Viking History, Runes & Countryside 9h Tour to Sigtuna & Uppsala
Description
Uncover the secrets of Sweden's Viking heritage, while exploring ancient places and Viking runestones, on this full day tour out of Stockholm. Travel trough the beautiful Swedish countryside to historically important places joined by a expert Viking guide. Learn about the complexity of the Viking Age while you experience a Viking parliament, cross a Viking runestone bridge and decipher inscriptions on 1000 years old runestones. Stroll the cozy town Sigtuna, Sweden's oldest town, and immense yourself in Viking culture at the once pagan Old Uppsala. History enthusiasts, and Viking interested, will delight at this educational tour enriching your knowledge about the Vikings, while experiencing Sweden outside Stockholm. • Full day Viking history tour surrounded by beautiful Swedish nature. • Uncover Sweden's fascinating Viking past at several carefully selected places. • See Viking gravefields, ancient runestones and a Viking parliament. • Visit Sigtuna, Uppsala City and Old Uppsala mounds
Tour Options
Itinerary
See Viking runestones and hear their messages. They tell us about the family who lived by the site. Learn about Estrid, a Viking woman that might have travelled to Jerusalem. Learn about Viking burial customs, Old Norse language and the excavations at the site.
See and walk upon a reconstructed Viking causeway bridge. Learn about the braggy Viking lord who built it about a thousand years ago. Get an understanding for how power was divided in the Viking society and what different social groups lives looked like.
Visit one of the best preserved Viking assembly sites (thing site) in the world, Arkils Tingstad. Here you will see a preserved structure that makes it easy for you to visualise what happened at the site. Learn about Viking law and social customs, go down to the lakeside and learn about Vikings ships and exploration.
Experience the Viking king Olof's fall from glory and troý to reclaim his lost kingdom. You'll experience one of the best preserved church ruins in Sigtuna, dating to 1120 AD while hearing the story of the king who gave his name to this ruin.
A walking tour of the this cozy wooden town even Swedes visit for vacation and if time allows, some time on your own in Sweden's oldest town. You will also have your lunch here.
A visit to the unique site of Old Uppsala. Here you will experience the largest burial hills in Sweden. These mounds are about 10 meters high and more than 50 meters wide in diameter. Learn about the historical importance of the place, this was an early royal center of a kingdom that preceded the Swedish kingdom.
A shorter visit in the cathedral and one of two stops in Uppsala city's historic district. Learn about the history of the university that was founded in 1477. Experience the medieval archeological history of the city as your guide takes you through the district. Stop at important historic buildings from dating from the 17th to 19th century. Take a look inside the cathedral on your own if you wish.
This stop at the castle courtyard will give beautiful photos of the city from the highest point in Uppsala. The guide gives you a highlight of the Uppsala castle fascinating and bloody history.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We offer hotel pick up at all central hotels, ports and other accommodations within 3 km from Stockholm central station (please write in your hotel when you book or email it afterwards if it dosn't work or comment it afterwards, and you can use Google Maps to check your distance from Stockholm central station). If you're staying in the Old town (where it is not possible to get in by car) or another location we may ask you to walk a few 100 meters/few minutes to another location where we pick you up. If you are outside the pick up zone we will give you directions to a meeting place that is easy to get to with public transit depending on the other hotel. If you are unsure if you're in or out please email us after booking. Pick up normally starts at 30-60 minutes before depature. Please note that this is flexible depending on different factors like the number of reservations, time of year and traffic conditions. We will be in touch one day in advance of a public tour with your final starting time, if you want to know beforehand or want that we arrange a fixed time for you please contact us by email. If your tour departs from a cruise pier: If your ship arrives at S165 and S167 STADSGÅRDEN: Please walk a few hundred meters away from your ship while following the BLUE/GREEN lines. Go past the fences and guards, and your guide will wait there, with a sign saying "Viking Tours" on an A4-paper. NOTE: If you enter any other harbor number in STADSGÅRDEN than S165 or S167 please go outside the fences and guards and the guide