Hydrant safari - city walk in the World Heritage town of Rjukan

Hydrantsafari is a guided walk through Rjukan, the town that was built to create industrial history and is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Along the way, we follow the characteristic hydrants found around the town. They serve as natural stopping points for stories about how Rjukan grew, how Norsk Hydro shaped the community, and how people lived and worked in one of Norway's most remarkable industrial towns.

The tour takes you through central parts of the town and provides insight into the architecture, urban planning and stories behind the World Heritage status. The hydrants aren't the destination in themselves - they are the common thread running through the story of Rjukan.

Rjukan went from being a village with around 250 inhabitants in 1900 to a town of 10,000 twenty years later!

Rulers, engineers and architects from all over northern Europe settled in this small valley, and Norway's first Company Town was born.

Rjukan was largely designed by architects under Hydro; houses, roads, hospitals, fire brigades, fire hydrants and parks - Hydro planned, owned and managed almost everything.

So what have Rjukan's custom-designed fire hydrants seen over the last hundred years? They've seen a city grow, workers come and go; they've seen everyday life, celebrity visits to Admini, good and bad tennis matches and tragedies such as the hotel fire of 1950 and the three great landslides of 1927.

On a hydrant safari, we talk about all this and much, much more: We have good and charming, but also touching and captivating stories that color the World Heritage City's diverse history.

It is also possible to book Hydrant Safaris outside scheduled times as a private group. Available all year round. Contact Rjukan Tourist Office for more information and booking.