Clarion Collection Hotel Hammer

Written by Matt Rosenfeld
Lillehammer is a quaint community with a few hotel options for visitors.  The Storgata is the main drag in town, and the Clarion Collection Hotel Hammer is located directly on it, only 2 blocks from the pedestrian-only area, which makes it a perfect location.


The hotel has its own parking garage for 60 NOK/night, or there is plenty of on-street parking, but that requires you to fill the meter during the day.

The staff was very welcoming as soon as we walked in the door.  The hotel provided a good free breakfast AND a quality free dinner.  In addition, there is ready-made coffee/tea available 24/7 for guests.

The room itself was very comfortable.  The 2 single beds provided are separated by a table, so a guest would need to move the table to push the beds together, but that isn't a big deal.  The beds were comfortable and the room was very clean.  In addition, the hotel had an excellent wi-fi signal.

Address: Storgata 108B, Lillehammer, Norway

Wifi: Free

Parking: 60 NOK/night

Restaurant: Yes

Bar/Lounge: Yes

Smoking: Non-smoking

Hidden Fees: None

Breakfast: Free

In-room safe: No

Lillehammer Olympics Museum, Ski Jump and Wheel Bob

Lillehammer, Norway was the home of the 1994 Winter Olympics.  There are still a few spots you can see in the town that have been preserved for visitors.  The first, the wheel-bob, is located outside of town.  Here, you can ride down the Olympic bobsled course, which seemed like a fantastic, exhilarating idea.  However, be aware, you will be rocketing down extremely fast with your head bobbing everywhere.  It takes about a minute to get down, and you are driven by a professional, but all of us said afterwards it was something we wouldn't do again.  Only look to do this activity if you are truly adventurous.

The 2nd spot to hit up is the Norwegian Olympics Museum, which is contained inside the arena that held the various ice skating competitions during the Olympics.  This museum goes through both the history of Norway in the olympics, as well as of the Lillehammer '94 games.  It was definitely a very interesting exhibit.

The final spot is the Lillehammer Ski Jump.  From here, you can take the ski lift to the top and get a gorgeous view of Lillehammer and the surrounding area.  You also have the option of walking up if you truly enjoy hundreds upon hundreds of stairs.  This was definitely a great place to visit and we'd recommend it.

Øverlie Café

With a lot of dining options in Lillehammer, especially in the pedestrian only area along Storgata, we chose to try Øverlie Café, a Turkish restaurant with outdoor seating.

For lunch we ordered the shish kabob with chicken and the marinated chicken. Both portions were huge. The chicken in both dishes was the same, however, on the shish kabob, the chicken was served in a warm tortilla shell with curried rice, mushrooms and sautéed onions. Both entrees were served with salads and the marinated chicken dish was served with fries.

The staff was very friendly and spoke very clear English. The place also had a very large selection of ice cream and gelato for eat in and take out.