The Viking Ships in Roskilde The Viking Ship Museum exhibits the five 1000-year-old original ship finds from the Viking Age (the Skuldelev Ships) as well as a fleet of sailing reconstructions. Several of these reconstructions and other Nordic boats are also available to sail in. You can also meet the craftsmen who keep up the traditions of the old maritime trades, and you can try your hand with axes, ropes and many other activities. The permanent exhibitions are focused on the five Skuldelev Ships. The goal of these exhibits is to tell the story of these ships and of the many Nordic maritime adventures during the Viking Age. The five original Viking ships stand majestically with the Roskilde Fjord as a living backdrop. With this view, it becomes easy to imagine how the merchant set off for distant shores with his goods, the warriors waved goodbye to their families before the voyage and the fisherman embarked on the fjord with the hope of returning with a good catch. Sailing trips on Roskilde Fjord - Climb on board! Board a Viking ship and get up close!The Museum is the only place in the world where you can experience seeing 1000-year-old Viking ships, and then go directly out to the Museum harbor, where the full-scale reconstructed Viking ships lie moored at the quayside. The Viking Ship Museum invites its guests to take part in unique sailing trips with either Viking ships or traditional Nordic boats, which are the descendants of the Vikings' ships. Viking ships were originally used for war, trading, fishing and transport during short every day trips or on longer voyages to foreign shores. We go sailing on Roskilde Fjord every day with pre-booked corporate groups, school children and international group visitors. Take your family or friends with you for a special experience in an historical context, but with modern safety standards. You buy your ticket as an addition to the entrance ticket and during the summer season timeslots are posted and updated daily on our website.  

Experience an architectural masterpiece, where 1000 years of Danish history and 40 kings and queens lies buried under beautifully decorated vaults and in dark crypts. The Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  NOTE: Opening hours can vary. We kindly ask you to check the website. Venture on a time travel from the Middle Ages up until today. The cathedral’s long history and numerous chapels take you through 1000 years of Danish history and 800 years of European architectural history. This magnificent red brick Cathedral is a truly unique structure, and considered to be one of Denmark’s most important buildings. Its history can be traced as far back as the Viking king Harald ‘Bluetooth’. He is believed to have been buried on this site around 987. Construction of the present church began around 1200. The church is the first Gothic church buildings in Scandinavia built in bricks, and with its soaring arches and huge windows, it provides you with a fantastic impression of the Gothic idea of creating churches filled with light. With its many royal chapels, all built in their own distinctive architectural style, a visit to Roskilde Cathedral is a fascinating architectural odyssey. The royal family’s burial church In Roskilde Cathedral, 40 kings and queens lie buried in beautiful sarcophagi and coffins, from the Middle Ages until the present day. Get close to the woman behind the union of Denmark, Sweden and Norway Margrete I or Europe’s parents-in-law King Christian IX and Queen Louise. The sepulchral monument of the current Queen Margrethe II his already in place. As something unique, you can sit on the bench covering the monument until the death of the regent.      

Experience the history of Roskilde, once one of the most powerful cities in northern Europe and a religious epicentre in the medieval ages. Follow the traces of the past and meet the people who once lived here. It is the story of an unusual city that has put its clear marks on Denmark as we know it today.  At Roskilde Museum in the heart of one of Denmark’s most historical and culturally rich cities you can get a closer look on the pre-Christian times in Denmark, you can get to know the mysterious double Viking grave from Gerdrup, the story of the rise of a powerful catholic church in the Middle ages – and you can grasp the modern Roskilde. Join us on a journey, which takes its start before the foundation of the city in approximately 980 before Christ, experience the unique Ely book where ‘Roskilde’ was mentioned for the first time in history a 1000 years ago, and go through our special exhibition about trash and recycling in the contemporary city. AMAZING ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDINGS The exhibitions in Roskilde Museum contain many amazing objects found in excavations in and around the city of Roskilde. Ranging from the full skeleton of a prehistoric auroch and the mysterious tomb of Gerdrup to medieval silvercoins, chesspieces and weapons, and so much more! 

According to written sources from the middle ages, it was in the area surrounding Lejre Museum, that the birth of the Danish realm took place. It is here, you find the first line of Danish kings, Skjoldungerne, who, according to the legend, had their base during the Iron Age and the Viking Age in Denmark (500-1000 A.C.). Lejre Museum reopened with a brand new exhibition in March 2016. The exhibition combines digital installations and archaeological treasure findings, which gives unique historical experience. The legend tells, that just outside the doors of Lejre Museum, in the beautiful, scenic landscape, lay the great castle of Skjoldungerne, who descended from King Skjold. Skjoldungerne were mythical kings, but archaeological findings in the area suggest, that Gl. Lejre was one of the most important centers in the Viking ages. The exhibition is divided into three general themes. The first presents the original sources – the written myths and the archaeological evidence. Here you can experience the legendary myths through sound, light, and film, and it is here, that you get an introduction to the history of Lejre. The second main theme is shaped like a big digital wall map, where you actively can seek information about the monuments and the excavations in the area surrounding the museum. In the third theme, you find the museums archaeological treasures from the area – the world-renowned Odin-statue, the Gevninge-finding and Denmarks largest silver treasure, Mannerupskatten. Lejre Museum also has a cosy bookstore and shop, where you can immerse yourself in the ancient myths while you enjoy a delicious cup of organic coffee.

