Imagine a huge historical warship lifted from its watery grave where it has laid for 300 years. And now imagine a museum that houses that ship. You think that could only exist in your imagination? No, such a museum actually exists and that is Vasa museum in Stockholm, Sweden. It’s definitely one of a kind museum and as such it’s apparently one of the most visited tourist attractions in Sweden.
On our second day in Stockholm (in April) my husband and I decided to visit several museums including the Vasa Museum named after the ship it houses. I was a bit reluctant to visit it since you have to pay for the entrance (130 SEK) and because I didn’t think that I could get impressed by another ship museum after I’d been to the Viking ship museum in Oslo which was awesome. Vasa museum is situated on Djurgården island where you can find several other interesting museums (e.g Skansen open air museum and Nordiska museet) as well as an amusement park (Gröna Lund ) and plenty of green space to relax. We took the underground from our hotel and changed twice to reach the Karlaplan station from where we walked for about 10 minutes to the Vasa museum. We walked past several beautiful houses with art nouveau details.
First impressions: After you’ve entered the Vasa Museum you find yourself right in front of a huge warship and you look up to its mast and can’t believe how tall and huge that ship is and how tiny you are in comparison. You can download for free the museum app and walk around while listening to the guide on your phone. My husband did just that while I just wandered around.


So what’s the story behind Vasa warship? In a nutshell Vasa warship was built during the Swedish War with Poland-Lithuania in the 17th century. The ship sank on its maiden voyage on 10 August 1628 after only sailing for 1 300 meters. The bronze cannons were salvaged not long after the ship’s tragic destiny but the rest of the ship was left intact to rot in the sea just outside of Stockholm harbour. Vasa warship was in the sea for 333 years before it was re-discovered by Anders Franzén and salvaged in 1961.
What can you see in the museum? Well, the ship is obviously the main attraction but there are exhibits that tell the story of the ship’s building, the possible reasons why it sank, the story of the salvation and the preservation and what I found to be the most interesting part was the story of the Life on boat. You can also see the bones of poor sailors and learn about some people who were on-board. Since my husband and I investigated the museum separately I had to show him afterwards a very fun UV camera which shows off your body heat. There’s also a part of the museum dedicated to the other historic events that took place at the same time as the sinking of the Vasa warship.
Museum facilities: There are toilets, a restaurant, lockers and a kind of seating/eating area in the museum. There are also two cinema /screenings rooms where you can learn more about Vasa warship. You can walk from one floor to another or take the elevator. There’s also a gift shop at the exit.
Final impressions: You can walk all around the Vasa warship and admire it up close. There’s also a scaled model which is very colourful and my husband was slightly disappointed that Vasa actually looked so jovial despite being a warship. The ship was also heavily decorated. I was utterly amazed by the sheer size of Vasa warship and how good it looked after being in the sea for so long (thanks to the scientists who still work on the ship). Did I like this museum? Yes, I did. 🙂 I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who is visiting Stockholm. We spent approximately an hour and a half in the museum because I have the patience of a child when it comes to museums and I don’t really read every single description like my husband does. In my opinion it was enough to enjoy the museum but if you asked my husband we would have stayed there for hours.
ps. It was hard to take a photo of the entire ship
Have you been to Stockholm? What did you visit?
p.s I’m finally getting around my Stockholm posts about our weekend trip in late April. I hope you saw the photo post of Stockholm I published earlier 🙂
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Also my favourite in Stockholm!
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cool!
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Will put this on my list for when we’re in Stockholm. I can’t believe it sank so quickly! I think my daughter would probably enjoy it too – what do you think? Were there a few families there too? Thanks for linking to #citytripping
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there were a number of school children but I’m not sure whether I saw any toddlers.
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What a fantastic museum and ship. If you enjoyed this you would also like the Mary Rose in Portsmouth. It was one of Henry VIII’s ships and sank in The Solent off the South of England. It was recovered in the 1980s after 400+ years. It isn’t in as good a shape as Vasa but the story is fascinating! #citytripping
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that sounds very interesting: in Portsmouth?maybe one day..:)
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This museum sounds fascinating, Tanja. You’ve made me really want to visit. Devastating that it sank on its maiden voyage too!
