Lom is a small town of 2,200 (2023) in East Norway's Oppland County and serves as a gateway to Jotunheimen.

Understand

History

An ancient trade route ran from Sunnmøre through Lom and Skjåk and down the Gudbrandsdalen valley. Trade consisted of fish and salt going inland and grain to the coast.

The Saga of Olaf Haraldson relates that St Olaf commented as he looked down on Lom for the first time: "What a pity to have to devastate such a beautiful valley." Faced with such a clear motivation, the valley's residents converted. (There has been a recurring debate ever since whether he spoke about Lom or the nearby municipality of Skjåk, then part of Lom). St Olafs-stuggu, a building where St Olaf is said to have spent a night in 1021, still stands here. The building is part of the Presthaugen District Museum.

During the Norwegian campaign of 1940 German prisoners of war were held by the Norwegian Army in the Lom prisoner of war camp. Lom was bombed twice by the German Luftwaffe in April 1940.

Geography

Lom is the "gateway" to the Jotunheimen Mountains and Jotunheimen National Park. The municipality contains Norway's two highest peaks, Galdhøpiggen at 2,469 metres and Glittertind at 2,464 metres, both within the park.

Lom borders Skjåk Municipality to the northwest, Lesja to the north, Vågå to the east and southeast, and Vang to the south, all in Innlandet county. To the southwest, it borders Luster Municipality in Vestland County. The main village of Fossbergom is located in the Ottadalen Valley at an altitude of 382 metres above sea level.

Climate

The climate is very continental by Norwegian standards. The average annual precipitation (in Fossbergom) is 321 millimetres, and monthly 24-hour averages range from -10 °C in January to 14 °C in July. Summers are often sunny with daytime temperatures typically ranging from 14 °C to 25 °C. The large mountainous areas of Lom are much colder and have more precipitation; snowy weather is possible even in summer at altitudes above 2,000 metres. Agriculture has used irrigation for centuries.

Get in

By car

Road 55 connects it with Luster and Sogndal.

By bus

Two buses a day leave from Luster but only in July-August.

See

Lom Stave Church

• 1 Lom Church (Lom stavkirke). Believed to have been built in 1158 and was enlarged in 1634, with two naves added in 1667. Some runic inscriptions are still visible in the church. The church also has numerous 17th- and 18th-century paintings with religious motifs. Many of the paintings were done by local artist Eggert Munch, a distant relative of the famous Edvard Munch. The church also contains numerous examples of local wood carving, as seen in the elaborate acanthus scrolls that adorn the pulpit. The dragon figures carved into the roof are ancient symbols of protection against evil. It is still in use as the local church.  

Sagasøylen

• 2 Sagasøylen. A 34-metre-high sculpture with reliefs in heroic “saga” style. The column depicts important moments in Norwegian history. Artist Wilhelm Rasmussen was working on the monument in the 1920s and it was planned to be erected in front of the parliament in Oslo. Rasmussen joined the Nazi party in the 1930s and further work on the monument was stopped. The column was completed in 1992 and erected at the Elveseter Hotel in Bøverdalen. The column is near the road and is a landmark in Bøverdalen.  
• 3 Bøverdal church. Bøverdalen Church in Galde is a beautiful little octagonal church near the road.  
• 4 Garmo church.  

Buy

• 1 Fossheim Steinsenter, Bergomsvegen 20, ☏ +47 61211460. Fossil and mineral shop. (updated Nov 2024)

Eat

• 1 Bakeriet i Lom, Sognefjellsvegen 7, ☏ +47 907 85 999. Su–We 09:00–17:00, Th–Sa 09:00-20:00. Small town bakery and cafe. (updated Nov 2024)
• 2 Fossheim Hotell Restaurant, Bergomsvegen 32, ☏ +47 61 21 95 00, resepsjon@fossheimhotel.no. Su–Th 18:00–21:30; F Sa 18:00–22:00. (updated Nov 2024)

Sleep

• 1 Røisheim Hotel, Sognefjellvegen, Bøverdalen, ☏ +47 61212031. Check-in: 11:00. Røisheim has been operating as an inn and guesthouse since 1858. The complex consists of 14 old wooden buildings heritage protected. The hotel is at a narrow point in the Bøverdalen valley and the river flows through a gorge below the hotel. (updated Nov 2024)
• 2 Juvasshytta, ☏ +47 61211550. Accommodation that is a short distance from Galdhøpiggen. (updated Nov 2024)
• 3 Sognefjellshytta, Sognefjellsvegen 4974, Bøverdalen, ☏ +47 61212934. A privately-owned mountain hut that began operating in 1947. It has been expanded several times and some sections have standard hotel rooms. (updated Nov 2024)