Vågåmo is a village in the Gudbrandsdalen valley, in the middle of Norway's mountain heartland, and it sits beside the river Otta, with the Jotunheimen range to the west. The village has about fifteen hundred people, a church, a school, shops and a fuel station, and it is the place where the Valdresflye road comes down to meet the main valley. The Vågåvatnet lake lies just beside the village, and the farms stretch in lines along the hillsides. The name is thought to derive from an old word for a bay or inlet, and the lake was once much larger.
The village is known for the Vågå church, an old wooden building from 1625 with carved decorations. The area is also known for its long tradition of folk music and of the dance halling, a lively male solo dance, and the district is the home of the fiddle tradition. Peer Gynt, the hero of Ibsen's play, is said to have been based on a real person from the area, Peer Gynt of Vågå, and the Peer Gynt trail in nearby Gudbrandsdalen was named for him. Sagas and folktales are woven into the landscape, and old farmsteads, some of them hundreds of years old, can be seen on the hillside.
The ride down from the Valdresflye is a gentle descent, with views of the valley and the river, and the road passes through woodland and farmland. The surface is good, the bends are easy, and traffic increases as you come down to the main road. In summer, the valley is warm and bright, with fields of hay and barley, and in autumn, the birches turn yellow. Rain showers are common, and the temperature changes with altitude.
For services, Vågåmo is a convenient place to stop. Fuel, a bakery, a supermarket and a cafe are available, and the local specialities include trout from the lake, rømmegrøt, a sour cream porridge served with cured meats, and strong cheese. The village is a good base for visits to the Jotunheimen mountains, and the road to Lom and the Sognefjellet starts nearby. Before you leave, take a walk by the lake, and enjoy the quiet.