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thanks:) yes, it’s got a tragic history
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This sounds incredible – fascinating to see it in a museum and to learn some of the history. I really need to make it to Sweden. #citytripping
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🙂
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I loved the Vasa museum, it was so fascinating to read the stories about the people on board. I couldn’t get a picture of the whole ship either, haha. #citytripping
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yes, it’s huge:) thanks for stopping by:)
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My kids would love this. Indulging them in their pirate fantasies. Pretty sure they wouldn’t know the difference between warship and pirate ships. #CityTripping
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🙂 it’s a great museum:)
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What an amazing museum, and one I would love to see. Vasa Museum is a must for us to understand more of the history of this area.
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yes, it’s a great museum:) thanks for reading:)
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What a very neat museum! I love the details and how in such great ship it is. I really like how it defies what a war ship image should be. Hope to visit this someday.
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thanks for reading:) I hope you visit it too:)
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Ah, memories of the Vasa! For me, it’s all part of the experience of being on Djurgården. 🙂
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great, so you went there too?
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Oh yes, that’s yet another set of photos about which I’d like to write something, but it’s been a few years. However, I really enjoyed my short time in Stockholm, no doubt helped by the fact I visited at summer solstice. 🙂
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We’ll be in Stockholm in July and I can’t wait to go to the Vasa Museum! I think I’ll leave Corinne behind since I’m sure she’ll want to leave much to soon.
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🙂 that sounds like a good plan if she’s like me and if you more like my husband:)))
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Very interesting ship. I went to the Viking ship museum in Oslo but the Vasa looks much bigger and better preserved / restored. Of course, it would also be much newer than the ships on display in Oslo.
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Yes, it’s huge and totally preserved but it’s like 97% original parts. Viking ships are much older and they haven’t been restored I think but just preserved:) thanks for reading
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We haven’t been to Stockholm as yet, but the Vasa Museum certainly looks like it’s worth a visit. Thanks for sharing it Tanja 🙂
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Yes,it is:) thanks:)
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Sounds like you had just as an amazing experience as I did 🙂
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:))
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Great post Tanja. I visited the Vasa museum 2 years ago. I know what you mean when you say it was difficult to take a photo of the entire ship. It’s huge isn’t it?
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yes, it’s rather tall and big!thanks:)
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Gorgeous photos and high quality report about this museum. One question. Do You have any idea about the size of model ship? In Finland we inside our churches similar ships on our coastlines.
Thank You for this great report.
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No, I don’t really remember the scale to which the model ship was built, sorry. thanks for stopping by:)
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No problem. Now You can compare Vasa ship model and our ships inside churches.
Ships inside churches.
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ok:) I’ll have a look
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Looks like a really cool museum to visit! 😀 Thanks for linking up!
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🙂 thanks:)
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I remember visiting this years ago before the blog, I would love to return Thanks for sharing!
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🙂 you’re welcome:)
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Great post! I was also a bit uncertain about visiting Vasa Museum, since it’s not a Viking ship (note to self: next destination, Oslo!). But it looks impressive indeed, so I’ll include it in my sightseeing plan for Stockholm! Thank you Tanja 🙂
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you’re welcome:)
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That boat really gets you back in time. Such an amazing place! Thanks for linking up!
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🙂 thanks:))
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WOW! What a great place to visit! Thanks for sharing info and photos about the Vasa Museum. Have to go there on my next travel back to Europe:-)
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Stockholm is really beautiful,this is just one of the interesting places there:) thanks:)
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Such an amazing place! I also enjoyed going when I was in Stockholm, so thank you for brining back the memories 🙂 So glad you linked up with us again!
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thanks. It’s a great place really:)
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The ship looks enormous! I’m eager to visit this place Tanja…
I’m sure it was overwhelming to hear about why the ship sank & to see the bones of people on board…
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it is huge. thanks for reading:)
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I can prove that it’s pretty amazing as I visited this museum a couple of years ago :)!
http://www.travelekspert.com/2016/06/around-bali-in-one-day.html
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great!:) thanks for reading:)
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Vasa museum was one of my favourite museums in Stockholm and I must have gone there a few times, while living there. Thanks for bringing back the memory through your post.
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:)that’s great.thanks for reading:)
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I absolutely loved the museum and the history behind it! Just saw a clip on TV (we only have Swedish TV at the moment, haha) the other day and they said that they have to renovate the ship and replace all the nails which will take like a year or so. So fascinating! Can’t wait to read more about your trip to Stockholm 🙂
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thanks!:) Yes, the nail thing was mentioned in the museum:)
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We didn’t have time to see the Vasa Museum in Stockholm when we were there – must go back! That is amazing, thanks for sharing. Cheers from Copenhagen- Erin
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thanks:) It’s a great museum:)
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