Geilo () is a centre in the municipality of Hol in Buskerud county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Geilo is primarily a

ski Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins c ...

resort

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

, with around 2,500 inhabitants. It is situated in the valley of

Hallingdal Hallingdal () is a valley as well as a traditional district located in the traditional and electoral district Buskerud county in Norway. It consists of six municipalities: Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol. Hallingdal is one of the ma ...

, 250 km from

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

and 260 km from

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

. The

Bergen Line The Bergen Line, or the Bergen Railway ( or ), is a long scenic overlook, scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway. The name is often applied to the entire route from Bergen to Oslo, including the Randsfjord Line ...

facilitated Geilo's development as the first skiing resort in the country, and it is still one of the largest. It is also known for having some of the most luxurious and expensive holiday cabins in Norway. The center of the town lies at 800 meters above sea level, and its highest point is 1178 meters above sea level. Geilo Panorama

Etymology

The ski resort is named after the old farm Gjeilo. The name is the

dative In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a drink". In this exampl ...

plural In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...

of ''geil'' f 'fenced road for cattle'.

Access

The Bergen Line (''Bergensbanen''), the main rail line between Oslo and Bergen, runs right through the centre of town. Geilo train station (''Geilo stasjon'') with roughly five trains a day connects to either Bergen (to the west) or Oslo (to the east). The closest airport is

Geilo Airport, Dagali Geilo Airport, Dagali (; formerly ; ) is a private airport located at Dagali in Hol in Buskerud, Norway. It was previously a public airport that was both a regional airport and served international tourist charter airlines serving the nearby ski ...

(24 km away), while the closest airport that accepts international flights is

Fagernes Airport Fagernes Airport, Leirin (; ) is a general aviation airport in Fagernes, in the municipality of Nord-Aurdal, Innlandet county, Norway. It has been an airport for passenger flights, serving Fagernes and the surrounding valleys of Valdres, Hallingd ...

. There are also bus routes from Oslo and Bergen as an alternative and the

Norwegian National Road 7 Norwegian National Road 7 (, ) is a national road in Norway which runs from the town of Hønefoss in Buskerud county to the village of Granvin in Vestland county. The route is long and runs east–west through Viken and Vestland counties ove ...

('' RV7'') also runs through the town.

Skiing

The ski season in Geilo is from late October until late April. Geilo has numerous small ski centres that make up one resort, which goes by the name

Geilo Skiheiser Geilo () is a centre in the municipality of Hol in Buskerud county, Norway. Geilo is primarily a ski resort town, with around 2,500 inhabitants. It is situated in the valley of Hallingdal, 250 km from Oslo and 260 km from Bergen. The ...

. This includes slopes on the town side of the valley, Havsdalen over the back side of the mountain, and across the valley at Geilolia (formerly Vestlia) which also connects to the Kikut area. Geilo Skiheiser has 39 slopes covering 33 km accessed by 20 lifts (14 plate, 6 chair). Geilolia skisenter (formerly Vestlia skisenter) tends to have the easier green and blue runs and is where the major ski school that operates in Geilo takes place, whereas Slaatta skisenter has the blue and red runs. There is also an extensive cross country system in Geilo, offering 220 km of tracks, including 5 km under floodlight. Skiing options include

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

, cross country (XC) skiing, telemarking,

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

dog sled A dog sled or dog sleigh is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow, a practice known as mushing. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for Sled dog racing, dog sl ...

ging,

toboggan A toboggan is a simple sled used in snowy winter recreation. It is also a traditional form of cargo transport used by the Innu, Cree and Ojibwe of North America, sometimes part of a dog train. It is used on snow to carry one or more people (o ...

ski orienteering Ski orienteering (SkiO) is a cross-country skiing endurance winter racing sport and one of the four orienteering disciplines recognized by the IOF. A successful ski orienteer combines high physical endurance, strength and excellent technical ...

, and evening skiing most evenings. Another activity that has become very popular of late is 'kiting' (skiing or snowboarding whilst attached to a 'kite' or parasail). Paragliders float down from the top of the slopes with courses run in the area occasionally, mostly in the summer months. Both sides offer a 'big air bag' where all with twin-tip skis or snowboards can jump onto an air bag.

