Viking Ships and Royal Tombs - UNESCO World Heritage Site in Roskilde

Viking Ships and Royal Tombs - UNESCO World Heritage Site in Roskilde

Visit the magnificent cathedral and the thousand-year-old Viking ships on this guided tour around Roskilde's cultural world heritage.

Roskilde Cathedral and the Viking Ship Museum - two places that are both recognized as unique world cultural heritage. The cathedral is the church in the world that has the most kings and queens buried: 21 kings and 18 queens. At the same time, it is a unique architectural testimony to the changing art and architectural styles of the past as well as a display of the changing views on monarchy in Denmark.

Highlights of the trip are Margrethe the 1st's distinguished tomb and Christian the 4th's beautifully decorated chapel, which displays the king's legacy as a colorful warrior king.

The Viking Ship Museum houses the original 5 Skuldelev ships, Museumsøen houses the large collection of reconstructed Viking ships and Nordic wooden boats that showcase what the original ships looked like a thousand years ago. The boatyard on the Museum Island next to the museum is open from May to mid-October, it imparts vivid Viking Age craftsmanship and boat building culture.

We will visit both places to explore a milleneum of Danish history - from the Vikings' ravages and adventurous spirit to the kings' uniting and pacifying of the country. We will consider the question of who the Vikings really were and get closer to the center of power and the cheerful, touching, and sad stories that surround the Danish kings and queens.

If time allows, we will make a small city walk around the old Roskilde city center, or enjoy new Nordic food at the Viking Ship Museum's Café Knarr.