Places Every Vikings’ Fan Should Visit

The Viking Culture has always been popular, but recently, the Scandinavian countries have seen a new wave of fresh fans of trying to experience Viking culture as authentically as possible. We could attribute it to multiple things, starting from easier access to information to TV shows that depict Viking lifestyle. We’ve even seen computer games based on the Viking culture that the real fans never miss out on. There have also been some downsides to this new wave of Viking craze.

Some people are now trying to scam the clueless tourist by offering inauthentic experiences for high prices. If you are a fan of Vikings and want to know where to look for the best experiences for if you want to get to know the culture better, we’ve listed multiple places that you can go to that will help you learn and see close up how the Vikings lived their day to day lives. Viking hotspots are spread across Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland, each of these countries offering a variety of places and activities for Viking lovers. We’ll cover all three countries depending on where you are going. Or maybe you want to visit all three countries and make a Viking tour for yourself and your friends.

Lofoten Islands

Besides being a home for the famous Lofoten Viking Museum, Norway islands are also known to be one of the few sustainable tourist destinations.  The archeologists first discovered the Viking chieftain home on the island in 1983. The house was soon reconstructed to be a museum and even won an award for the European Museum of the Year in 2013.

If you visit Lofoten islands you will also get a chance to experience some cooking sites, see some Viking weapons and other recreations that were added to the original museum. Nowadays you can’t enter the chieftain’s original home but all the added attractions definitely make up for it. You will even get a chance to board a Viking ship and see for yourself what sights were the original Vikings seeing on their trips.

Viking World

Located in beautiful Iceland, this museum is a must for every Viking fan. Keflavik based museum is also home to an exact replica of the famous Gokstad ship, which was excavated in the 1800s in Norway. You might think that since the museum is located in Iceland it must be super expensive but actually, it’s pretty affordable and is definitely worth adding to your Viking Bucket list, since its actually quite small and not overwhelming and easy to get to so you have nothing to lose. The museum has a separate exhibition called North Atlantic saga that explores the relationship between Iceland and the Vikings if you’re interested in that as well.

Avaldsnes

Located in Norway this settlements is the recreation of the real longhouse discovered in Rogaland. It started out as an experimental archaeological program for researchers to try and see what an average day of a Viking would look like. In this Viking Farm, you will be able to experience life as the Vikings did back in the day. You will be able to see up close the weaponry, use their cooking techniques and more. Another perk of this is that there’s a Norwegian History Center offering a Viking exhibit so you can first go to the History Center to freshen up your knowledge on Vikings and then you will get to experience the thing for real.

The Viking Ship Museum

One of the most iconic things about the Vikings were definitely their ships. This museum is located in Oslo as well does a great job at showcasing the powerful ships that took the Vikings on faraway trips thousand years ago. One of the main reasons why people rush to the Viking museum is the Oseberg Ship which is 21m long and 5 m wide. The ship is said to be 1200 years old and was discovered near Tønsberg, located south of Oslo. It is considered to be one of the greatest relics from the Vikings so make sure to check out the Museum if you’re planning to visit Norway.

Ribe, Denmark

Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark and is considered to be one of the oldest across Scandinavia. It is a perfect place for any Viking culture enthusiast because it is full of historic buildings, but also you can see two Viking themed museums there: The Viking museum and a Viking cultural centre. What’s special about these museums is that they actually offer a variety of unique activities that you won’t find in other museums. For example, you can be a Volunteer Viking. But also if you have a kid that loves Vikings you can sign them up for warrior training for children, which sounds scary but is actually among the most popular activities in the museum.

Trelleborg Viking Fortress

We can’t finish our list without mentioning some destinations in Sweden. Surprisingly enough, Trelleborgen is the only fortress recreation in all of Sweden. If you decide to visit Trelleborg you will find a museum, a shop and a reconstruction of a 14th century Viking farm. Trelleborg hosts multiple markets, game days and midsummer celebrations throughout the year so make sure to time your visit accordingly to get the best experience. The construction of this site finished in 2005 and since then it has become one of the top destinations for Viking fans.

Trøndelag

Stiklestad in Trondelag is famous for the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. This is the place where the Christian Viking King, Olav Haraldsson lost a battle against local chieftains. This battle marked the consolidation of Norway. But what’s unique about this destination is that every July there is an outdoor theatre event that replicates the battle. It’s called The St. Olav Drama. The recreation happened in the same period as the tradition Oslok is going on which is a celebratory festival full of storytelling, different markets, and concerts. So make sure to travel in July if you’re planning on visiting this historic place.

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