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Notodden is Telemark’s UNESCO-stamped blues basin - a municipality where stave churches rise beside hydropower plants, electric surfboards skim across lakes, and lightning bolts decorate the coat of arms. With around 13,000 residents and a landscape shaped by the Heddalsvatnet lake, Tinnelva river, and the villages of Heddal, Gransherad, and Bolkesjø, Notodden is the kind of place where you can hike past waterfalls, explore industrial heritage, and still catch a guitar solo beside a juke joint. It’s got grit, groove, and a name that means “headland for net fishing.”
Top Attractions
Heddal Stave Church
Norway’s largest stave church, built ~1250 with dragon carvings & medieval murals
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Telemark Art Museum
exhibitions on Theodor Kittelsen, industrial heritage & contemporary Norwegian art
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Bok & Blueshuset
library, cinema, café & blues museum with Morgan Freeman voiceover tour
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Tinnfossen Waterfall
dramatic river cascade beside UNESCO-listed hydropower site
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Notodden Blues Festival
Europe’s largest blues festival with concerts, workshops & walk of fame
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Unique Experiences
Electric Surfing
ride Norway’s first electric surfboards on Heddalsvatnet
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Flying Spitfire Tour
scenic flight in WWII-era aircraft over Telemark’s lakes & peaks
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Telemark Canal Cruise
boat journey through locks & lakes from Skien to Notodden
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Heddal Bygdetun
open-air museum with 500-year-old farm buildings & folk costumes
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UNESCO Industrial Walk
self-guided trail past hydropower stations & fertilizer factories
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Where to Stay in Notodden
Getting There
Notodden lies along the E134 highway, about 1 hr 45 min from Oslo by car. Buses run hourly from Oslo and Bergen, and the Telemark Canal connects via boat in summer. The town has a small airport (no commercial flights) and is best explored by boots, bike, or bold curiosity - especially if you’re chasing stave echoes, blues riffs, or the hush of birch leaves beside a waterfall trail.
