The Telemark Canal connects Skien and Dalen in south Norway by linking up several long lakes using a series of 8 locks. It originally consisted of two canals: the oldest of the two is the Norsjø-Skien canal with locks in Skien and Løveid built between 1854 and 1861. The Bandak-Nordsjø canal was opened 31 years later. When the canal was finished it was seen as the "eighth wonder". It was mainly built with the purpose of transporting goods and passengers.Today the 105-km long Telemark Canal consists of 18 lock chambers with a difference in altitude of 72 m. The biggest staircase lock is Vrangfoss which has five lock-chambers and a lifting height of 23 m. The passenger boats "Victoria" (in use since the opening of the canal) and "Henrik Ibsen" travel with tourists from Skien to Dalen via Kviteseid.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Since this is a known attraction in this area - which we have also included in one programme of our summer brochures - I always wanted to do a trip on that canal one day.
So why not doing it together with Marco? No sooner said than done: right the next weekend after the trip to Norefjell and Geilo in the Hallingdal valley. I asked for a good rate for accomodation and also got a free ticket for myself as agent on the canal tour. Perfect! The tour could start:
Friday 30/07, right after work, we take my car and drive southwards to Skien, a small town of approx. 50,000 inhabitants 2 hours away from Oslo.
I got a room for us at the Clarion Collection Hotel Bryggeparken.
Since they only assigned us a twin room I asked if they could change me into a double room instead...and we ended up in the anti-allergy/handicap room: no carpet, spacious bathroom all scarcely decorated and minimalised. But well, at least we got a double bed!
Saturday 31/07:
In order to avoid to travel the entire canal 11 hours from Skien to Dalen we went on the boat "Victoria" in Ulefoss, 30 minutes away from Skien.
The "Henrik Ibsen" boat, travelling the canal in the opposite direcetion.
16:30: Arrival in Kviteseid. Finally!
The boat continued its way further on to Dalen while we took the bus back to Ulefoss where we had parked our car. After taking the car we hit back the way to Oslo.
Travelling the Telemarkskanalen is surely a great experience, but I reckon that a trip from Ulefoss to Lunde is absolutely sufficient. Not only because it takes just half of the time of going up till Kviteseid, but also because after Lunde there is nothing much coming. It's definitely amazing to see the constructions of those locks which are still manually operated in the original and traditional way by humans and to be lifted up such levels only by the power of water. However, a lock is a lock and having seen one or two of them (including the most impressing one of Vrangfoss) you have seen them all. They all are and work the same way and only differ in the difference in altitude to overcome. After Lunde it's just another - yes, beautiful - landscape of water and trees, turning into quite a large lake surrounded by green mountains. It's nice to see, but not if you have to spend 5,5 hours on the boat for that... and that combined with bad weather.
Well, that's the end now of anther trip somewhere around in Norway.
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