Vinstra is a small town of about 2500 people in the middle of Gudbrandsdalen. Most tourists just drive through on the E6 or pass by on the train between Oslo and Trondheim.
The town sits where the river Gudbrandsdalslågen flows through, and it's essentially the centre of what Norwegians call "Peer Gynt's kingdom". You'll find a statue of Peer at the railway station.
The historical person who inspired Ibsen's famous play lived just outside town at a farm called Hågå. We'll tell you more about that in a moment.
Vinstra also has a connection to Norway's national cheese, the brown cheese or brunost. The most common variety is called Gudbrandsdalsost, named after this valley. The woman who invented it, Anne Hov, was born near here in 1846 and created the cheese at a mountain farm near Gålå in 1863. She later received the King's Medal of Merit for helping save the valley from financial ruin during the 1870s and 80s.
If you want to try traditional local baked goods, there's a bakery at Sødorptunet called Øyens Hjemmebakeri. Two sisters run it using their grandmother's recipes, making hand-rolled flatbrød and lefser the traditional way.
Otherwise Vinstra is a practical stop for fuel, shopping, or as a base for exploring the surrounding mountains like Gålå and Kvamsfjellet.