Every design for Ål

Until 1921 the village was spelled Aal. The Old Norse form of the name was Áll, a word meaning "ditch" or "gully", and the coat of arms granted in 1984 borrows three silver diamonds from the hand-woven tapestries of the area, one for each of the municipality's three churches, Ål, Torpo and Leveld.

Folk music is part of what people here feel they are, and every May Folkemusikkveka fills the village for a week. Ål is the administrative centre of its municipality in Hallingdal, with most of the village, known as Sundre, on the north side of the river Hallingdalselva and Ål Station on the south side, halfway along the Bergen Line between Oslo and Bergen. Ål kulturhus shows Hallingrosa, an exhibition of rose painting, beside a permanent collection of works by Rolf Nesch, and Ål bygdemuseum is built around the old Leksvol farm.

If you grew up between the river and the railway, you will know the walk from Sundre across to the station. Take it with you, from Rolf Nesch museum to Oppsjø vasspark.