Norwegian Glacier Museum

The Norwegian Glacier Museum opened in 1991 in a building by Sverre Fehn, Norway's only Pritzker Prize winner, a concrete structure with angled walls and an external stair leading to a roof terrace facing the mountains and the glacier arms above the valley; it won the Norwegian architecture prize and is considered one of Fehn's major works. Inside, the exhibitions cover how glaciers form and move, the ice ages that shaped Norway, and the Ulltveit-Moe Climate Centre, added in 2007, which addresses climate change and glacier retreat with material specific to Jostedalsbreen, whose arms have pulled back visibly within the museum's own lifetime. There is a real ice block to touch and a panoramic film on the ice cap.

The main sights

• The Fehn building - an award-winning concrete structure with a roof terrace.
• The climate centre - exhibitions on warming and glacier retreat.
• The ice block - a piece of glacier ice visitors can touch.
• The panoramic film - footage of the Jostedalsbreen ice cap.

When to go

April to October, the main opening season, which coincides with access to the glacier arms nearby; winter opening is limited or absent. The Fjaerland road is open year-round through the tunnel.

What to expect

The museum is seasonal and closes for much of the winter. It is compact, taking about two hours. Fjaerland is a small village with limited eating options outside summer.

Nearby

Boyabreen and Supphellebreen are up the valley; Fjaerland's bookshops are in the village.

Key facts