Visiting the Vasa Museum in Stockholm - info and tips

Writer: Helena Bergström

Updated: October 2026 | It's hard not to be impressed when you stand in front of the Vasa ship. The enormous warship only sailed about 1,300 meters before it sank in the middle of Stockholm in 1628. More than 300 years later, the Vasa was salvaged – and today we can stand almost face to face with a real ship from the 17th century.

Visiting the Vasa Museum

We have both visited the Vasa Museum several times over the years. For me (Helena), the fascination began much earlier. As a child, I had a book about the Vasa ship that I read over and over again, and the story of the magnificent warship that sank almost immediately after departure has stuck with me ever since.

The last time we visited the museum, we had South African friends visiting. When we were thinking about what to show them in Stockholm, the Vasa Museum seemed like an obvious choice. After all, it's hard to find many places where you can stand in front of an almost 400-year-old ship that is so largely original.

And Vasa is truly magnificent. The ship is 69 meters long, was equipped with 64 cannons and is covered in hundreds of sculptures. About 98 percent of the Vasa we see today consists of original parts. New parts have been made lighter to distinguish them from the 17th-century wood. It is quite a dizzying thought when you stand there in front of the ship.

The fascinating history of Vasa

The story begins during the reign of Gustav II Adolf. Sweden was in a period of war and expansion, and the king wanted to build a strong navy. In 1625, an agreement was made with the Dutch shipbuilder Henrik Hybertsson and his business partner Arendt de Groote to build new ships for the crown.

Vasa was to be an impressive warship, with two battery decks and heavy armament. However, Henrik Hybertsson fell ill and died before the ship was finished. Work continued under the leadership of, among others, shipbuilder Hein Jakobsson.

On August 10, 1628, it was time for the maiden voyage. Vasa left the quay at the castle and sailed out through Stockholm. On board were not only the crew but also family members who had been allowed to accompany her on the first part of the voyage. But the journey was very short.

Why did Vasa sink?

Vasa was too unstable. The ship was tall and heavy above the waterline and had too little stability to right itself properly when it heeled. Problems had already been discovered before the maiden voyage. During a stability test, a number of men were made to run back and forth across the deck to make the ship heel. The test was interrupted because Vasa began to rock alarmingly.

It's tempting to think that someone should have stopped the maiden voyage right then and there. But shipbuilding in the 17th century was largely based on experience and rules of thumb. People didn't have today's ability to mathematically calculate stability.

As Vasa sailed out, a stronger gust of wind came and caused the ship to heel. Water began to flow in through the open gun ports on the lower battery deck. After only about 20 minutes and 1,300 meters Vasa sank. There were an estimated 150–250 people on board and about 30 died. Among them were both boatmen and family members who had accompanied them on the first part of the voyage.

Whose fault was the disaster?

After the sinking, people naturally wanted to know what had gone wrong. An investigation was set up and, among others, Captain Söfring Hansson and people who had worked on the ship's construction were questioned. But it was not easy to find anyone responsible.

The shipbuilder Henrik Hybertsson, who had designed the Vasa, was already dead. Furthermore, the king had been involved in and approved the ship's design. No clear scapegoat was ever found and no one was punished for the disaster.

In a way, perhaps the real problem was bigger than an individual: they had built a ship that was on the limit of what the shipbuilding art of the time could handle.

Vasa was a colorful warship

When we see Vasa today, we are greeted by dark wood, and it is easy to imagine that the ship looked much the same in 1628. That was not the case at all. Vasa was richly decorated with hundreds of sculptures that were supposed to signal power, strength and royal splendor. Many of them were also painted in strong colors – including red, blue, green and white – and some details were gilded.

The museum has a 1:10 scale model that shows what the Vasa might have looked like when the ship was new. The model is worth stopping to look at, precisely because the contrast with the dark original ship is so great.

When we first visited the museum together, we wrote that we would have loved to see a reconstruction of the entire Vasa in its original condition. The model comes at least part of the way – and makes it easier to imagine what a spectacular ship sailed out of Stockholm on that August day.

The salvage – after 333 years at the bottom

Already in the 17th century, attempts were made to salvage the Vasa, but the technology was not sufficient to lift the entire ship. However, divers managed to recover many of the valuable cannons. Then the Vasa remained at the bottom.

In the 1950s, Anders Franzén began a systematic search for the ship. He knew that the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea made it difficult for shipworms to survive here, and therefore suspected that old wooden wrecks might be unusually well-preserved.

