Vikingship museum (Viking skip museum), Oslo

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Vikingskiphuset (the Viking Ship Museum) in Oslo is part of the Museum of Cultural Heritage of the University of Oslo. You can find 3 original 9th century Viking dragonboats there: the ships of Tune, Gokstad and the probably most famous of all, the beautiful Oseberg ship!
There also is an exhibition of amazing objects found in Viking tombs in the area of Oslo and also from the Borre grave field (Vestfold) such as: jewellery, tools, harness, household utensiles, smaller boats, textiles, sledges and a wonderfully ornamented cart.

The Vikin ship museum is a must-see for anybody even slightly interested in history. The museum displays three ships and founds from a viking chief's grave.

Vikings used burial ships, which took the dead to the Other World and these ships were loaded with treasures. The museum has an exhibition of these treasures.

Depending on the time of the year, the museum is open 9-18 (May-sep) or 11-16 (Oct-apr) every day.

The first museum we opted for was the Vikingship musuem. There were so much museums to choose from and only so much time :-(

Immediatly when you enter this museum you can see the huge vikingship which gave the museum its name. They come from a digging in Vestvold where they were discovered early 20th century. These ships were used as burial ships. They date from around 900 AD.

Have a look here Gokstad to have a look at the original finding place of the Gokstad ship.

Sorry for this picture. I hope that on the roll still in my camera is a better pic.

contains three 9th-century Viking ships that were excavated from ritual burial mounds in the south of Norway. They are in excellent condition due to the clay in which they were embalmed. Viking ships were used as tombs for royalty who were buried with everything they might need after death.

The biggest and best preserved of the ships is the Gokstad, and the finest is the Oseberg, a richly ornamented dragon ship with an intricately carved animal head post, that was the burial chamber of a Viking queen.

Opening Time: Daily 9am to 6pm (May to September)
11am to 4pm (October to April)

Admission: NOK40 (adults), NOK20 (children)

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In my opinion, one must visit this museum, to get a grasp of how these adventurers went about seeking new pastures :)

Some boats here are amazingly well-preserved! Apparently, buried in the mud did them good!

My first photo shows the almost organic lines of a Viking ship as seen from the front. This is the Gokstad ship made around 890 AD, 24m long, 5m wide. It could hold 32 oarsmen, and apparently a copy sailed across the Atlantic from Bergen to Chicago for the 1893 World Fair!

Photo 2 shows a closeup of the clinker construction and carving on the prow. This is the Oseberg ship, made around 820 AD. These ships were used as burial vessels, and were excavated around 1900, extremely well preserved in mud.

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The Viking Ship museum, together with the Kon-Tiki museum, was the highlights of our trip.

The museum shows the Norwegian viking history and what the Norwegian vikings contributed with. In exhibition they have 3 viking ships, 2 in good condition and 1 wreck - all made of oak.

The first ship you see upon entering is the Gokstad (or Gaukstad) and it was excavated in 1880. It's 24 meters long by 5 meter wide. This ship was the model of the ship "The Icelander", built by a descendant of Leif Ericsson and used to sail between Iceland and USA in the year 2000.

The second ship on display is the Oseberg. Excavated in 1904, this ship is 22 meter long by 5 meter wide.

3 small ships from the Gokstad are on display with the third ship, a wreck called the Tune ship. In addition to the ships, artifacts from the era are also on display.

As of Sept 2009, the admission fee for an adult is 50 NOK. Free with the Oslo pass.

The Viking Ship museum (Vikingskipshuset) is a fascinating museum. The museum displays three large Viking ships that were found in royal burial mounds in the Oslo fjord. The ships are very well preserved. These ships were burial ships used to carry the dead over to "the other world". They carried treasures as well which are also displayed in the museum.

It was interesting to learn that the Vikings were really not nice people as there are stories of pillage (robbing) and rape.

It was probably my 4th or 5th time visiting this museum and I always enjoy it. All 3 museums on Bygdoy - the Kon Tiki Museum, the Fram Museum, and the Viking Ship Museum are all must sees in Oslo.

Admission:

Family (2 adults + 2 children under age 16) NOK 125,-
Adults NOK 50
Children age 7-16 NOK 30
Children under age 7 Free
** Free entrance with Oslo Pass

Hours:

May 2 - Sept 30: Mon - Fri 9:00 am - 6:00 pm, Sat 9:00 am - 6:00 pm, Sun 9:00 am - 6:00 pm

Oct 1 - April 30: Mon - Fri 11:00 am - 4:00 pm, Sat 11:00 am - 4:00 pm, Sun 11:00 am - 4:00 pm

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Frightened Europe closed their prayers in the times of the Vikings with "And deliver us from the Vikings, Amen".

There are horror stories of rape, pillage and plunder, with the Vikings arriving in great ships - three of them are well preserved at this museum . There is the Oseberg ship from AD 834 and the Gokstad from AD950, and pictures within the museum show the conditions of these boats when they were found.

Ships were also used by the Vikings as part of their funeral processions. Entrance is about 50 Kr.

This is a nice museum and there are stair that you can go up to for a second level so that you can see the exhibits on the ground floor from above. I made sure i did not miss this in Norway!

May-Sept 0900-1800, Oct-Apr 100-1600