Lillehammer

Many Norwegians have great affection for Lillehammer, the winter-sports resort town that hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics. In preparation for the games, the small town built a ski-jumping arena, an ice-hockey arena, a cross-country skiing stadium, and a bobsled and luge track. Lillehammer is known for the slopes on the mountains Nordseter and Sjusjøen; Vinterspillene, its Winter Arts Festival, held in February; and its many old wooden buildings. Lillehammer is a cultural center as well. It hosts the Norwegian Literature Festival in May, and is home to one of the best collections of Norwegian art in the country. Sigrid Undset, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1928, lived in the town for 30 years.