I’ve been to Røros once before. 18 years ago. As an exchange student. I cannot say I remember much, but a little piece of Røros handicraft I still have – a blue glassbottle from local Ceramics Shop, I have always loved it and it has moved with me from Norwy to Estonia, from Tartu to Tallinn. But this glass bottle is almost everything that I remembered about the town.Of course I knew a bit more, but these are knowledges I have picked up from internet not from that visit many many years ago. The mining town was added to UNESCO’s list of cultural heritage in 1980. The mining history is 333 years old, according to a legend a farmer stumbled on piece of copper ore and the first furnace buildings were completed in 1646.
You can see and feel the history everywhere. It’s like the houses start to speak to you, telling you about the old times. When we went for a walk, it started snowing, it was quietly getting darker and the snow was crunching under our boots. All the houses looked like little dollhouses. I rushed to the first house and wanted to peek in through windows, when I realized that this is not a museum, but someone actually lives there. People in their dollhouse rooms didn’t seem to mind, I guess they are used to tourists who are looking in all the time. I kept forgetting all the time that we are not walking in a museum and so I peeked in through yet another window. An almost naked man smiled at me. “What, a naked man in the museum?” I said surprisingly to my husband and blushed, when I realized (again!) that it was someone’s house!
We continued walking. It was so cozy and romantic. The shops were closed but candles were lit in front of all the shop doors, the streets were decorated with little christmas trees and lights. I felt Christmas spirit sneaking in. I am not a Winter/Christmas* person, but here I couldn’t help thinking about ginger bread and gløgg.
The Røros church from 1784. has been voted as one of ten Must-See objects in Norway by users of TripAdvisor – three years in a row. If you take a photo in front of Hyttklokka (and the church in the background), you have captured the classic Røros motive. The clock was used to notify workers when work started and finished, and was probably used as an alarm as well.
You know how I have talked about missing good food here in Lillehammer and told you that the only food you get in Norway is kebab and frozen pizza. This is not the case in Røros. If you are a food lover Røros is the place to visit. This is one of the leading regions for locally produced food.Try the nationally acknowledged ecological thickened milk from Rørosmeieriet for breakfast and enjoy smoked mountain fish for lunch. Be spoilt by a five course dinner of French origin. Try a Norwegian sweet with your coffee. Celebrate the food, the culture, the nature.There are a number of restaurants and cafes who serve local food, and several hotels offer this as a part of their included breakfast buffet.
The local butter was simply one of the best things I have tasted and the julebord from locally produced food (more in next post) tasted heavenly! I take back words about bad (Norwegian) food. I dont think I actually need to explain why Røros is the ultimate destination for Christmas holiday, but if you still are in doubt, you will find more information about activities HERE. *
If you are planning a trip to Norway, make sure to visit Røros. I am a bit sad that thanks to the roadtrip over the mountains we had too little time for exploring the town and visiting museums, shops, the church, but I guess this only means one thing. We have to go back!
*No, no- they don’t celebrate Christmas in February in this charming mining town, it’s just me who’ s sharing the experience with a little bit of delay.