This 8-night and 9-day tour explores some the best Viking sites in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. In the company of an expert historian we range through the Viking heartlands visiting a trove of sites where we gain a superb appreciation of these often misunderstood people. Starting in Denmark – something of a Viking ‘ground zero’ – we travel by coach, ferry and aircraft to a clutch of sites around Odense, Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm in a journey worthy of these indefatigable northern adventurers.

At Jelling we admire the remarkable runestones, commissioned by the colourfully named King Harald Bluetooth (later to give his name to a type of wireless technology). At Trelleborg we visit the 1000-year-old fortress demonstrating the turbulent world of the Vikings. Known through history for their seafaring prowess at Roskilde and Tønsberg we learn about Viking ship building and trade and at Ladby walk into the only Viking ship grave discovered in Denmark. At Birka we visit what was a consummate Viking trading town and learn about its remarkable links to the Islamic world. The Viking way of death and burial is demonstrated superbly at Anundshög and Gamla Uppsala where we explore the prominent burial mounds of the era. Throughout the tour we will visit some of the finest museums in Europe where the Viking story is illuminated by startling collections of artefacts including gold jewellery, colourful beads, intricately carved wooden sculptures, finely crafted swords, sturdy tools, and mysterious runestones, to name a few.

Staying at lovely four-star hotels, enjoying great local restaurants and travelling in comfort our tour benefits from the magnificent Scandinavian scenery, so familiar to the Vikings themselves, and a perfect backdrop to a fascinating narrative.

Violent, ruthless, horn-helmeted warriors - the Vikings have never escaped their unruly image. But they were also farmers, skilled craftsmen, artists and traders. Their accomplished seafaring skills allowed them to roam far and wide - raiding, pirating and trading – and this prowess is reflected in one theory for the origins of the name from the Old Norse vika, 'sea mile', originally referring to the distance between two shifts of rowers. Between the 8th and 11th centuries AD they established settlements in Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Brittany, the Baltic Coast and Russia. Various reasons have been given for this expansion including the lure of wealth, overpopulation and lack of farmland. Nevertheless the Viking homelands remained in the three areas of what we now call Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Their legacy lives on in the traces of towns, fortresses, burial mounds, runestones, carvings, place names, and the incredible longboats which have so captured the imagination.

The Viking Age was a turbulent time with transformations in religious beliefs, economic systems and the organisation of society. By the 11th century pagan beliefs gave way to Christianity and this is regarded by some as the end of the Viking Age.

Day 1: fly from London to Copenhagen or join the tour at the airport. Transfer to hotel near Odense for two nights. (D).

Day 2: the tour starts by visiting the extraordinary site of Jelling, site of Gorm’s Stone and Harald’s Stone, runestones carved in the 10th century by the Viking King Harald Bluetooth. On one of these he describes how he won Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian. It is the first mention of Denmark and thus the country’s baptismal certificate. One of the burial mounds here contained a wooden chamber thought to have been the grave of King Gorm the Old. Our visit to the Kongernes Visitor Centre here provides superb interpretation of this site.

After lunch travel to Ladby, site of Denmark’s only Viking ship burial, where we enter the burial mound to see the remains of the vessel upon which a king was buried with horses, dogs, and other precious belongings. (B, D).

Day 3: drive east and stop at the site of Trelleborg to admire the ring fortress, a well-planned fortification built at the time of King Harald Bluetooth in the 980s, and reflecting the military power of the Viking age. We then move to Roskilde and the Viking Ship Museum, one the country’s best museums, where we observe the remains of the remarkable Skuldelev Ships (and their reconstructions), sunk nearby over a millennium before their discovery. Continue to Copenhagen hotel for one night. (B, D).

Day 4: visit to the National Museum of Denmark, paying particular attention to the Viking-era collection which includes the startling Terslev silver hoard and grave goods from Mammen. There is some free time before we take the late afternoon ferry to Oslo which arrives the next morning. Relax over dinner and in your comfortable cabin as you travel gracefully into the northern territories of the Vikings. (B, D).

Day 5: arrive in Oslo after breakfast and journey by coach to Tønsberg where we visit the Slottsfjell Museum and Klåstad ship, one of only four preserved Viking ships in Norway. The ship was carrying a cargo of whetstone when it sank around 1000. We return to Oslo via the excellent Midgard Viking Centre and burial mounds at Borre. The medieval Icelandic author Snorre Sturluson claimed that the Viking royals of the Yngling family rested in Borre. Hotel in Oslo – 1 night. (B, D).

Day 6: we spend the morning at the Historical Museum and its superb Víkingr exhibition which guides us through Viking journeying, warfare, culture and society. The museum holds some of the most exquisite items from the era in Norway including the richly embellished Langeid Sword with its Christan symbolism. We move to the Medieval Archaeological Park which through recent excavations provides a unique insight into the city between 1050 – 1537. We travel to Oslo airport and our early evening flight to Stockholm. Hotel in Stockholm – 3 nights. (B).

Day 7: our journey continues with a day trip by boat to the UNESCO town of Birka, set on an island in Lake Mälaren. Founded in 750 it is considered Sweden’s oldest town and existed as an important trade centre until the 10th century. A ring inscribed with Arabic Kufic script and a dirham coin were found here attesting to the breadth of the town’s trade networks. (B, D).

Day 8: travel to Anundshög, site of the country’s largest burial mounds dating from the 5th to 11th century AD. Here we view the curious ship settings – stones placed in the shape of a ship and emblematic of ancient Nordic monuments. We now move to Gamla Uppsala and its 300 burial mounds, the earliest dating from the 6th century AD, and thought to be connected to Uppsala’s ruling elite. The museum here explains the fascinating story behind these mounds. Return to Stockholm. (B, D).

Day 9: proceed to Stockholm Arlanda airport and our morning flight back to London (or you may want to extend your stay in Sweden). (B).