musée de la Marine tells the story of the shipyard with the help of ship models. A reconstruction of a shipowner's office of the time can also be seen. There are interactive exhibits for the youngest visitors, such as a reconstruction of a trading platform, where children can dress up as they did in those days and play different roles! In this museum you can see different interiors as they were. Great visit.

Opened in 1828, the Agder Museum is the only natural history museum in the region. It is also one of the oldest in the country. It includes a botanical garden, permanent exhibitions ("The Ice Age", "Minerals", "From the Sea to the Earth", etc.) and temporary exhibitions. It's always a pleasure to walk around in this kind of place, learning a bit about the local plants and animals. If your steps take you there in spring, don't miss this visit!

The museum houses one of the largest guns ever created, the Vara Battery. So, firearms, history and big guns lovers beware! It was built by the Germans during the occupation of the country, during the Second World War, and later joined its acolytes Dora and Gustav in the list of the most fearsome weapons of war in the world. It was later used and finally dismantled by the Norwegian army.

We learn that the glacier is blue because of the spectrum of light it creates, and that the fjord is green because of the particles carried by the meltwater. Also on display is a copy of a pair of skis dating back to 1170, trapped in the glacier. Explanatory text in French. In the cafeteria, you can warm up with soup and rolls while admiring the view through the large windows. The museum also organizes guided hikes on the glacier.

Some 40 houses dating from the 18th and 19th centuries have been preserved and grouped together in this open-air museum created in 1920. The interiors of the houses tend to represent the lifestyle of the Norwegians of the time. A superb boat, called Holvikejekta, is on display 2 kilometres from the town centre. Made by the brothers Jakob and Andreas Apalset in 1881 in Krånafjøra, it is 20 metres long and 8.6 metres wide. Guided tours. Free parking. Nice café and shop.

An exciting museum is located at the foot of the Nigardsbreen glacier in the Jostedalen valley. This centre provides information to visitors about the national parks Jostedalsbreen and Breheimen. Natural history, regional culture, various sports activities on the glacier. There is a pleasant cafeteria, a souvenir shop and a climbing gym for the little ones. Here you will also find all the information you need to book a guided tour of the glacier or a cruise on the lake.

In the city centre, this museum tells the history of the city. The building is a former homestead and, despite the sometimes cramped rooms, it is a very pleasant visit.

There is a model of Ålesund before the great fire of 1904, which destroyed the city during a terrible winter storm, as well as Art Nouveau objects, remains of the German occupation, a former dentist's office and a reconstructed photographic studio under the roof.

This open-air museum presents the daily life of the people of the region, the tools and the environment of the people of the North 1,100 years ago. The open-air part of the museum allows visitors to see traditional Norwegian houses from previous centuries. The site is particularly pleasant, on the edge of a lake, where it is good to walk, and picnic in the summer. Perfect to discover the history of the Sunnmøre region. This museum is built on both sides of an archaeological site.

In an old fish warehouse, typical of the city of Ålesund, the fish museum reconstructs the history of fishing, with a special focus on the export of certain fish. Explanations on the transport of fish, and of course, a lot of information on the production of the famous Klippfisk, the dried and salted fish that made the fame of Alesund since the 1950s. Even today, Alesund's Klippfisk production is exported mainly to Brazil.

Jaermuseet is a joint science centre and museum for seven municipalities in the region. The museum presents the history, culture and industrialisation of Jaeren. It is divided into two main branches: "Vitengarden" ("Science Farm") in Naerbø and "Vitenfabrikken" ("Science Factory") in Sandnes. A number of other museums in the region are also dependent on it. The central administrative office is located at Vitengarden. Voted Museum of the Year 2009 by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture, it also received the European Micheletti Award in the same year as the best technical museum in Europe. And for good reason, the visit is really exciting and beware, time flies without you realizing it! Both sites offer interactive animations about food, architecture and building methods and materials. The Naerbo Museum is located in an old wooden and stone farmhouse in the heart of the countryside. It tells the story of the history and development of industrialisation and offers interesting exhibits on the daily life of the farmers of the time, and on the evolution of industrial techniques and methods. Extremely educational for young and old. Almost every week there are special events on offer, so check out their website or phone directly to book an event. There is a nice café serving hot and cold food. Wifi. Parking.