The Viking Age Museum

The famous Viking Ship Museum at Bygdøy in Oslo is currently closed. But don’t remove it from your bucket list just yet. The old museum is becoming part of the much larger Viking Age Museum, scheduled to open in 2027.

And the stars of the show are already safely inside their new home: three original Viking ships that have survived for more than a thousand years.

Three incredible Viking ships

The museum is home to the Oseberg, Gokstad and Tune ships. All three were discovered in large burial mounds in Eastern Norway.

The Oseberg Ship is probably the most famous. Built around AD 820, the beautifully decorated ship was buried in AD 834 with two women. The extraordinary grave also contained sledges, beds, textiles, wooden carvings and everyday objects.

The Gokstad Ship was built around AD 890 and is larger and more seaworthy. It was discovered in a burial mound in Sandefjord in 1880. The ship had room for 32 oarsmen and demonstrates just how capable Viking ships could be at sea.

The Tune Ship is less complete, but historically just as fascinating. Excavated in 1867, it was the first Viking ship to be professionally excavated in Norway. It was a fast, ocean-going vessel dating from around AD 910.

Together, the three ships provide an extraordinary glimpse into Viking shipbuilding, travel and burial traditions.

More than ships

The ships are only part of the story. The new museum will preserve and display the world’s largest collection of objects from the Viking Age. Thousands of artefacts will tell stories about everyday life, craftsmanship, trade, travel, religion, warfare and death.

Among the spectacular objects are the beautifully carved sledges from the Oseberg burial. Another new attraction will be “A Thousand Swords” – a glass display more than ten meters high containing 385 Viking Age swords or sword fragments.

Interactive installations, film, sound and modern exhibition technology will help bring the Viking Age to life. The museum will also include research and conservation facilities, allowing visitors to get closer to the work behind preserving these extremely fragile objects.

Building around the Viking treasures

Moving the ships was an enormous challenge. After almost a century inside the old Viking Ship Museum, they had become too fragile for normal transport. Therefore, each ship was secured inside a massive steel support structure and moved extremely slowly into the new building.

The operation was completed successfully in 2026. The original museum building from 1926 is being preserved and incorporated into the new museum. Together with the new extension, the museum will cover more than 13,000 square metres – around three times the size of the old Viking Ship Museum.

When the doors finally open, this will not simply be the return of the old Viking Ship Museum. It will be an entirely new museum built around some of the most important Viking treasures in the world.

And yes – it will definitely be worth the wait.

If you want to see some of the objects from the Viking Ship Museum’s exhibition, many are temporary moved to Historical museum in Oslo. Check their webpage for details. You can also see videos, digital guided tours and 360 images of the ships on this page.

👉 You should also check out my other Viking sites in my Bucket List.