Sailing on a Viking Ship

Roskilde, Denmark

One of my all-time favorite travel memories has been to sail on a Viking ship in Roskilde Harbor. Filling the wind in my hair, the sea breeze in my face, and the excitement of raising the sails brought me in closer relation with the Vikings than anything I’ve ever done.

As for the boat, it was constructed in the Faroe Islands rather recently, but using construction techniques that were brought to the islands by the original Viking settlers. There were only two differences between the boat that we sailed on and the ones that first brought these Vikings to the Faroe Islands so many years ago. First, newer boats have only one rudder. Viking ships had two rudders. One rudder allows for easier sailing. The second difference was that the ships had a built-in modern bilge pump. That’s it, all the other technology was from the previous millennium. The boats are still made out of wood, the oars are still constructed the same way, and the sails are still sewn out of the same material. The boat we were on was primarily used for shorter journeys but could cross the Atlantic Ocean.

If you want to take a sailing voyage, book your trip either in advance or early in the day, as we did with the Official Copenhagen Card to enter the museum. There has to be a certain number of people in order for the voyage to depart, but these voyages are rather popular.

Unlike original Viking ships, you will go through a safety procedure and receive a lifejacket prior to boarding. The captain will ask who has previous rowing experience and will try to place people in order of their experience to make sure they have at least someone who can help row the ship out of the harbor. Adrienne and I ended up sitting in the second row; both of us had rowed a boat before. It was easy to get frustrated with some of the people who were on the boat, as I was rolling the person who was sitting in front of me, kept hitting my paddle every two or three strokes, I hit the water, and I almost wanted to tell them just pull your oar up so that we can get to where we are going. Because of where we were sitting, Adrienne got the help to raise the sail, and once we harnessed the power of the wind, the voyage was quite pleasant.

Roskilde Harbor is rather picturesque, as the cathedral towers over the town. It was easy to imagine the thoughts of those Viking sailors as they were returning home from their long voyages. The wind was with us on our voyage, and we were able to sail back into the harbor without having to bring the oars out. In my travels around the world, I’ve always appreciated being able to sail on different bodies of water, and Roskilde Harbor was one of the most memorable of those voyages. If you find yourself at the Viking Ship Museum, take advantage of this excursion, as it helped me appreciate the boats on display inside.