[3] It is located in the southern part of Norway, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of the city of Oslo.

Thomas Robert Malthus traveled through Norway in 1799 and his diaries from the trip includes a description of Mjøsa.

Malthus wrote that Mjøsa appears as both lake and river because the shores are defined by mountains and where the valley becomes wider the water fills the space.

Below Minde (Minnesund) the lake only appears like a river and is called Vorma on the map, according to Malthus.

Today, aside from minor leisure boating and the steamship Skibladner, there is no water traffic on the lake.

From the south, the European route E6 highway runs along the eastern shore of the lake until the Mjøsa Bridge connects Moelv on the east with Biri on the west.

The most interesting of these is Steinsholmen, which holds the ruins of Mjøskastellet, a medieval citadel dating from the 13th century.

Established by King Haakon IV of Norway, it was first mentioned historically in a letter dated 1234.

This is based on the theory that the first element *mer- is related to the English word mere which means "clear" or "bright" and -so is a suffix.

The race was won by Swedish driver Per-Viktor Widengren in an Alfa Romeo 8C but poor attendance saw the Grand Prix move back to the Oslo region in 1935.

It was later restored extensively to its original state (albeit non – flying) and is now one of only three remaining examples of the type anywhere in the world.