Where to stay in Hol
Most beds in Hol gather in and around the village centre, where guest rooms and small lodgings stand within reach of Hol kirke and the road up to the heritage church of Hol gamle kirke on the slope above. The centre is the natural base. It suits visitors who want the mountain churches and Hol stadion on the doorstep and an easy start to the western valleys of Buskerud.
Rooms here are limited. Down in Ustedalen, holiday cabins and rural rooms spread along the valley around Ustedalen kapell, a quieter choice for walkers and skiers drawn to the uplands of the Østlandet region. Stock thins away from the centre.
Across the wider municipality, farm stays and holiday houses sit scattered among the high farms, handy for travellers touring this part of south-eastern Norway by car. Reserve well ahead in the busy seasons, when the cabins of the valleys around Hol fill with visitors to the mountains.
About Hol
What is Hol known for?
Hol is the administrative seat of its municipality in the western part of Buskerud. The mountain churches mark the place. Hol gamle kirke, a heritage-listed old church, stands above the village beside the newer Hol kirke, and the two churches together hold the long story of this high parish of south-eastern Norway.
Ustedalen kapell serves the valley below, while Hol stadion gives the village its ground for sport in the uplands of the Østlandet region.
What are the main landmarks in Hol?
Hol gamle kirke crowns the slope above the village. The old heritage church is the chief sight, and below it the newer Hol kirke serves the parish of the high country of Buskerud. Two churches mark the centre.
Down in the valley Ustedalen kapell stands among the farms of Ustedalen, a heritage chapel of the district, while Hol stadion gives the village its ground for sport. Together the churches and the stadion fix the points of the village in the uplands of the Østlandet region of south-eastern Norway.
What is the history of Hol?
Hol grew as a mountain parish in the western valleys of Buskerud. The old church of Hol gamle kirke rose on the slope above the village to serve the scattered farms of the high country, and the parish gathered around it through the long centuries of life on the upland of south-eastern Norway. Faith anchored the settlement.
As the community grew the newer Hol kirke was raised below the old church, and Ustedalen kapell came to serve the farms of Ustedalen in the valley floor of the district. The valleys opened slowly to the wider country. Roads and later the railway reached the high parish, and Hol took on its role as the administrative seat of its municipality in the western part of Buskerud.
Sport and gathering came with the modern age, and Hol stadion gave the village its ground for the games and meets of the uplands. Through it all the heritage churches kept their place above the farms, binding this corner of the Østlandet region to its long mountain past.
Where is Hol?
Hol lies in the western part of Buskerud, in south-eastern Norway (Østlandet). The village sits in the high mountain country where the valleys climb toward the uplands, the centre gathered below the heritage church of Hol gamle kirke on its slope. Mountains rise on every side.
Hol municipality reaches across the surrounding valleys, taking in Ustedalen and the high farms whose ground runs up from the valley floor around Ustedalen kapell into the open mountains of the Østlandet region above.
What is the climate of Hol?
Hol has the cold mountain climate of the high valleys of western Buskerud. Winters are long and snowy, the cold settling deep over the parish below Hol gamle kirke through the dark months while the snow lies on the slopes well into the spring of the upland year. Summers are short and cool.
The long northern daylight warms the valley around Ustedalen kapell and brings walkers to the mountains, though the high ground of the Østlandet region keeps a sharp edge to the air even in the warm season of this part of south-eastern Norway.
How do you get to Hol?
Hol sits on the mountain railway through the high valleys of Buskerud. Trains stop here on the route across the uplands, and the station lies within reach of Hol kirke and the road up to Hol gamle kirke on the slope above. Many also come by car.
The mountain roads carry the traffic of the municipality up from the lowland through Ustedalen to the village, while drivers bound for the farms and the stadion follow the valley lanes that thread this part of south-eastern Norway in the Østlandet region.