Nora

Nora is a town in Västmanland. Nora is one of three towns in Sweden considered to have especially well preserved wooden buildings town centres (the other towns being Eksjö and Hjo).

Understand


Nora is a small city with a population of about 12 000 inhabitants. It has an old city centre, packed with tiny boutiques, making Nora a proper merchant city! The town centre still has a large number of wooden houses from the 18th and 19th century. Nora's prosperity was built on mining between the 17th and 20th centuries, as part of the wider mining region Bergslagen. Much of its mining heritage is preserved today, including Pershyttan, one of the best preserved mining villages in Sweden. In order to benefit the health of the miners, Nora became a centre for apple farming, a tradition kept alive today by the local organization Pomologiskt Centrum. By the nearby lake Norasjön, there is a large island with an adventure park for children. Nora is a destinations for Sweden's oldest normal-track veteran railway. During summer several sections are operated with steam locomotives and old diesel engines. Nora is also renowned for its ice cream parlor NoraGlass, which sells freshly made ice cream and attracts throngs of ice cream lovers during summer.

Most Swedes know Nora from Anna Maria Roos 1909 poem and children's song Tre små gummor about three little old ladies, who travel to the market fair in Nora to eat candy and ride carousels.

Get in
Regular bus traffic from Örebro, 25 km to the south from Nora.

The closest railway station which is trafficked by passenger trains is located in Lindesberg, some north east from Nora. It is trafficked by the national train operator SJ and the regional train operator Tåg i Bergslagen. Lindesberg is connected by bus with Nora.

Nora is about 30 minutes from Örebro by car, via Route 50. Örebro is located on the European highway E18, connecting Stockholm with Oslo.

See




Eat
Local delicacies are cooked and served in some of the heritage railway restaurant wagons.

Sleep










Go next

 * In nearby Pershyttan (4 km) the old iron works are located. The guided tour takes you inside the buildings to see how pig iron was made from iron ore. Nearby, an old mine has been reopened to visitors, though only with a guide. The mine isn't very deep underground and you can always still see daylight.
 * Gyttorp, a small former industrial village, with an interesting residential architecture, drafted in the 1940s by the British-Swedish architect Ralph Erskine (1914-2005).
 * Kopparberg (50 km to the north) is a village with some beautiful old buildings to visit. The tourist office is located in one of these, the Tingshus (Courthouse) from 1642. Next door is Bergslagsarkivet - an old archive building from the mining company (1876-1877), and a very old grain seed warehouse from the 17th century. Around the corner, there is a small country life museum where the local pensioners give you a personal tour of the premises: a photographer's studio, a shoemaker, a postal office and a goldsmith's workshop. In a shed outside a small reconstruction has been made of a mine. The town also has a beautiful old church (1635) with separate bell tower and stables.
 * Grythyttan with its famous restaurant academy.
 * Örebro, the county seat and dominant city, known for its castle.