Where to stay in Hovden
Most beds in Hovden gather at the foot of the slopes, where the hotels and cabins stand within reach of Hovden skisenter and the lifts that climb the fells above the resort, the practical base for a winter on the mountain in the north-western part of Agder. The slope-foot rooms suit travellers who want the ski centre on the doorstep. They fill first in the snow season.
Away from the lifts, quieter cabins and farm rooms spread across the wider Bykle country, a base for visitors drawn to the fells and the old parish around Fjellgardane kirke rather than the runs. Beds thin out here. Through the valley reaches of Bykle, holiday houses serve travellers touring the high inland country by car, the upland heart of southern Norway.
Reserve well ahead for the winter weeks, when the snow on the Hovden fells draws skiers to this high corner of Agder.
About Hovden
What is Hovden known for?
Hovden is the mountain end of Bykle, high in the north-western part of Agder. Hovden skisenter draws the visitors, a ski centre on the fells above the resort that gives the place its name in winter. Snow makes the season.
Down in the older part of the municipality stands Fjellgardane kirke, a heritage church of the Bykle country that anchors the parish away from the slopes, holding the older life of this corner of southern Norway.
What are the main landmarks in Hovden?
Hovden skisenter is the great draw. The ski centre spreads across the fells above the resort and gives Hovden its winter name in the north-western part of Agder. The fells frame the runs.
Down in the older Bykle country stands Fjellgardane kirke, a heritage church that keeps the parish memory of southern Norway away from the slopes, the fixed point of the old mountain district.
What is the history of Hovden?
Hovden grew at the high inland head of Bykle, in the north-western part of Agder. The settlement gathered on the upland fells where the mountain country of southern Norway rises toward its watershed, a thin scatter of farms far above the lower valleys, and the old parish life of the district centred on Fjellgardane kirke down in the Bykle country below. The fells held the place.
For long years Hovden was a remote mountain settlement of the upper Bykle reaches, bound to the high pastures and the hard upland season rather than to any town. Winter changed the mountain's fortunes. Hovden skisenter rose on the fells above the settlement, turning the high snow into the draw that now carries the resort and gives Hovden its name across Agder.
The old church of Fjellgardane kirke still keeps the heritage of the Bykle parish, the memory of the upland farms, while the ski centre on the slopes carries the modern season, binding the old mountain country and the winter resort together at the high northern edge of southern Norway.
Where is Hovden?
Hovden lies high on the inland fells of Bykle, in the north-western part of Agder, in southern Norway. The resort sits near the mountain watershed where the upland country rises toward its crest, the slopes of Hovden skisenter climbing the fells above the settlement. High ground rings the place.
Beyond the resort the Bykle country spreads across the upper valleys and the open fell, a high inland reach of southern Norway far above the lower coast.
What is the climate of Hovden?
Hovden has the cold, snowy weather of the high inland fells of southern Norway. Winters run long and white across the upland Bykle country, the mountain ground far above the coast drawing deep snow that feeds the runs of Hovden skisenter through the dark season. Snow lies late on the fells.
Summers are short and cool, the high ground in the north-western part of Agder warming briefly under the long northern light before the cold returns to the upland reaches.
How do you get to Hovden?
Hovden sits at the high inland head of the Bykle valley road. The mountain route climbs through the upper reaches of Bykle to the resort, carrying the traffic of the high north-western part of Agder. Most arrive by car.
Drivers reach Hovden along the long upland road through southern Norway, a climb of valley and fell to the ski country below Hovden skisenter.