Trøndelag

• 🌍 Levanger - one of the well-preserved wooden towns
• 🌍 Namsos - port of Namdalen district, totally destroyed during the war
• 🌍 Orkanger - small town at the mouth of Orkla river and valley
• 🌍 Røros (Bergstaden) - a former mining town in the uplands that is largely intact, and a UNESCO world heritage site, where the old copper mines can also be visited
• 🌍 Steinkjer - the hub at the northern end of great fjord
• 🌍 Stjørdalshalsen (Stjørdal)
• 🌍 Trondheim - one of Norway's main cities, lovely location on the river bend, historically important as previous capital and seat of the archbishop, Norway's national cathedral.

• 🌍 Oppdal - regional centre and ski resort in the interior uplands.
• 🌍 Dovrefjell — a mountainous area consisting of two large national parks (comprises also parts of East Norway and West Norway)

Trondheim has been a centre of commerce since the Viking Age. Saint Olaf's Way has been an important pilgrimage route. Trondheim has seen the middle ages been one of Norway's three principle cities, along with Bergen and Oslo. The archdiocese of Trondheim covered vast areas of the North Atlantic as it included Norway, parts of Sweden, Iceland, Greenland, Orkneys, Shetland and other parts of the British isles. For two brief years, 1658 to 1660, Trøndelag was part of Sweden.

Trøndelag is separated from East Norway by the Dovre mountains and uplands around Røros. Along the border with Sweden are the Sylan mountains and more modest wilderness further north. Hitra, Frøya and Vikna are major islands and archipelagos on the outer coast, in addition to thousands of smaller islands. There are also islands in the great Trondheimsfjord. Large parts of Trøndelag are related to the long, wide and deep Trondheimsfjord. At well over 100 km it is the third longest in Norway. As a fjord it is partly quite wide almost like a small ocean. Some of Norway's great valleys and rivers terminate at Trondheimsfjord for instance Orkla and Gaula rivers are among Norway's best salmon rivers. There is no clear demarcation between Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal in the west.

Around the upper part of Namdalen valley there are wide uplands around the border with Nordland. Namsen river at over 200 km is one of Norway's biggest and regarded as Norway's best salmon river only surpassed by Alta river in Finnmark. In and around Namdalen and around Trondheimsfjorden there are wide forests on the modest elevations. Hitra island is the biggest in South Norway. The forests of Trøndelag has Norway's highest density of elg, the Eurasian moose, except Hitra where there is a large number of red deer. The coast and islands around Flatanger and further north has a considerable number of the white tailed eagle (known as havørn or sea eagle in Norway).

Trøndelag has a range of climates. The coastal areas have a typical humid maritime climate where average temperatures in winter are mostly not below 0°C. The outer coast is also exposed to rough wind in Winter. The high plateaus and sheltered valleys of the interior have a continental climate with some of the driest and coldest areas of Norway. Røros has the lowest recorded temperature in South Norway at -50°C. Most of the rain falls near the coast. Autumn and winter are the rainiest seasons. Inner areas have much warmer summers than the coast and islands, temperatures up to 30°C is possible in the inner valleys, while on the coast 25°C is rare.

Trøndelag can be divided into four main sections

• Trondheimsfjorden and adjacent areas including Trondheim, Levanger and valleys ending at the fjord.
• Namdalen valley area including Namsos
• The coast including Hitra island in the south and Vikna archipelago in the north
• The uplands near the watershed including Oppdal and Røros

• Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim is the biggest church of Northern Europe, the only major Gothic cathedral in Norway, Norway's national cathedral and the pride of the city.
• Hell, a suburb of Stjørdal close to Trondheim airport, is not as bad as it sound.
• 🌍 Stiklestad. Site of the battle in year 1030 where King Olav died. (updated Aug 2016)
• 🌍 Bardal rock carvings (Bardalfeltet) (along FV285, about 15 km west of Steinkjer). 400 stone age and bronze age paintings/carvings on a 300 m² area. Free. 
• Saemien Sijte (1.5 km from Snåsa, 60 km north from Steinkjer), ☏ +47 74-13-80-00, post@saemiensijte.no. M–F 09:00–15:00. Culture centre and museum on Southern Sámi culture. Guided tours. 50 kr, children free. 
• Steinvikholmen Castle, north of Stjørdal, was the refuge of the last Catholic archbishop of Norway. In 1537 the king finally managed to take the fortress and send him into exile, ending the opposition to the reformation in Norway.
• 🌍 Austrått (Austrått Manor). Austrått Manor (Austråttborgen) at Ørland at the mouth of Trondheimsfjorden is known as a residence for prominent persons since the 10th century. The building was destroyed by fire in 1916 and restored. Henrik Ibsen's play Lady Inger of Ostrat is based on a real Lady of Austrått. The building is now owned by the national government and is open to visitors in summer. (updated May 2020)
• Hessdalen Valley is a sparsely populated area near Røros known for the Hessdalen lights, some unexplained lights observed in a 12-kilometre-long stretch of the valley.
• 🌍 Tautra (Tautra island). Tautra is a small island in Trondheimsfjorden. The island is a nature reserve for birds and the site of a monastery abandoned after the reformation. Ruins of the buildings. Access by bridge from Frosta. (updated May 2020)
• 🌍 Frosta. A fertile peninsula in Trondheimsfjorden. Assembly hill (Tinghaugen) at Frosta was the site of the medieval parliament for Trøndelag and adjacent areas. These areas were governed by Frostatingsloven, the law (or law book) of Frosta assembly. This law included the famous phrase at lǫgum skal land várt byggja en eigi at ulǫgum eyða (with law shall our land be built, and not desolated by lawlessness, reproduced in modern Norwegian on the monument there). The law originates from before year 1000 and in oral form perhaps much older, making it one of the oldest in Norway. The law was consolidated in written form around 1100 and is a relatively sophisticated legislation. Several elements of are retained in Norway's modern legislation. Frosta was effectively the capital of Trøndelag until the assembly was moved to Trondheim. (updated May 2020)
• 🌍 Orkla Industrimuseum (Orkla mining and industry museum). Copper mining at Løkken began in 1654 and operations ended in 1987 making this one of Norway's oldest businesses. The Orkla Company ran the mining business and still exists as a large conglomerate and Norway's biggest private company. A private electric railway, Thamshavn Line, was constructed between Løkken and Orkanger port at Thamshavn. Thamshavn Line was in 1908 Norway's first electric railway and is now operated by the museum. (updated May 2020)
• 🌍 Austrått Fort, Austrått, Ørland (Brekstad village). Austrått Fort is a disused coastal artillery at Austrått in Ørland. It was constructed in 1942 by the German Wehrmacht to control the entrance to the Trondheimsfjord during the German occupation of Norway during World War II. The three-gun turret weighs 800 tons and was capable of firing 730-pound shells 38 kilometres (24 mi). It opened as a museum in 1991. Like its sister battery at Sotra near Bergen, a shaft was cut out of the rocks for the huge former Gneisenau battleship gun turret. Along with Fjell fort at Sotra this was one of the largest artilleries along the German "atlantic wall". The fort lis located next to Austrått manor and overlooking the mouth of Trondheimsfjord as well as Ørland Airforce Base. (updated May 2020)

• Try Norwegian seafood!

• Jämtland County in Sweden
• North to Nordland county
• West to the fjordlands of Møre og Romsdal
• South to the wide uplands of Oppland