In 1956 he got a nudge. With the help of a self-designed sampler, he brought up blackened oak from the bottom off Beckholmen. Diver Per Edvin Fälting was later able to determine that there was a large old ship down there with two rows of cannon ports. It was the Vasa.

But finding the ship was one thing. Raising it was another. Divers worked under very difficult conditions to flush tunnels under the hull. Steel cables were pulled through the tunnels, and the Vasa could be gradually lifted from the bottom and moved to shallower water. On April 24, 1961, the ship finally broke the surface of the water again. After almost 333 years at the bottom.

How was Vasa preserved so well?

A large part of the explanation lies in the Baltic Sea. The water is brackish, making the environment inhospitable for shipworms that would otherwise eat wooden wrecks. Vasa was also located in cold, dark water with low oxygen levels.

But once the ship had surfaced, a new problem arose. The wood was soaked with water after centuries at the bottom and could have shrunk, cracked, and been destroyed if it had only been allowed to dry out.

Vasa was therefore treated with polyethylene glycol, PEG, a water-soluble wax that gradually replaced the water in the wood. The ship was sprayed with the preservative for many years. The work on Vasa did not end when the ship came out of the water. It is still ongoing.

The work to save Vasa continues

Almost 400 years after the sinking, the Vasa is facing a new challenge. The wood has weakened over time and the ship has difficulty supporting its own weight. It has also slowly deformed and is leaning slightly to port. That is why the project is underway Support Vaasa, where the old support structure is replaced with a completely new one.

The previous 17 pairs of external supports will be replaced by 27 specially adapted steel cradles. In addition, Vasa will have an internal structure that functions somewhat like a steel skeleton and helps support the ship from the inside.

The work started in 2024 and is scheduled to be completed in 2028 – just in time for the 400th anniversary of Vasa’s first and only sailing. The museum will be open during the work. It’s fascinating to think about. Vasa is not a fully preserved museum piece that just sits there. Preserving the ship is a job that continues generation after generation.

The people behind Vasa

Something we appreciate about the Vasa Museum is that the story is not just about Gustav II Adolf, shipbuilders and cannons. It is also about the people. The remains of at least 17 people have been found in and around Vasa. Through archaeology, osteology and modern DNA technology, researchers have been able to uncover more and more information about them – including age, health and, in some cases, appearance.

A fascinating example is the individual that researchers have named G. The person was long assumed to be a man, but new DNA analyses showed that the skeleton belonged to a woman. Later research has been able to say something about her hair, eye and skin color, among other things. Such stories make the people of 1628 come a little closer.

The exhibitions also tell about life in the 17th century and about the people who built, worked and lived around the ships. When we previously sailed on the training ship Gratia, we got to experience for ourselves how confusing all the controls and rigging can be on a sailing ship – and Gratia is of course tiny compared to Vasa. Handling a large warship in the 17th century must have been something completely different.

What can you see and do at the Vasa Museum?

The big draw is of course the Vasa itself. The museum is built so that you can view the ship from different levels and discover new details depending on where you are. It’s worth taking a good walk around – the bow, the stern with all the sculptures and the different decks look completely different from different angles.

But don't just look at the ship. Around it are exhibitions about the sinking, the people on board, life in the 17th century, the salvage and conservation, among other things. Here you will find objects found in and around Vasa and models that help explain things that are difficult to see on the original ship.

For us, the combination is important. First comes that almost immediate wow feeling in front of the enormous ship. Then the story becomes increasingly interesting the more you learn.

Our tip – start with the film

On our last visit we had our South African friends with us. We took the opportunity to watch the film about the Vasa, which tells the story of the ship, its sinking and its salvage. We watched it in English and both we and our guests thought the film gave a really good introduction and feel for what you will see in the museum.

Our tip is therefore to watch the film early during your visit. It is approximately 17 minutes long and is shown throughout the day in different languages. Please check the current showing times when you arrive at the museum.

Is the Vasa Museum worth a visit?

Yes, we really think so. And maybe it says something that we live in Stockholm ourselves, have visited the Vasa Museum several times, and yet chose this particular museum when we were going to show the city to friends from South Africa.

There are of course many good museums in Stockholm, but Vasa is something very special. You don't just read about a historical ship or look at a few objects from the 17th century.

The ship is there. Almost the entire enormous ship that left the quay in 1628 and sank after about 20 minutes is before you. And all around, research continues to add new pieces to the story of the Vasa and the people who were on board. It's hard not to be impressed.

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