Birka Boat Tour: Explore Viking Heritage

7 Ratings

Klara Mälarstrand 2

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Embark on a time-traveling boat tour to Birka, Sweden’s first city. Explore Viking history with guided tours and museum access. Book your adventure today.

Duration: 7 hours, 45 minutes

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

Birka Viking Museum & Shop (Exhibitions, Souvenirs, and Guided Tours) - Embark on a delightful boat trip to Birka, the historic Viking city and Sweden’s first city. Enjoy approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes to 3 hours and 30 minutes on the island, depending on your booking day. During your visit, explore the museum, participate in a guided tour…

What's Included

Reconstructed Viking Quarters and Museum
Live guide in Swedish and English
Boat tour
Guided tour of the ancient monument area

What's Not Included

Hotel pick-up/drop-off (not available)

Additional Information

Embark on a captivating journey to the Viking Age with an unforgettable boat trip to Birka, Sweden’s earliest known town and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ticket includes a round-trip cruise to Björkö, access to the Birka Museum, and a guided tour of the archaeological fields where Vikings once lived, traded, and traveled.
Established in the 750s on…

Location

Klara Mälarstrand 2

Klara Mälarstrand

This tour departs with M/S Mälar Victoria from Klara Mälarstrand, not far from Stockholm City Hall. Please arrive at least 30 minutes before departure to make sure you find good seats.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

3.4

(7 Ratings)

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Kelly

Oct 4, 2025

Very Interesting - If you’re expecting to see an intact Viking city, this is not possible because the buidkigs were largely wood and are long lost to time. Birka was one of the earliest Viking settlements and what you see on the tour are burial mounds of various types and ages and the city walls. There are also replica buildings and boats. What you do experience is a tour of Lake Mälaren for about two hours and a very interesting walking tour (some bits a bit steep) of the former city site on the island. There is a small museum and a decent cafe (we thought the food was quite good).

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Sthenno

Sep 14, 2025

An exceptional experience - This was an extraordinary experience – the chance to visit one of the most important archaeological sites in Western Europe, and to see for ourselves the burial mounds, the landscape, and something of how the people of Birka lived. The two hour boat trip was well worth it in and of itself. The lake is quite beautiful, and the chance to see the glorious Islands with their woods and small houses was delightful. There was a chilly breeze, but the boat was comfortable both on the Sun deck and in the lounge with its big viewing windows. The accompanying commentary was also really welcome and delivered in perfect English. When we reached the island, we took the chance to examine the museum which reconstructed what we’ve learned about four of the people buried on the island. The recent discovery that a grave long believed to be of a man is actually the grave of a woman warrior was especially intriguing. Then we did the walking tour of the burial mounds with a well informed and very articulate archaeologist as our guide. It is a little rough underfoot, but well worth the effort. We found the village reconstruction fascinating as well, not only because of the comical goats, but also because one of the reenactors carefully explained to us how the huts were made and how they were repaired. I could have listened to him all day. We brought a picnic so I can’t comment on the restaurant. If you are interested in the Vikings, I can’t recommend this place enough. It’s magical.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Michael_g

Jul 17, 2025

Long live the Viking lore and study - We had a lot of fun learning and exploring the island and its history. Guided tour of burial sites was excellent. Museum was also interesting

Review provided by Viator

Michieluzzo

Aug 17, 2025

A nice trip - He deserves the boat trip. A trip out of town to see nature and villages from the sea. On the island you always write about nature...beautiful. But nothing more. The museum is not a museum as it is normally understood. It's a nice outing.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

437heides

Jun 17, 2025

it's worth to visit (once) - a nice boat trip to and from the island (unfortunately the sound on the upper deck was bad so you couldn't understand half of the information provided); the island itself is beautiful and small, you can walk around it in 1-2 hours; the museum and the guided tour was interesting; otherwise there is not much on the island besides one restaurant/cafe (I remember some years ago, when the viking village was full of life, now it's just deserted houses; several years ago there were also at least two daily tours to the island, now it's one, which means everything mainly concentrates on the three hours that we were on the island - feels sad)

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Lars

Aug 10, 2025

Zero info about Stockholm on the bus - Zero information on anything. Only the names of the bus stations were mentioned. Nothing from the headphones. And no, they weren't defective. If you want to know what about Stockholm, you should definitely choose another provider. The information worked on the Stromma boat.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

O2313iogabrielp

Aug 5, 2025

This is nothing like they show in the brochures, so avoid disappointment and skip - This has nothing like they promote; there are no people dressed as Vikings, only a few houses (reconstructed), a shop and a restaurante; plus two small viking boats. If you are expecting something like a Renaissance Festival where they have people in character, see how they lived, taste their food etc... this is not for you. It is expensive for what they offer. The island is beautiful, but like thousands of islands in Sweden, so not worth the money they want to charge for a walk in the park. This could be a great adventure and touristic attraction if they invest in developing it in a more prepared way. So if you want to avoid a disappointment do something different.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Check Availability

From $60

up to 15 guests

1 - Adult