Jægerspris Castle is one of Denmark's oldest royal castles. It is beautifully located, surrounded by forest and fjords. The royal history goes back to the 13th Century and the castle has served as a hunting and summer residence for kings and queens. In 1854 Frederik VII and Countess Danner moved into Jægerspris Castle. They decorated the castle as their private residence and the rooms still stand as they did in the 1850s. The living rooms at Jægerspris Castle are decorated according to the taste of the time by the fashion- and style-conscious Countess Danner. Incidentally, the castle is the only place in Denmark where the interior design of the 1850s can be experienced as a whole. During a visit to the museum, you can also experience King Frederik VII’s archaeological collection, which contains several unique gold finds from the Bronze Age. You can also see an exhibition about the orphanage that Countess Danner set up at the castle. The exhibition tells how the children lived in the orphanage wards around the castle in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, and here it is shown how this large private orphanage has had an impact on childcare in Denmark. At the castle is a small cozy café, Cafe Danner, with organic coffee and tea, delicious cakes baked with care and cozy lunch. There is also a small shop with lots of gift ideas. The café and shop offer sheltered employment for people who find it difficult to find and maintain regular work. This year's special exhibition is about Jægerspris’ giant oaks, pictured by artists since the 1840s. After a visit to the museum, you can go for a walk in the castle park, where 54 memorial columns from the 1780s lead you from the park to the forest and Roskilde Fjord.

Willumsen's Museum is a museum for the Danish artist Jens Ferdinand Willumsen’s art and art collection as well as his archive and books. J.F. Willumsen – One of a kind and a great norm breaker in Danish art. Step inside his world, where transgressive, wild and ambitious works continue to challenge and fascinate us. Here at his museum you can experience Willumsen’s art, his private art collection and special exhibitions, as well as a range of activities for all ages. Take a look inside Willumsens’s World. Today many of Willumsen’s major works stand as significant contributions to Nordic modernism, but equally many were previously dismissed and have only recently been reclaimed by art history. Throughout his life Willumsen was determined to go his own way, and some of his most radical and explosively colourful works were made towards its end. This late period has, until recently, been largely underestimated, fulfilling Willumsen’s prophecy that his art would only be understood by posterity. Exhibitons (willumsensmuseum.dk): 'Like a Moth to the Flame', 10.2.24-28.7.24 There is a series of incredible coincidences in the works of Margin Bigum and J.F. Willumsen. Themes, color tones and motifs sneak in and out of each other across time and place. These coincidences - which have in the exhibition been placed side by side - in themselves make a juxtaposition between the two artists interesting. However, it is the artistic process, seen from the perspective of the creative artist, that is the core of the exhibition. At the exhibition, the audience can experience paintings, lithograåhs, sculptures, photographs, drawings and sketches by Willumsen and Bigum - from their very young years to their mature productions. Willumsen's World The first time Jens Ferdinand Willumsen (1863-1958) really caused a stir in Denmark was in 1891, the year he sent the etching Fertility from Paris to an exhibition in Copenhagen. Willumsen’s simple, symbolic portrayal of his pregnant wife and his proclamation of ‘new art’ outraged the Danish art audience, who nevertheless stood in line to see the scandalous work. Willumsen has divided opinion with his visually brash, often flamboyant, and at times extreme figurative art ever since. Willumsen breathed new life into the art of painting. He drew on tradition, but was also in dialogue with the popular culture of his own age. Quick strokes, caricatures, and loud colours were recurrent elements in many of his works as a painter. As a sculptor his works were monumental, the most famous being The Great Relief, now in the main gallery of the museum but originally intended for a bar in Chicago. Willumsen designed several buildings, including his own home in Hellerup, north of Copenhagen. In the 1930s he also designed a museum for his art and collection. The museum did not open until 1957, in the town of Frederikssund where his grandfather was born. Willumsen was active as an artist for over 70 years. He experienced two world wars, radical technological transformations, the break with identifiable motifs in avant-garde art, and the birth of modern, abstract painting. He travelled to the US, North Africa, and numerous European countries, and lived in the South of France from 1916 until his death in 1958. Willumsen lived with three different women during his lifetime, all of them active in the arts. The sculptor Edith Wessel, who Willumsen married in 1903 and never officially divorced, played a major role in his life and art, as did the French dancer Michelle Bourret, who he lived with later in life. Today many of Willumsen’s major works stand as significant contributions to Nordic modernism, but equally many were previously dismissed and have only recently been reclaimed by art history. Throughout his life Willumsen was determined to go his own way, and some of his most radical and explosively colourful works were made towards its end. This late period has, until recently, been largely underestimated, fulfilling Willumsen’s prophecy that his art would only be understood by posterity. Willumsen collected paintings he attributed to Rafael, Leonardo Da Vinci, El Greco, Rembrandt and Cézanne. He clearly saw himself as the last in a long line of master artists who had gone beyond the limits of the possible during their own lifetime. The museum houses Willumsen’s Old Collection of genuine and counterfeit works, which is key to understanding his artistic world and vision. Here we show a selection of Willumsen’s wide-ranging and all-embracing oeuvre. Through his self-portraits, the manifestation of his joie de vivre and exuberance in a monumental beach scene, and his use of collage aesthetics in the painting The Wedding of the King’s Son we trace the work of an artist of the past who continues to lay claim to his rightful place in the present.