I first visited the Viking village of Birka and Hovgården on the small islands of Björkö and Adelsö in Lake Mälaren during a school excursion in 1969 when I was only 7 years old. And similar to later trips in my life I have always used the tourboats that departs from the Town Hall in central Stockholm to approach the islands, a journey that continues to be an immensely popular day-trip for both Swedes and foreigners, visiting Stockholm in the summer..

And summer it has to be, since it is only possible to visit Birka on the island of Björkö from June to August. During the winter you can still visit Hovgården through a quite complicated and time-consuming bus ride from Stockholm but don’t bother with this unless you are manically into Swedish Viking remains.

Birka dates back to the 8th century when a Swedish King (name unknown) founded the city of Birka on the island Björkö. Foreign merchants made their way here from near and far and in its heydays more than 700 people lived and worked here. By the end of the 10th century, Birka’s position as trade center was taken over by nearby Sigtuna and Björkö was abandoned.

The advice for the first time visitor is to keep your expectation low. Don’t expect to find a full-fledged Viking town on Björkö. The truth is rather that there are actually NO visible remains from the Viking age on either Birka or Hovgården apart from the thousands and thousands of burial mounds that are scattered all over the island. On Hovgården you can find some remains of a small fortress but this one dates back to the 11th century so it’s not really Viking-ish. So this is a true archeological site and if you want to see the most impressive remains found on the islands you should pay a visit to the Historic Museum in Stockholm.

My last visit to Birka was in August of 2004 and I noticed that there have been quite some improvements out there. A new small museum and visitors centre has been built and the restaurant seems to have gone through quite an upgrade. You can participate in a number of guided tours (in Swedish & English) which is something that I strongly recommend – it’s good to have someone explain to you what was once what.

Last but not least – the Vikings did NOT have any horns on their helmets. This is something that Hollywood invented inspired possibly by Wagner operas…