Entirely devoted to unpacking the history around the best-preserved old Viking ship, the Vasa Museum is an absolute must when visiting Stockholm. Located near the southeast edge of the island of Djurgården, Vasa is easiest to get to via public transit/bus from the main part of Stockholm (~10 min ride from Östermalm).
Tickets for the museum are roughly $24 usd (230 sek) and are easy to buy online with delivery electronically to your phone or at the museum. The main entrance brings you to level 4 (out of 7, but the first floor isn't part of the museum). You can see the main part of the ship immediately, but beware the ship is HUGE and spans 7 floors total for height. There's a recommended roughly 20 minute introductory film to see first. It runs in multiple languages (with English subtitles) and also in English three times an hour. The film was super interesting and gave a good overview of the history and significance of the initial difficulty of finding the Vasa and then pulling it above ground and starting the long process of preservation and restoration. After the film, there are a few options for perusing the actual ship & museum: a recommended ~ 25 minute guided tour (offered on the half hour and hour) around level 4, an audio guide that covers each exhibit across the 6 main floors of the museum, or just walking around, reading the exhibit cards and watching short films where offered. I did all three but a note on the audio guide: it streams from their website via your phone (there is free WiFi for this), so you might want bring your own headphones for this option.
I enjoyed the guided tour best - our guide was lively, a total nerd about the history of it, and told us each guide would put their own spin on the tour so encouraged us to feel feee to attend other guided tours! It's easy to access the museum via stairs or a gigantic elevator, but beware there's sometimes a wait for the elevator. Each floor gives you a different unique vantage point of the ship and are themed to showcase different aspects of it; floor 4 (main entrance) showcases the highlights of the history and architecture, floor 7 mostly gives you a majestic view from the top of the ship, floor 6 goes more in depth to the architecture, floor 5 (my favorite) gives you insight to life on board, floor 3 talks about Sweden during the 1600s, and floor 2 goes in depth to the rebuilding process.
I spent 2-3 hours going through the museum. On a rainy weekday in May, it was certainly crowded, despite getting there shortly after opening, filled with school groups and tourists, but still felt comfortable and I only had to wait a couple of minutes max to use the restroom. I didn't partake in the cafe but the gift shop had some nice artsy tote bags and the like. Overall this is an incredibly well curated and interesting way to see a very unique piece of Scandinavian history. Even if you're not keen on history, I'd highly encourage anyone visiting to check this spot out and get a chuckle out of the story behind the sinking and be impressed by just how cool this ship is in person! read more