Viking World

I really thought last month was going to be a two post month, but we all know it wasn’t. I’m hoping that it’ll be two posts this month, but with Thanksgiving coming and some real life stresses going on, I don’t have high hopes for myself. I’ve always struggled with keeping to a schedule for this blog, everything I’ve tried so far hasn’t stuck. So for now, enjoy this one…

Viking World, located in Njardvik, Iceland
(Víkingaheimar)

Viking World is open Monday to Sunday from 10am to 4pm. (They had longer opening hours when I visited pre-Covid, so hopefully when things get better, they’ll go back to the longer hours.) Admission to Viking World is 1800ISK, which is approximately 14USD. (This admission price is what I paid when I visited, it’s probably changed by now, but I can’t find an exact price, so expect it to be around 1800ISK. Also the USD is an approximation, since it depends on the exchange rate when you visit.) The museum is located in the town of Njardvik, so if you’re in the area, walking to the museum is definitely doable. If you are further away, then visiting via car is one option and you won’t have to worry about parking as the museum has free parking right outside. If you don’t have car, it’s possible to visit via public transportation. Bus#55 will get you to the museum, either from the Klefavik Airport or from Reykjavik, though you might have to take another bus first from Reykjavik to catch Bus#55. There’s no other museums nearby, but you can visit the area’s beach or stroll through the town of Njardvik.

Viking World is a two floor museum that houses a replica of a Viking ship, in addition to other artifacts. Viking World contains four exhibits (according to the website, but I counted five), so my travel buddies and I started on the first floor with the exhibit, “The Settlement of Iceland”. This exhibit details the findings of the oldest settlement in Iceland in addition to Viking history. The oldest settlement in Iceland is a cabin in Hafnir, a small village on the Reykjanes peninsula, from the ninth century. According to the exhibit, researchers are not sure whether the cabin was part of a settlement or part of an Viking outpost. The exhibit also has some displays on the Vinland Sagas, and the location of Vinland, which is quite possibly located in present day Newfoundland. In addition, there are some interesting tidbits about the death rites of the Vikings.

We then moved on  to the second floor to see the the main attraction of Viking World, the Íslendingur aka the Icelander. The Icelander is an exact replica of the Gokstad Viking Ship, which dates back to the settlement of Iceland, so it was highly probable that the settlers used ships similar to the Gokstad Ship. The Icelander is actually a functional ship as it had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 2000. The Icelander sits on pillars at the museum, so that visitors can view the ship from all angles in addition to being able to climb on board. Continuing on the second floor is the exhibit called “Fate of the Gods”, which focuses on Norse mythology and myths. Apparently there is an audio guide to go with the exhibit, but I didn’t know that, so I saw it without (I was kinda confused as to what it was I was looking at, since there was no writings anywhere, but it was still an interesting exhibit to walk through.) Finishing up on the second floor is another exhibit “Viking Art” (the one the museum doesn’t count it). The exhibit highlights the distinctive artistic styles of the Viking era from 800-1050AD, in addition to types of art such as stone carving, wood carving and tapestry to name a few.

Returning to the first floor is the last exhibit, “Vikings of the North Atlantic”, which details the expansion of the Vikings across the North Atlantic. The exhibit informs visitors of the many reasons behind the Vikings exploration of the North Atlantic, one being that the Norse considered themselves as stock farmers mainly, and to farm one needed land, but Norway had limited land, so those without had to go seek land for themselves to continue their way of life. In addition, the exhibit highlights other aspects of their exploration, such as how they settled into their new lands, established societies and towns.

My travel buddies and I spent about an hour at the museum, but others will take more or less time depending on their interests. As mentioned above, I missed out on the audio guide for one of the exhibits and I didn’t read all the written material, so it may take more than a hour if you want to take in everything. About the admission, I’m not quite sure it’s worth the almost 15USD I spent, as the museum is a bit on the small side, but the Viking ship is worth seeing. If the admission was 10USD, I would say it’s acceptable or if I had managed to get my hand on that audio guide, then I may not be mentioning about the admission price at all. (I don’t know if it was my carelessness for missing the audio guide or the museum not mentioning about it onsite, but I’m kind of stuck on it, so anyone visiting, note there is an audio guide; so listen to it and tell me what I missed.) Overall, anyone interested in history, especially Viking history, and Viking ships will have a great time. Vikings are renowned for their ships, and a great place to see one is at Viking World.