Overview

The Vasa was a war ship that sank in Stockholm Harbour on its maiden voyage in 1628. The ship is large and impressive with lots of wooden carvings. The ship was excavated in the 1960s and is now housed in a dry dock in its own purpose built museum. The museum is all about the ship. The ship is stunningly impressive, both in its size and how amazingly well it has been preserved. It took my breath away when I first saw it. Visitors are not able to board the ship but can walk on wide platforms round it and view it at different heights. The museum is step free with lifts and there are accessible toilets.

Transport & Parking

I took the ferry boat from Gamla Stan, the old town, to Djurgarden. From here it is a 5 - 8 minute walk to the Vasa. Don't make my mistake and walk through the car park on the left, as it was a bit difficult manouvering round the park cars and keeping an eye out for moving ones. I suggest exiting the ferry and continuing up the road. This area has cobblestones and it is where the fun fair is so there are rides and food stalls. When you reach the road, it will take 1 - 2 minutes, turn left and follow the signs to the Vasa. This route is step free but at a couple of places there are tram lines. After a couple of minutes you will cross the road and come into a padestrianised waterfront area, on the way you will pass a couple of other museums before arriving at the Vasa, which is slightly set back from the water front. Turn right, see photo, and follow path to museum entrance. There are also trams and buses that stop close by but I didn't use them.

Access

The path from the waterfront to the museum has gravel and had a few pools of water, which wasn't ideal. Arriving at the museum, see photo, there are entrance doors for groups and individuals. I arrived mid morning, I had already bought my ticket online and there was no queue when I arrived. The ground floor, where you enter and exit is Level 4, see my photo of the different floors. From Level 4 you are looking at the ship as if you are on the harbour. Level 4 was very busy with tour groups and individuals, but the area is large and it is easy to distance yourself from the crowds. On Level 4 is also the information desk, cafe, accessible toilet, shop and the 2 cinemas. At the information desk you can see displayed or ask about the introductory film show times. They are shown in 2 auditoriums continiously throughout the day. The films are in different languages, including English, and when the language is not English there are English subtitles. Auditorium 1 has a tiered seating with steps with handrails. At the back of the auditorium is a space for wheelchair users but there is no seating if they have a companion. Below is Level 3, which I didn't visit which has a children's film show. The bottom Level 2, has a meet the ancesters and shipyard exhibitions and you can view bottom of the ship. Going up Level 5 has live on board the ship, but I didn't visit this floor. Level 6 has the sails and the coloured reproduction model of the carvings. This level gives good views of the deck of the ship. Level 7 is the outlook where you are looking down on the ship. There are large lifts which accomodate several people which goes to each floor. There are wide platforms on each floor to view the ship, although the top Level 7 is a lot narrower. There is plenty of bench style seating with no backs, on each floor. I joined an English speaking tour which leaves from Level 2 and then goes up to Level 6 and does two further stops. I asked at the information desk about it. The tour lasts about 20 - 30 minutes, it's excellent as the story of the ship and the details of its design are discussed. The tour is very interesting. The guide advised me I could use the lift to the upper floor and waited until I haqd joined the group befroe she started guiding again. As the musuem is busy and can be quite noisy I found I needed to stand near to her to hear what was said (no microphone) and this meant I stood for the entire tour. During the tour someone knocked into my crutch a couple of times and made me a bit wobbly. I advise if you have a mobility impairment to try to stand in the front as there is a barrier to lean on for support. I would highly recommend both the guided tour and film show as both provide a lot of information. The cafe is on the ground floor and is self service. There is a large seating area with free standing tables and chairs.

Toilets

I used the accessible toilet by the cafe on the ground floor. It was large and clean, apart from there was dirty water in the basin, which was not draining quickly. The toilet is also a baby changing facility so I had quite a wait to use the toilet as someone was in before me. It would be helpful if there were 2 accessible toilets together to reduce waiting times.

Staff

Before I visited, I emailed the museum as i was concerned that the website said that at busy times there maybe queues of up to half an hour. I explained my situation and was emailed back within the hour advising of the times when the museum is usually quieter but also saying if I couldn't manage the queue I could ask the staff and I would be let in. As it happened there was no queue when I arrived. The staff at the desks and cafe were helpful. The tour guide was excellent both in way she presented the information and how she ensured her group remained together.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Tickets for the museum can be purchased online and I would recommend that as they are not date specific, although I think they have an expirey date, as the museum can be busy. I ended up spending about 2.5 hours here. I loved the museum, however I didn't see everything during my time but I saw a lot. It's a very impressive ship and the story about it's sinking and recovery is fascinating. It's a very busy museum with lots of tour groups. Highly recommend.

Photos