Kongsberg Silver Mines

Silver Mines Worked From 1623 To 1958; A Mine Train Runs About 2.3 Km Into The King'S Mine · Kongsberg, Buskerud

The Kongsberg Silver Mines are the reason the town of Kongsberg exists. Silver was found in the hills here in 1623 - the traditional story credits two children herding cattle - and King Christian IV founded the town the following year. For more than three centuries, until the last mine closed in 1958, miners followed thin veins of unusually pure native silver deep into the rock, and for a time Kongsberg was among the largest towns in Norway. Today the main visit is Kongens gruve, the King's Mine, at Saggrenda about 8 km outside town: in summer a small mine train carries you about 2.3 km into the mountain, and a guide walks you through galleries, shafts and old machinery. In town, the Norwegian Mining Museum tells the wider story, with minted coins and silver specimens. The honest caveat: this is a tier-three stop, not a reason to fly to Norway. It is a good half day if you are driving between Oslo and Telemark, it is cold underground all year, and outside summer the tours are few.

Kongens gruve at Saggrenda, about 8 km south-west of Kongsberg; the Norwegian Mining Museum in Kongsberg town, Kongsberg, Buskerud, Norway

Seasonal. In summer (roughly late June to mid or late August - confirm) mine-train tours into the King's Mine run daily, with departures roughly every two hours; in spring and autumn tours run on fewer days, and in winter mostly for booked groups. A year-round guided mine safari runs at the Gottes Hulfe mine in Norden. Book tickets online ahead in July. There is no public bus to Saggrenda worth relying on: drive, cycle or take a taxi from Kongsberg station. The Mining Museum in town keeps its own hours, often closed Mondays outside summer (confirm).

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