Explore Denmark's Viking history - Telegraph

Explore Denmark's Viking history - Telegraph


The Vikings are coming! Exactly 1,000 years ago, that must have been the cry along the coasts of England as Danish king Swein Forkbeard and his son Canute mounted a conquest of our green and pleasant land.


The helmeted bunch had been making forays across the North Sea for many years, but this time Swein managed to send English king Ethelred the Unready scuttling off to Normandy and declared himself ruler.


A common perception of Vikings is of bloodthirsty warriors but, whatever the truth, their Danish descendents today are among the friendliest folk you’ll find anywhere – and keen to celebrate the more romantic aspects of their ancestors.


I joined in the fun by taking my own car on the overnight DFDS Seaways ferry from Harwich in Essex to Esbjerg on Denmark’s west coast.

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And once I‘d enjoyed all the dining and entertainment facilities on board, I drove straight off on my Viking adventure.

If you follow in my wake this year, in between discovering Viking history, you can indulge in Denmark’s fantastic sandy beaches, picturesque countryside, charming villages, excellent museums and galleries and fine cuisine.

I’d suggest Ribe as the first stop. The oldest town in Scandinavia – just half an hour from Esbjerg – it has a huge cathedral and lovely cobbled streets filled with shops and cafes.

There’s also the VikingeCenter, a brilliant family park with recreations of a Viking farm, longhouse, market and more, with lots of hands-on activities such as archery and regular falconry displays. Volunteers dress in costumes of the age to enhance the whole effect.

Meanwhile, I found the Ribes Vikinger to be a well-thought-out museum stuffed with Viking-era artefects that were discovered nearby and depictions of scenes from a millennium ago and from the Middle Ages. The model of how Ribe looked in Viking times sets the scene well, and youngsters will enjoy sitting in the full-size boat recreation, guessing the weight of a suit of chainmail or dressing up in period togs.

My next visit was to Jelling, the place to get a real feel for the Viking era just before their invasion of England. One of Europe’s most important historical sites – and now a UNESCO World Heritge Site – it is home to two huge rune stones. The smallest was inscribed by King Gorm the Old – grandfather of the marauding Swein Forkbeard – and is often called the nation’s birth certificate because it is the first recorded mention of the land of Denmark.

The smaller stone is that of Harold Bluetooth, his son; it’s known as Denmark’s Certificate of Baptism as it reveals the country’s conversion to Christianity.

The rune stones are outside a beautiful white church that dates back to around 1100; it lies between two Viking burial mounds. As you’d expect, the whole site is on Unesco’s World Heritage List.

Make sure you pop in to the Kongernes (Royal) Jelling visitors centre opposite. It gives a detailed explanation of the significance of the monuments; if that’s too deep for children, they can try writing their name in runic letters or play a Viking game.

If you happen to be in the area on the first weekend in July, there will be a spectacular Viking Market on the lawns next to the mounds with craft workshops and all sorts of warrior activities.

In summer, there are trips on a reproduction Viking ship on Fårup Sø, a pretty lake close to the town.

Jelling is little more than an hour’s drive from Esbjerg. Don’t tell the kids, but it’s also close to Legoland, the major theme park devised around the little plastic bricks.

A few miles west of the town of Vejle is Ravning Enge, site of a huge bridge built across the river valley by Harold Bluetooth’s men. Two of the giant pierheads have been reconstructed.

I found Vejle to be a convenient overnight stop. From here, it’s worth heading north-east to the next monument, Fyrkat, thought to be the oldest of the Viking ring fortresses and built by Harold Bluetooth around 980.

Once, 16 identical longhouses were established within the circular ramparts – their positions have been marked out by archaeologists so you can imagine how it would have looked. There’s a very good oak reconstruction of one of these buildings along with a farmstead where Viking crafts are demonstrated during the summer.

A little further north is another fascinating sight – almost 700 graves scattered on a hill that make up Scandinavia’s largest Viking burial ground, Lindholm Høje, near the city of Aalborg. Vikings tended to be cremated on their ships and their remains buried here, which is why many of the stones are arranged in oval ship shapes. Look closely and you can still see markings that were preserved under drifting sands for centuries.

Heading back towards the DFDS Seaways ferry that will take you home, I would suggest taking the route to Ringkøbing, on the coast a little more than an hour north of Esbjerg.

This town is on the Ringkøbing Fjord – more like a giant lagoon – and its contribution to our theme is Bork Vikingehavn (Viking Harbour). Another vibrant depiction of life 1,000 years ago, it’s an open-air museum with a special focus on the sturdy ships the Vikings sailed from here to raid and trade across the seas.

Probably the highlight is Havørnen – Sea Eagle – a 60ft reconstruction of a ship whose remains were found in a Norwegian fjord. It is joined by a longhouse and activities include archery with a traditional longbow, baking bread and making jewellery.

Every August the celebrations are ramped up with a special fair featuring hundreds of wannabe Vikings.

All these attractions and more can be enjoyed on a tour of Jutland, which is the largest of the three main geographical landmasses that make up Denmark.

With more time, or to try a different route, the large islands of Funen and Sealand are also easy to reach from Esbjerg and have several more excellent Viking sites.

On Funen, these include the Viking Museum at Ladby. When a chieftain died, his ship was hauled ashore and covered with a burial mound, along with his worldy goods. Today, the imprint of the ship is still clearly visible.

Zealand is the name of the easternmost large island, where you’ll find Denmark’s capital Copenhagen.

In the city, a major exhibition will open on June 22 at the Danish National Museum, called simply Viking. The highlight will be a huge shipwreck from the era, plus important finds from Viking sites including chess pieces from the Outer Hebrides.

Around Roskilde, which is a short drive from the capital, there are outstanding attractions in addition to the impressive cathedral where Viking kings and queens are buried.

The Viking Ship Museum features five restored ships that were recovered from the nearby fjord. It’s possible to take a sailing trip on the fjord on a reproduction ship – great fun for children.

A few miles away there’s Sagnlandet Lejre, the “Land of Legends”. Once an important Viking settlement, it is now an open-air museum with a recreation of the original market town of Ravnsborg that will transport you back to the year 900.

The largest farm from the Viking age was found at Trelleborg, also on Zealand. Here is another example of King Harold Bluetooth’s work – a huge circular fortress, the thick, low walls of which are remarkably well preserved. Expect to find more displays of significant finds that are 1,000 or more years old, plus games for kids and even the chance to try the beer of the day.

Denmark is not a large country and, with my own transport, I found it very easy to combine an appreciation of Viking history with plenty else to see and do, all in one leisurely tour.