Outside of Stockholm, there are lots of traces of Vikings and the Viking Age. On a guided Viking tour, you will learn everything about the Swedish Vikings who lived around the Stockholm area. A knowledgeable guide leads the tour and will tell you all about Vikings and show you authentic places from the Viking Age.
About the Viking Age
Excavations in Sweden have revealed Viking villages, houses, ships and much more that gives insight into the everyday life of the Vikings. Vikings are famous for their longships, which were fast and could navigate both the open sea and rivers. They were also traders who traded in goods such as furs, slaves, honey, walrus bones and iron.
The Vikings used runes to write. Runestones and inscriptions are still preserved today. Their religion was gods like Odin, Thor, Freya and Loki. The time of the Viking Age began ca. 793 AD, often marked by the plunder of Lindisfarne Abbey in England. The end of the Vikings was approx. 1066 AD, with the Battle of Stamford Bridge and the Battle of Hastings in England.
Birka Sweden's first city
Birka Viking City, located on the island of Björkö in Mälaren, is one of the most famous Viking Age trading places in Sweden. Birka is also called Sweden's first city. You can take a boat trip from Stockholm to Birka, where you can explore archaeological sites, visit the museum and join guided tours of Birka that give you an insight into life during the Viking Age.
Book one of the interesting Viking tours from Stockholm below. Tickets in cooperation with Strömma and Sweden History Tours.
Travel back 1000 years to the Viking Age. Here you can choose between 3 different guided tours that depart from Stockholm and take you around to several well-preserved places where you can see several of the traces the Vikings left behind. In the area around Vallentunasjön, Sweden's most runestones are gathered. The area is called the Runic Kingdom (Runriket) and is one of the places you visit during a Viking tour. You will find out what the Vikings told about on the rune stones and hear stories about different Vikings who lived in these areas.
Season: all year
Time: 3, 5 and 8 hours
What you will see: Via the booking buttons below, you get all the information about which places you visit on each Viking tour.
Departs from: You will be picked up and dropped off at your hotel or accommodation in central Stockholm. (Within 4 km from Stockholm Central Station.)
Language: Guided in English.
The same Viking tours as above can also be booked as a private tour. All contents of private guided tour 3, 5 and 8 hours are the same as general tours.
Minimum number of persons: The private Viking tour departs with minimum 3 people booked. (Note. If you are 2 people who wish to go on a private Viking tour, then you can book 3 people.)
Take the boat from central Stockholm to Sweden's first city, Birka on Björkö in Mälaren. The price includes a return trip, entrance to the museum and a guided tour of the archaeological site. It is said that Birka was founded as early as the 750s and there are many traces of Vikings here.
The trip to Birka from Stockholm is a full-day excursion. You are away for about 7 - 8 hours. On board the boat there is a cafe where you can buy small dishes, coffee, snacks and cold and hot drinks. Time on Birka between 3-3.5 hours.
Season from Stockholm: May 4 - Oct 27, 2024
Departs from: Stockholm, Hovgården, Mariefred, Härjarö och Södertälje
The Viking Museum offers you an exciting and interesting history of Vikings and their life. Stockholm's Viking Museum is suitable for both adults and children who love Vikings. Follow the latest research on Viking history! You get to meet a life-size Viking created with DNA from bones preserved at the Sigtuna Museum outside Stockholm! He meets you with his deep blue eyes in a booth at the museum. Don't forget to take the little train ride "Ragnfrid's saga" where you experience the Viking age through moving environments, sound and light.
Open: All year
Address: Djurgårdsvägen 68, Djurgården, Stockholm.
Going on a Viking tour in Stockholm is a way to experience and understand an important part of Sweden's history and culture. It's a chance to step back in time and gain a deeper appreciation for the Vikings' impact on today's society and it's a fascinating part of Nordic history, and a Viking tour offers an opportunity to learn more about this fabled period.
Tours take you to authentic places and historic environments outside of Stockholm where Vikings once lived. The tour may include visits to rune stones, old trading places and Viking settlements in and around Stockholm. The Viking Tours are led by knowledgeable guides who are experts on the subject. They can provide insights and details that are not always available in books or in museums.
A Viking tour is something that both children and adults can appreciate. Children can be especially fascinated by stories about Vikings and participate in playful activities, while adults gain a deeper understanding of history. When you book a Viking tour, take into account how many hours the tours are carried out and how long time your child will be able to come along. A fun question for children might be, did Vikings really wear helmets with horns on them? Or did the Vikings themselves know they were Vikings? What did Viking children play with?
Feel free to ask questions to the talented guides who will take you around to interesting places outside of Stockholm on a Viking tour.
The Icelandic writer Snorre Sturlasson is said to have mentioned a place around the current Stadsholmen in Stockholm which was called Agnefit. When the Vikings came in with their boats through the Stockholm archipelago, many boats would go on to Birka on the island of Björkö in Mälaren. The Vikings had lots of goods with them, which they needed to transfer to smaller boats on their journey to Birka. Reloading of the boats is said to have taken place at Agnefit. It was around this area that Stockholm became a city founded by Birger Jarl in 1252.