Vasa Museum & Vrak Museum of Wrecks Combo Tickets Stockholm

The Vasa Museum and the 1628 warship

The Vasa was built as the pride of the Swedish navy and sank after sailing little more than a kilometre on her maiden voyage in 1628, because she was too top-heavy. She lay in the mud of Stockholm harbour for 333 years until she was raised in 1961, and today she is the best-preserved 17th-century ship in the world, with the great majority of her hull original.

If you are searching for Vasa Museum tickets or a Vasa Museum guided tour, this is the highlight of the combo: you can walk around six decks' worth of exhibitions, look up at the carved lions and figures on the stern, and take in the scale of a ship almost seventy metres long. Guided tours run daily, and the audio guide in the default option lets you follow the story at your own speed.

Life on board: exhibitions around the ship

Around the ship, smaller exhibitions explain who sailed on the Vasa, how the crew lived, how the wreck was found and how conservators spent decades preserving the timber. Models, recovered objects, skeletons and film clips bring the disaster and the salvage back to life without needing a long read.

The current exhibition programme includes a newer display about the people whose remains were found on board, which adds a human side to the engineering story. Most visitors spend between one and two hours here, and it works well for children because there is so much to look at from every level.

Vrak, the Museum of Wrecks

Vrak is the second half of your combo ticket and a good contrast to the Vasa. It looks at shipwrecks found in the Baltic Sea, where the cold, brackish water preserves wood far better than in warmer seas, so wrecks hundreds of years old survive in remarkable condition.

Through objects, film and models it shows what divers and archaeologists have found and why some ships sink and others survive. The programme includes temporary exhibitions, and a Vikings-related display has been part of the current offer. Allow about an hour, and use the combo's three-day validity if you prefer to visit the museums on different days.

Planning your visit: opening hours, tickets and the best time

Wondering how to get to the Vasa Museum? It is on Djurgården at Galärvarvsvägen 14, reachable by tram line 7, by bus or by the ferry from Slussen, and it is a pleasant walk from the city centre. Opening hours change by season, so check the times when you book.

The best time to visit the Vasa Museum is early in the morning or later in the afternoon, when tour groups have thinned out. Pre-paid tickets do not give priority in the entry queue, so arriving early helps in summer. Is the Vasa Museum worth visiting? For most travellers it is the top museum in Stockholm.