Stockholm
– Birka – Swedish Museum of History – Anundshog – Gamla Uppsala – Sigtuna – Copenhagen
– National Museum of Denmark – Roskilde Viking Ships Museum – Ale’s Stones –
King’s Grave
Day
Six
We spend all day visiting Birka, the
historic Viking trading centre, situated on the island
of Björkö in Lake Malaren. To get there,
we take a beautiful journey by water from Stockholm. As a trading town, Birka most likely offered slaves,
furs, iron goods and craft products in exchange for glassware and textiles
including Chinese silk and Byzantine embroidery amongst many other goods. One of the earliest suburban settlements in
Scandinavia, Birka was the Baltic link to Russia and the Byzantine Empire for
the Swedish Vikings.
Once there, you can stroll in the
cultural landscape, visit the Museum, take a guided tour of the archaeological
sites, visit the largest Viking Era graveyard in Sweden and also see the
reconstructed Viking village.
Day Seven
In the morning we visit the Swedish
Museum of History. Its Viking Age
exhibition is wonderful and tells the story of the people’s everyday
activities, family life and religious beliefs.
Many of the exhibits were found at Birka where we visited on Day 6. You will see beautiful jewellery, tools and
weapons, reconstructed burials and magical artefacts including impressive
picture stones, the iron staff once owned by a volvor (seeress/witch) as well
as amulets and pendants. There will be
time to see other exhibitions including the Gold Room containing jewellery and
objects made of gold and silver.
The afternoon and evening will be
free. You could visit the Vasa Museum
with its magnificent and intact 17th century ship, the Royal Palace,
the ABBA museum or explore Gamla Stan, the oldest part of Stockholm where our
hotel is located. You could take the
Ocean bus for a unique tour of Stockholm by water and land in an amphibious
vehicle. There are so many more choices.
Day Eight
Today we visit some very special
sacred sites. We will first travel to
Anundshog, the site of the largest tumulus in Sweden with its magnificently
carved standing stone showing entwined male and female figures. During the Neolithic, people were already
settling on the long ridge formed when the inland ice retreated. Trade routes
and watercourses met around the ridge and eventually it became a cultural
centre for the whole region. We shall walk along the ridge to visit the Bronze
Age labyrinth very near to the great mound.
Close to the mound are five ship settings, standing stones in the shape
of a ship. Four have been restored, the
largest one being 53 metres long. A
truly powerful place.
We then make the journey to Gamla
Uppsala with its imposing burial mounds, museum and Christian church which some
believe to be the site of the old Uppsala pagan temple. The known history of this place stretches
back some 2,000 years. Learn about the
site’s mythical Svea kings, Norse gods and human sacrifice at the Museum.
After leaving Gamla Uppsala, we drive
to pretty Sigtuna, one of the oldest towns in Sweden. Its main street, Stora Gatan, is said to be
Sweden’s oldest dating back to the time of 10th century King Erik
the Victorious. Today the town is full
of beautiful traditional wooden houses and plenty of places to wander and
eat. We will have dinner here before returning
to Copenhagen.
Day Nine
Today we fly from Stockholm to
Copenhagen where, after checking into our hotel, we will have the afternoon and
evening free.
Copenhagen was founded in 1043 and is
full of historic landmarks, significant buildings and museums. You may wish to visit the famous Tivoli
Gardens, the Christiansborg Palace or have dinner in one of the many waterside
restaurants in the picturesque Nyhavn located within walking distance of our
hotel. Window shopping is wonderful and
there are long walking streets that will allow you to indulge your shopping
pleasures.
Day Ten
We will start the day by visiting the
National Museum of Denmark, which has some of the most extraordinary and
fascinating exhibits from pre-history through to the Viking Age. It is truly worth a couple of hours making
one’s way through the pre-history exhibition.
Some of its famous archaeological treasures include the beautiful
Trundholm Chariot of the Sun as well as, and not to be missed, the stunningly
amazing Gundestrup Cauldron.
The afternoon and evening is free.
Day Eleven
In the morning, we take the short drive
from Copenhagen to Roskilde to visit the Vikings Ship Museum which focuses on
the Vikings’ maritime craftsmanship and their impressive ships. See the hulls of five original Viking ships
in a purpose-built Museum, visit the boat yard where a Viking ship is being
built using traditional methods and see moored great longships built in this
way. We will also spend an hour sailing
on one of these longships. There will
also be time to visit World Heritage listed Roskilde Cathedral, the final resting
place for Danish kings and queens from 986AD.
The evening will be free.
Day Twelve
We will drive to southern Sweden to
visit one of the greatest archaeological and sacred sites in Scandinavia, the
Ale’s Stones. The megalithic monument in
Scania on the Baltic Sea in southern Sweden is a stone ship oval with much
larger stones at each end. Believed to
have been erected 1,400 years ago and formed by 59 large sanding stones, the
Ale’s Stones are also known as The Sun Ship and regarded as one of the most
beautiful megalithic monuments in northern Europe. On the Summer Solstice the sun sets precisely
over the prow stone and on the Winter Solstice rises over the ship’s stern. There is also an alignment to the
Equinoxes.
On this day we will also visit the massive
3,500 year old King’s Grave, a passage tomb that differs from most Bronze Age
European burials in that, most importantly, the cist is adorned with
petroglyphs. The extraordinary images
carved into the stones include those depicting people, birds, ships, a chariot
and more. It has been a place of the
ancestors for 4,500 years when the first burials took place with the last to be
buried here, a Viking more than 1,000 years ago. We will also visit some other sites where
there are more beautifully carved stones.
After driving back over the great
bridge to Denmark, we will have the evening free.
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