Recommendation
The Travelin’ Man’s Overall Recommendation: GOOD*
(met expectations, would recommend, would do again)
- What did I like the most: Creativity of presentation
- What is the biggest area for improvement: Everything in one big room
Logistics
This is the Viking Museum. It’s located on the Djurgården island. It’s between the aquarium and the Spirit Museum. It costs 190 kr ($23), and took about and hour. It’s very child friendly, and has a small cafe next to the gift shop.
We went to this museum with our friend Melissa, who was visiting with us from the states.
The Museum
The big challenge for museums is how to present their wealth of information in a way that will be interesting, and also to present it in a way that you will remember it. The Viking Museum does a pretty good job at both of these things.
They use various digital kiosks, where the data is narrated and presented on large TV monitors. And while this was a very good approach, I would have preferred separate, smaller rooms. Having them all in the same general area was not only noisy and distracting, but it also made people feel like they needed rush through it.
They also have physical presentations of various artifacts in display cases with text describing them. Not overdone or over documented. Very informative and interesting.
Then there was was this creepy guy. I say creepy because he is very lifelike. He has been expertly recreated based on osteological analysis conducted by scientists from the Stockholm University.
Then there’s the story of Harald. You get into a car, of sorts, as demonstrated by our lovely models, Jana and Melissa.
You are then wisked around to view various presentations that support the narration and sound effects of Harald’s trek. And I’m not going to ruin it for you, but it is well done and was a very creative way to give us the information.
So if you’re like me, you probably envision Vikings as a bunch of medieval terrorists plundering and burning villages and towns along their way. But, there are facts and circumstances that I was unaware of, and this place has the facts and they present them to you in a creative and memorable fashion. I won’t spoil it for you except to say it is a worthwhile visit.
* Each area is rated on a scale 1-5, with 1 = poor, 3 = good, 5 = exceptional
How did this do compared to what I had expected: 3
How well were the logistics handled: 4
Was the staff helpful and friendly: 3
Overall execution and presentation: 3
Total score: 13
4 – 8 is POOR (was not at all what I expected and/or was not worth the time/money)
9 – 10 is OK (quality of the experience was a little low, but I enjoyed it)
11 – 13 is GOOD (met expectations, would recommend, would do again)
14 – 15 is VERY GOOD (surprisingly good, exceeding on some levels)
16 – 20 is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (outperformed my expectations, great value)
And wow does it ever have a story to tell, you won’t even believe it! As you approach the museum, you will see some very tall masts coming from the building. This is an effect to show how tall it would be if sitting in the water.
Lots of good food up in the food area. Sort of like an outdoor food court. But no chain restaurants here, mostly classic Swedish food, and hamburgers and hot dogs type of stuff. There’s some bumper cars and electric (railed) cars and other kiddie rides.
The Travelin' Man 