Centre of Geilo

Geilo is a small town and has few shops and entertainment spots. The ''sentrum'' mainly consists of four large wooden buildings, much like a shopping centre/mall. In one is a

tourist information A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center or tourist information centre is a physical location that provides information to tourists. Types A visitor center may be a Civic ce ...

Co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

supermarket,

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

Capri restaurant,

newsagents A newsagent's shop or simply newsagent's or paper shop (British English), newsagency (Australian English) or newsstand ( American and Canadian English) is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local ...

, undercover parking, and a

police station A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...

. In the other is an

Intersport INTERSPORT International Corporation ("IIC"), commonly known as INTERSPORT, is an international sporting goods retailer with its headquarters based in Bern, Switzerland. IIC is the purchasing and brand management company of the INTERSPORT grou ...

, supermarket, newsagent, and a special Turkish-Balcan restaurant Trakia. Down the road there is a small

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

, and

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

. There is also a large sports hall (''Geilohallen''), which is also the local sports club (

Geilo IL Geilo Idrettslag is a multi-sports club from Geilo, Norway. Established on 2 December 1917 as ''Gjeilo SK'', it changed its name to ''Gjeilo IL'' on 19 May 1918 and later to ''Geilo IL''. It has sections for alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, skiing ...

). Behind the building is a floodlit prepared cross country track, and a

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not ti ...

shooting range. The tourist Centre is located next to Sport 1 and has information about the various group outings and experiences, especially in regards to experiencing the Hardangervidda National Park area, including the glacier at Finse, which is 1,222 metres above sea level. There are a large choice of hotels, including among others Geilo Hotel, Dr Holms Hotel, Bardøla Høyfjellshotell, Hotel Lodge, and Vestlia Resort. Geilo Boote

Out of winter season

After the winter season, there are other sporting activities available including go carts,

paintball Paintball is a competitive sport, competitive team sport, team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called Paintball equipment#Paintballs, paintballs that b ...

ing,

white water rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

rallying Rallying is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (sometimes called "rally racing" in United States), navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

. Two popular activities are

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

on the mountains or

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

at the local downhill park or trails through the woods. The Rallarvegen route from Finse to Flåm is extremely popular in the summer months. Geilolia Summer Park offers activities such as downhill biking, canoe hire or a large climbing park with a prepared route up in the trees for people of all ages. Geilo is adjacent to three lakes, Slåttahølen, Vestlefjorden, and Ustedalsfjorden.

Climate

Geilo features a

Subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

Dfc) with cold, extremely snowy winters and cool summers typical of higher altitudes (768m asl). The mean temperature in January is −8.2 °C and the mean for July is 11.2 °C.

Trivia

* Geilo Hotel was founded in 1880 * Øyo Hotell was founded in 1909 * Dr. Holms Hotel was founded in 1909 * Haugen Hotell was founded 1914 * The

1980 Winter Paralympics The 1980 Winter Paralympic Games (; ), the second Winter Paralympics, were held from 1 to 7 February 1980 in Geilo, Norway. Eighteen countries took part with 299 Sportsperson, athletes. A demonstration event was held in sledge downhill racing. A ...

were held at Geilo *

Queen Sonja of Norway Sonja (born Sonja Haraldsen; 4 July 1937) is Queen of Norway as the wife of King Harald V. Sonja and the then Crown Prince Harald had dated for nine years prior to their marriage in 1968. They had kept their relationship a secret due to the ...

gained her ski instructors certificate in Geilo

Gallery

File:Geilo Bahnhofsgebäude.jpg, Geilo Train Station File:Geilo Kirche.jpg, Geilo Church File:Geilo Wikingerhaus.jpg, Geilo Vikinghuset File:Geilo Strasse.jpg, Geilo street scene

References

External links

Geilo's official website (in English and Norwegian)

Webcams of Geilo

Geilo Norway
- Details and information about Geilo {{Authority control Ski areas and resorts in Norway Sport in Buskerud Villages in Buskerud Hol, Norway Tourist attractions in Buskerud