Viking Ship Museum

Why it is renowned

The museum shows the five Skuldelev ships, original Viking ships of five types, from cargo ships to warships.¹² Digging for its boatyard in the late 1990s uncovered nine more ships, the largest such find in Northern Europe, among them Roskilde 6, at about 37 metres the longest Viking ship ever found.¹ Its reconstructions sail every summer to learn more about Viking seafaring, and the museum carries out research and trains researchers in maritime and experimental archaeology.¹ Lonely Planet names it among the best day trips from Copenhagen, for the five reassembled ships raised from the fjord, their sea-going copies built with original materials and techniques, and the outdoor shipbuilding, rope-making and blacksmithing.³

The story

Around 1070, five ships were sunk at Skuldelev to block the main channel of Roskilde Fjord against attack from the sea; they were excavated in 1962.¹ The museum was built on the shore of the fjord in 1969 to show them.¹ Its boatyard on Museumsøen builds full-size reconstructions by original methods, and its collection holds more than 40 boats from across Scandinavia.¹ Visitors can row and sail on the fjord every day from May to September.²

What to know it by

• The Skuldelev ships¹Five original Viking ships, sunk around 1070
• Roskilde 6¹Found at its boatyard; the longest Viking ship, about 37 m
• Museumsøen boatyard¹Reconstructions built by original methods
• Sea Stallion²Summer voyage on Roskilde Fjord and Isefjord