This extraordinary old hostelry looks for all the world like something out of Tolkien's notebook. Accessed through wooden gates, the hotel's timber buildings are home to a higgledy-piggledy collection of storybook-style rooms, complete with painted murals, sleigh beds, antiques and artworks. The plumbing is creaky, the soundproofing is non-existent and it gets busy – but it sure scores high on heritage.
It's run by the sixth generation of the Elvesæter family and is sited next to the Sagasøyla, a 32m-high carved wooden pillar tracing Norwegian history from unification in 872 to the 1814 constitution. Traditional three-course dinners are 325kr.