The second biggest of Norway's several ski resorts, Hemsedal, is situated along the main motorway between Bergen, 273kms away in the Scandinavian Alps, and Oslo, 220kms to the southeast. Although the first ski lift was installed at the resort in 1961, its tourism industry did not begin to grow in earnest until the early 1980s. Today, Hemsedal hotels are at their busiest during the winter months from December to May, and the majority of their guests come from Russia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and other Scandinavian nations. This resort's highest mountain stands 1,500m above sea level, making it Scandinavia's highest alpine peak. The resort boasts Norway's largest children's ski area and one of the world's top five snowboarding parks. Once the snow melts, the Hemsedal Top 20 mountains transform into scenic hiking trails, and each of their peaks has green boxes with guest books to sign. Artefacts and houses dating as far back as the early 18th century belong to the Bygdetun agricultural museum.

other spellings: hemsadal otel, hemsedel hotell, himsedal hote, hemsedalhotels, hemsedal hotle