You can view the impressive Viking ships

The Viking Ship Museum
The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde gives the whole family the opportunity to experience the life of the Vikings. You can view the impressive Viking ships, go on sailing trips and take part in a number of exciting activities.

At the museum, you can learn about the excavation of the five Skuldeslev Viking ships in the fiord of Roskilde and the unique maritime culture of the Vikings: their seafaring, craftsmanship, raids, and trade. The interesting exhibitions indoors and outdoors also illustrates the importance of the ships for society at the time. The Vikings were the first Scandinavians to equip their ships with sails. When they returned from a raid or a trade mission overseas, their ships were loaded with new exciting commodities.

In the Viking ship hall, children and adults can board the two full-size models of Viking ships: a trading ship loaded with goods from the time of the Vikings, and a war ship ready for warfare. The ships are docked by the Viking ship hall, and here you can dress up and act as Vikings as well as do rune writing. During the summer season and school holidays, exciting tales about the life and raids of the Vikings are told, and the knowledge¬able staff of the museum open the ship coffers and show the visitors swords, helmets, axes, whale teeth, ice skates made from bones, drinking glas¬ses, and much more.

The permanent exhibitions of the museum have information in four languages: Danish, English, German, and French. In addition to these languages, the introductory film is presented in Spanish and Italian. Temporary exhibitions have explanatory texts in Danish and English.

At the shipyard, the craftsmen work with copies of the original tools used by the Vikings and build exact replicas of ships used during the times of the Vikings and in the Middle Ages.

At close range, you can view the craftsmen working, and discover how large logs become elegant wooden ships. From May until October, the shipyard is open seven days a week, and the rest of the year on weekdays only.

The crafts of the Vikings are displayed in the stalls of the craftsmen, and they take turns in showing their skills daily from May until October. The daily agenda is available in the calendar at: www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk