Where to stay in Sauland
The village core of Sauland is the obvious base. It gathers the everyday services of Hjartdal along the valley road, with Sauland kirke standing at the centre and the surrounding farmland spreading up the slopes on either side. Staying here puts you in the middle of the north-eastern part of Telemark, on the through-route that climbs across the fells and a short drive from the upland farms that ring the village.
The outlying farms of Hjartdal offer a quieter alternative. They sit back from the road, up the valley sides and along the side glens, where rooms are few and the silence is the point. Beds are thin out there.
Choose the Sauland centre first if you want services within reach. Pick a fjellside farm only if you want quiet and don't mind the drive. Both suit a mountain trip in Telemark.
About Sauland
What is Sauland known for?
Sauland is the gathering point of Hjartdal. It is the valley village where the local services and the parish church draw together the scattered farms of the north-eastern part of Telemark. Sauland kirke marks the centre.
Travellers pass through on the road across the fells.
What are the main landmarks in Sauland?
The church is the landmark of Sauland. Sauland kirke stands at the heart of the village, the white timber house of worship that gathers the farms of Hjartdal across the north-eastern part of Telemark. The valley itself is the rest of the sight.
Steep fells and farmland frame the small centre.
What is the history of Sauland?
The valley made Sauland. This village grew as the gathering point of Hjartdal, the farming parish that fills the north-eastern part of Telemark, where homesteads clung to the valley floor and the slopes above and the church drew the community together at the centre. Faith built early.
Sauland kirke rose as the parish house of worship, the fixed point that the scattered farms of the upland looked to across the fells. The road shaped the rest. The through-route that climbs across the high country of Telemark carried trade and travellers past the village, and Sauland settled into its role as the service and church centre of Hjartdal.
Farming held the valley together. The community kept its shape around Sauland kirke and the road, a quiet upland heart in the north-eastern part of Telemark while the seasons turned over the surrounding fells.
Where is Sauland?
Sauland lies on the valley floor of Hjartdal, in the north-eastern part of Telemark, where the fells rise steeply on either side. The small centre gathers around Sauland kirke and the through-road, while farmland climbs the lower slopes and the high country spreads back into side glens. The mountains hem it in.
Steep upland and a narrow valley give this corner of Telemark its scattered, fjellside shape.
What is the climate of Sauland?
The fells keep Sauland cool. High in the north-eastern part of Telemark, the village sees long, snow-bound winters and short bright summers typical of the inland valleys of Hjartdal. Altitude rules the weather.
Hard frost over the high farms, then a brief green flush along the valley floor, gives this corner of Telemark its sharp mountain seasons.
How do you get to Sauland?
Sauland sits on the road across the fells. It is the valley village of Hjartdal in the north-eastern part of Telemark, reached by the highway that climbs in from the lowlands of south-eastern Norway and crosses the high country to the west. Travel is by road.
Most visitors arrive overland by car or bus into the village, passing Sauland kirke on the way through.