Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Swedes. They showed little interest and the Frankish monk preached on the island for
just over a year before being recalled. Birka reached its height during the tenth century
before sliding into decline: falling water levels in Lake Mälaren, the superior location of
the Baltic island of Gotland for handling Russian-Byzantine trade and the emergence
of nearby rival Sigtuna all led to its gradual disappearance after 975.
The museum
Major excavations began on the island in 1990 and the
Birka museum
(open in connection
with boat arrivals and departures) now recounts the village's history in superb detail.
Exhibitions explain how, during Viking times, Björkö was actually two separate islands,
with the main settlement located in the northwest corner of the northernmost island. As
the land rose after the last Ice Age, the narrow channel between the two islands vanished,
resulting in today's single kidney-shaped island; remains of jetties have been found where
the channel would have been, as well as a rampart which acted as an outer wall for the
settlement. Displays of historical artefacts as well as scale models of the harbour and
craftsmen's quarters are also available for persual - the developed nature of Viking society is
evident from the finds: scissors, pottery and even keys have all been excavated.
2
The graveyard
Among the remains of Viking-age life, the most striking is Birka's
graveyard
, which is
the largest Viking-age burial ground in Scandinavia with around four hundred burial
mounds, some accompanied by standing stones. Totally surrounding the site of the
former village, the graveyard can be found outside the rampart by turning right from
where the boat arrives.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION
BIRKA
By boat
From Stockholm, Strömma Kanalbolaget sail
from Stadshusbron outside Stadshuset on Kungsholmen
(early May to early Sept Mon-Fri 9.30am, Sat & Sun 10am;
2hr; 310kr return including museum entry;
W
stromma
.se/birka). Between July and mid-August Rederi
Mälarstaden also operate a boat (Fri only 9.45am from
Västerås;
W
rederimalarstaden.se; 345kr return) between
Västerås and Birka; it's therefore possible to sail between
Stockholm and Västerås by changing boats at Birka.
Website
For complete information about Birka, check out
W
raa.se/birka, where you'll find full details in English
about Birka's history as well as practical visitor information,
including the latest ferry schedules.
Mariefred
Located on the graceful southern shores of Lake Mälaren,
MARIEFRED
is a tiny,
quintessentially Swedish village about an hour west of the city, whose peaceful
attractions are bolstered by one of Sweden's finest castles,
Gripsholm
, which you might
recognize if you owned any ABBA albums back in the 1970s and 1980s (see p.88), and
just a short walk from the centre. A couple of minutes up from the quayside and you're
strolling through narrow streets where the well-kept wooden houses and little squares
have scarcely changed in decades. Other than the castle, the only real sight is the
railway
museum
, which offers a rare chance in Sweden to see working steam engines.
Railway Museum
Steam trains leave Mariefred roughly hourly 11am-4pm Sat & Sun May-Sept and daily 10am-4pm late June to mid-Aug • 80kr return,
includes entrance to the museum •
T
0159 210 08,
W
oslj.nu
Steam-train fans will love the
Railway Museum
at the railway station in Läggesta (alight
here for Mariefred), an adjoining small village five minutes' bus ride south of Mariefred
- you'll probably have noticed the narrow-gauge tracks running all the way to the
quayside. There's an exhibition of old rolling stock and workshops, given added interest
by the fact that narrow-gauge
steam trains
still run between Mariefred and
Läggesta
, a
twenty-minute ride away on the Östra Sörmlands Järnväg railway. From Läggesta, it's
