Viking ship museum

Saturday, May 2 was a busy day for us. It is rare for us to spend the whole day exploring museums. We purchased the Oslo Pass card, which was created especially for tourists. It allows admission to museums and use of public transport, all included in the card price. We decided on a day card, which cost NOK 320 for adults and NOK 160 for children. The purchase paid for itself by the third museum, counting the regular admission price.

We started the trip at Aker Brygge, which is in the harbor in front of the City Hall in Oslo. We needed to get to the Bygdøy peninsula. To get there we could choose a bus or a ferry - both available under the Oslo Pass card. The ferry option was more attractive.

The ferry ride across the bay lasted over ten minutes and was an interesting alternative to the bus. We reached the Huk Aveny. All the museums on the peninsula are located nearby, we needed to walk a few minutes to reach them. After a while we reached the junction with the main road Langviksveien. Opposite was the first museum on our list - the Viking Ship Museum.

Viking Ship Museum

Anyone who hasn't seen a Viking boat should definitely go to this place. In the vast premises of the museum are three authentic oak Viking boats. The museum building is built on a cruciform plan and in each of the arms we find one of the boats. The boats are archaeological finds, preserved in excellent condition. They come from the Oseberg (boat with dimensions of 22m x 5m), Gokstad (24m x 5m) and Tune (badly damaged, once 22m x 4.35m). The first one is the most interesting, perhaps because it was preserved in the best condition. To row this boat, 30 people were needed. It probably belonged to the wife of a Viking chief, buried in 834 AD with the boat. In the burial chamber, a lot of fabulous treasures were found - including a richly carved sleigh, lots of ornaments and everyday items from that era. The Vikings believed that you did not lose your social position after death, so they put things in the grave that could be useful to the dead person in the afterlife.

Fun fact: two women were buried in the Oseberg mound. The burial has been dated to autumn 834 thanks to tree rings in the wood of the burial chamber. No one knows who the more important woman was, although she is sometimes linked to Queen Åsa.

The museum was quite boring - there were only a few exhibits. The size of the boat is magnificent, but the whole thing can literally be seen in a quarter of an hour. The cost of a regular ticket is 60 NOK, if you don't use the Oslo Pass.

Good to know: the Viking Ship Museum closed in autumn 2021. The ships stayed on Bygdøy, where a new, much larger Museum of the Viking Age is being built on the same site. When we checked in November 2026, it was planned to open in late 2027.

At the exit there was a souvenir shop. Kris liked the Viking shield and sword the most.