Explore Telemark by embarking on a HUBRiding day trip. Developed by the Straand Hotel, HUBRiding allows travelers to see an area’s most popular sights by following expert-developed routes designed through map studies and multiple test rides. The hotel serves as a central hub and provides services like packed lunches and basic maintenance. Routes have been developed for a variety of travel styles and adventure levels, including hiking, cycling, motorcycling, paddling, or simply driving. Rental kayaks, bikes, and e-bikes are also available.

Take to the slopes in tribute to ski sport, which was born only a 30-minute drive from the Straand Hotel in the Telemark village of Morgedal. Although skis have been used to get around for thousands of years (the earliest archaeological examples, dating to 6,000 BCE, were discovered in Western Russia), a Norwegian named Sondre Norheim revolutionized skiing forever when he created new equipment and combined traditional skiing with slalom and jumping to develop an entirely new technique known as Telemark skiing. Alternatively, for those who would prefer to learn about the sport of skiing instead, the town also plays host to the Norsk Skieventyr ski museum and the Morgedal SKI workshop. Travelers can even visit Øverbø, Sondre Norheim’s cottage in Morgedal, where the torch for the Winter Olympics in Oslo (1952) and Lillehammer (1994), and even the 1960 Winter Olympic games in Squaw Valley, California, was first lit.

Cruise down the Telemark Canal. Once heralded by Europeans as the “eighth wonder of the world” after its construction was finished in 1892, the Telemark Canal is considered one of the planet’s most beautiful waterways. Connecting the interior of Telemark to the coast, from Dalen to Skien, the canal stretches 105 kilometers (just over 65 miles) across eight locks. Unsurprisingly, the best way to experience the canal is from the water. Day trips are available on canal boats daily—starting from either Dalen or Skien, with several ports along the way—from mid-May through early October.

Take a hike over a piece (several of them, in fact!) of Norwegian history. Starting at the Vest-Telemark Museum and culminating at the Brunåslid quarry, which was the largest quarry in the Eidsborg-Lårdal region, this moderately demanding trek takes hikers through hilly terrain and over large heaps of waste stone left over from the production of whetstone. Thought to have been made in the area’s mountains since at least around 700 AD, these sharpening stones were popular trade goods during the Viking Age. Today, Eidsborg whetstones have been found all across Europe.