will meet you there on the time of the tour. We recommend that you are available on cell phones to avoid issues during pick-up. If your ship arrives at F638 FRIHAMNEN: Upon debarking the ship, please go through the terminal building. Once you go past the sliding doors (everyone else that departs the ship will walk out this way), the guide will meet you just outside the sliding doors. The guide will be holding an A4-paper saying "Viking Tours". NOTE: If you enter any other harbor number in FRIHAMNEN than F638 please go outside the fences and guards and the guide will meet you there on the time of the tour. If your ship arrives at V523 VÄRTAHAMNEN: Walk from your ship towards the tourist buses, which is less than 10 meters from the ship hull. The guide will wait for you at the tourist bus area, near the buses, with an A4-paper, which says "Viking Tours." The guide will then direct you to the tour vehicle. NOTE: If you enter any other harbor number in VÄRTAHAMNEN than V523 please go outside the fences and guards and the guide will meet you there on the time of the tour. If your ship arrives at NYNÄSHAMN: NO PICK UP INCLUDED HERE. That is due to it being 50 km away from Stockholm central station. We recommend you to contact us and decide on a meeting place in Central Stockholm. We will give directions on how to go there either by train or by taking one of the cruise buses going from the harbor into Stockholm.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- The duration of transfers are approximate, the exact duration will depend on the time of day and traffic conditions
- Comfortable walking shoes are recommended
- The drop-offs commence after the tour duration (you pay for a 8-hour tour and pick-up and drop-off).
- Hotel guests will get a pick up time 1-2 days before the tour date.
- Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund. THE MINIMUM NUMBER IS 3 PERSONS. We hold the right to cancel a tour if the number is below 3 persons for all tour reservations combined.
Reviews(339)
We had a wonderful time. Olof did a great job and was very informative. We were in a group of seven people in a van which was perfect. We would not have been able to see these sights by foot or easily with public transportation and the large bus tours would not have been able to cover as many places in a day.
Calle & Christian were great guides and kept the whole day interesting, engaging and fun throughout.
We were on a trip with 2 vans and unfortunately, the tour guide was on the other van so it was silent most of the time in our van. I was expecting the tour guide to be in our van but It was disappointing that we only had the driver
Great historical overview of the Vikings. Gabriel was extremely knowledgeable. Nice to get out of Stockholm and see the countryside.
This was an amazing outing! Unless you had a car and new exactly where to go you would never see these beautiful Viking runes. The guide was a local and knew so much about Viking and Swedish history that it really made the trip special. Also so other special areas including Uppsala were visited. Definitely a full day but worth every penny!
It is interesting to learn about the history of the Vikings, although there are no remains left that are attractive to see.
This tour was okay but we would have liked to hear more history along with the many things we saw. It was okay.
Hi, thanks for 4 of 5 starts and good feedback. Good that you liked the tour stops and thanks for the feedback and how we can improve our guided tours. More time and stories about the particular stops(?), please If you want to elaborate futher on what you want to hear we gladly take feedback to info@swedenhistorytours.se on how we can improve sweden history tours tours.
Very interesting historical trip with olaf, our tour guide. Went to some places that tourists wont go and found it very interesting
Christian was fantastic. So informed, polite, funny, and the perfect tour host! We anticipated more free time at each stop, but learned a lot and enjoyed the day all the same.
Very educational tour so worth it from that perspective. Got a good glimpse into Viking history on a specific family which made it connect together well. However limited access to bathrooms, lots of driving around.
Hi, thanks for your review and thanks for your feedback. Always good to get feedback. Happy to read that it was well put together, and very educational and that the stories the guide told you stayed in your mind after going home. The stops are quite far from each other, apart from the first 3 stops whom have 5min in between them, with the two following going around 40min between two who follows next with Sigtuna and Uppsala. Also thanks for the bathroom feedback, I will check this up if we can add some gas station stop for that and remind the guides of asking about it. / Owe
