The National Museum is located in the heart of Copenhagen and it is a great place to start your Viking trail across Denmark. Copenhagen was an important outpost from where the Vikings set out on their voyages in Europe and the rest of the world.
National Museum of Denmark
The National Museum is Denmark’s largest museum of cultural history. The museum’s main domicile is a classical 18th century mansion just a stone’s throw from “Strøget” at the center of Copenhagen. The National Museum in Copenhagen is one of Denmark’s most popular and important cultural institutions.
The museum has an impressive collection of art, history and cultural history spanning several thousand years. The museum has an impressive collection of Viking objects that give an insight into the life and culture of the Vikings. Visitors can see everything from weapons and jewelry to ships and household items. Visitors can learn about the traditions, rituals and everyday life of different communities.
Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde
The Viking Ship Museum is a museum of shipbuilding and seafaring in the Viking era. Five of those ships are now exhibited at the Viking Ship Museum because they in 1962 were recovered. They are still in remarkably good conditions and give the visitor a good indication of how the Vikings build their ships and their good boat building skills.
The largest ship is 30 metres (98-ft) long warship and with a capacity to carry a crew of 70 – 80 Vikings. The best-preserved is a merchant ship at 14 metres (46 -ft) long. All the other ships are a sea trader, a longship and a fishing boat. In summer it is possible to sail on a replica ship on the Roskilde fjord.
Trelleborg Viking fortress
Trelleborg Viking Fortress is the best-fortified fortress among the ring fortresses from Viking-Age Denmark and the fortress shows clear evidence of attack. Trelleborg was built in 980, during the reign of King Harald Bluetooth. The fortress was excavated 1934-42 and revealed 31 houses and thousands of artefacts as well as the remains of the large, circular-shaped fortress.
The ring fortress represents one of the most remarkable monuments from the Viking Age. With its monumental character and uniform geometric construction, it reflects a highly-developed technical expertise. Experience the world’s only reconstructed Viking fortress in a unique archaeological open-air museum. In the midst of the modern city, a quarter of the ring fortress has been recreated on its exact original site. Here, you will also find a nature park, a medieval house, and a Viking farmstead that comes to life during the summer season.
Viking Villages in Albertslund and Frederikssund
Charming village features meticulously reconstructed longhouses, craft workshops, and authentic replicas of Viking ships. Here, tourists can engage with knowledgeable guides dressed in period attire, who share fascinating tales and insights into daily life during the Viking Age. The village hosts various activities, including traditional crafts, cooking demonstrations, and even combat displays, ensuring that every visitor can participate in the Viking experience.
Throughout the year, Frederikssund Viking Village holds numerous events and festivals that celebrate Viking heritage, making it a lively and dynamic destination. Families and history buffs alike will find joy in the interactive exhibits and hands-on opportunities that foster a deeper understanding of Viking life.
Sagnlandet Lejre
Sagnlandet Lejre is a 106-acre archaeological open-air museum established in 1964 as an experimental center for studies in the field of history and archaeology. It is located in Lejre, close to Roskilde.
You can see there the reconstructions of an Iron Age village and sacrificial bog (200 BC to 200 AD), a Viking marketplace (900 AD), a Stone Age campsite (5000 BC), an 18th-century farmstead, and various grave monuments, among which a lot of different farm animals roam around. You will encounter many goats, sheep, cows, geese, horses, pigs while walking through vast pastures and fields. Interestingly, Sagnlandet is also home to Denmark’s largest Viking King’s Hall, reconstructing the one excavated only 3km away from the museum, in the village of Gl. Lejre.
Borgring Viking Fortress
Borgring is Harald Bluetooth’s prominent symbol of royal presence in the area around present-day Køge and his vision of a Christian kingdom, while the old royal seat in Lejre had played its role and disappeared. Borgring is also the most recently discovered castle, as it was only discovered in 2014 and was never completed. It marks the end of the Viking Age and the beginning of the Denmark we know today.
In the period 2016-2018, extensive excavations were carried out, which have led to a number of new insights into architecture, function, dating, historical contexts, the castle’s surroundings, transport conditions and contemporary settlements locally and regionally. In 2025 a new experience centre will open on the site.
