The Nordic countries are all about water, and ships tell a lot about their intertwined histories. Two excellent museums featuring historic watercraft, the Vasa Museum in Stockholm and the Viking Ships Museum in Roskilde (near Copenhagen) captured our imaginations and filled us in on both the life of the eras the ships represent, and the intricacies of underwater archeology projects on a huge scale.

When we asked friends for advice of what to see in Stockholm, just about everyone suggested the Vasa Museum. Much more than “a museum with a really big ship” (paraphrasing one of my friends), it is a museum with a REALLY big ship (four stories high and about 2/3 as long as a football field) as its centerpiece, and lots of interesting interpretation about the ship’s origins and how it got into the museum.

Basically, this towering war ship was built in the early 1620s to show off the prowess of the Swedish king, Gustav II Adolph. It was elaborately carved and painted, fit out with 64 cannon ports, and could accommodate 130 crew members and 300 soldiers. The problem is, it was not particularly seaworthy, and sunk on its maiden voyage in the Stockholm harbor, within sight of its launching dock.

There it lay, 105 feet below, settling further and further into the mud, until some enterprising individuals in the late 1950s finally conquered the technology to bring it up and stabilize the old wood so it wouldn’t crumble into bits. At the museum, side galleries with the story of this incredible endeavor, as well as galleries exploring the building of the ship and life around the docks in the 1600s, and lots more, garnish the ship itself. But, let’s face it, the sheer bulk and remarkable (relative) state of preservation of the behemoth are the big draw. I would definitely echo the advice of our friends and urge you to put this on your itinerary should you find yourself in Stockholm.

The second ship museum we visited is a short train ride from Copenhagen. This is not a “Viking Museum” per se, but rather a museum housing the iron and (some) wood skeletons of five ships of various sizes from the Viking era. These five ships explain a lot about the day to day life of those times (circa 800-1050 BC). Vikings, many people assume, were just a bunch of rowdy marauders who sailed around plundering other people’s fortunes.

Well, there was actually some of that, but as the ships reveal, not all Viking boats were used for sea-going treasure seeking. There is a small and larger war ship, but also ships used for local travel and ferrying merchandise to market. These ships had served their purposes, and were deliberately sunk in a channel of the fjord (not one of those dramatic fjords like the ones in Norway, but a very pretty body of water with land on three sides anyway) to deter enemy ships from attacking the town.

Like the Vasa, the Viking ships of Roskilde were brought up and preserved. Unlike the Vasa, they were in much shallower water (and also a lot smaller and lighter), and the recovery team was able to build a sort of dam all around the site, pumped out the water, and what was left of the ships emerged from their watery graves. Very cool, and explained in detail in one gallery of the museum.

Having accomplished all sorts of tests on the remaining wood, the scientisits working on the project found that one ship had actually been built in Dublin, Ireland. (Now I understand why there are so many red haired Irish people!?) They built a replica of the ship, and sailed it to Ireland. The ship, and other replicas, reside at the docks of the museum and now you, too, can “play Viking” and help propel this and another replica around the fjord via sails and oars. (We opted out of this activity!) The museum grounds also include boat building and rope making shops.

I must also report that there is a very amazingly imposing cathedral in Roskilde, full of ornate tombs of various Danish royalty. The downtown has some great eating options, (including an Indian restaurant we treated ourselves to). So, this small city makes a great day trip from Copenhagen.

Two museums in two Nordic countries, lots of history represented in their ships. Check them out in some photos below, and visit them if you go on some Nordic Adventures of your own.