Museum of the Viking Age, Oslo: what to know before it reopens

The Oseberg, Gokstad and Tune ships are behind construction fencing until the new museum on Bygdøy opens, currently planned for the end of 2027. Until then, the Historical Museum downtown shows the best of the finds, including the only Viking helmet ever found.

The situation

The Viking Ship Museum on the Bygdøy peninsula, home to the best-preserved Viking ships in the world, closed in September 2021 for a complete rebuild. It will reopen as the Museum of the Viking Age, three times the size, with the Oseberg, Gokstad and Tune ships and more than five thousand objects. The University of Oslo, which runs it, plans the opening for the end of 2027. That date has moved before, after a budget cut in 2022, and it can move again.

Until it opens, there is no way to see the ships. Do not plan a trip around them before the museum confirms a date.

What to see in Oslo meanwhile

The Historical Museum, in the city centre near the Royal Palace, runs a semi-permanent exhibition called VÍKINGR with about two hundred of the finest Viking Age objects from the university’s collection. It includes the Gjermundbu helmet, the only complete Viking helmet ever found, along with jewelry, weapons and everyday objects. Many of these pieces will move to the new museum. Allow an hour and a half. The museum runs guided Viking tours in English in summer.

The Midgard Viking Centre at Borre, an hour and a half south, has the largest collection of monumental Viking Age burial mounds in Scandinavia and a reconstructed great hall. It hosts the Borrekaupangen market in July and Midgardsblot in August.

The new museum

The design keeps the original 1926 hall, where the ships stood, and adds a large new building around it. The ships will be displayed lower and closer than before, with walkways at different heights, and the collection expands from a few hundred objects to several thousand: the Oseberg cart and sledges, textiles, tools, the finds from Gokstad and Borre. If the university’s plan holds, this will be the most important Viking museum in the world on the day it opens.

Planning around it

If your trip is in 2026 or the first half of 2027, treat Oslo as a stop for the Historical Museum and Borre, not for the ships. If you are planning for 2028 or later, Bygdøy becomes the anchor of any Norwegian Viking itinerary, and the Fram and Kon-Tiki museums next door make it a full day.

Getting there

Bygdøy is reached by bus 30 from the city centre, or by ferry from the harbour in front of the City Hall in summer. The Historical Museum is a ten-minute walk from Nationaltheatret station.

Sources

Last updated 2026-09-06. Prices and opening hours change; check the venue before you go. Back to Plan your trip or the festival calendar.