Harald Hardrada: from Stiklestad to Stamford Bridge
Well documented
Wounded at Stiklestad at fifteen, Harald Sigurdsson fled east to Yaroslav's Rus', then south to Constantinople, where he rose to command in the Varangian Guard and…
Vikings / Voyages
Voyages
Sea roads, river routes and twelve journeys
Twenty-one routes carried the Vikings from the fjords to Newfoundland, Baghdad and the Mediterranean. Pick a route to light it up on the map, then follow twelve people along the roads they actually travelled.
Route explorer
Twenty-one roads, one map
Dashed lines are sea routes, dotted lines are river routes; each takes the colour of the people who used it most. Hover or tap a route in the list, or filter by people and by sea or river.
People
Kind
Hover a line or a name to read about it.
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The Western Way: Norway to the Isles and Dublin
From the fjords of western Norway by Shetland and Orkney, through the Hebrides to the Irish Sea. With a fair wind Shetland was two days from Norway.
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Round Ireland: Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Limerick
The Norse towns of Ireland were linked by sea; fleets also used the Shannon, Boyne and Liffey.
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Denmark to the Humber and York
The Danish fleets' road to England: from the Limfjord across the North Sea to the Humber and up the Ouse to York.
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Jutland along Frisia to the Thames and the Channel
The coasting route past Frisia to the Thames, Kent and the Channel ports.
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Up the Seine to Rouen and Paris
The Seine carried fleets to Rouen (841), Paris (845, 856, 885–886) and on into Burgundy.
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The Channel, Brittany and the Loire
Round Brittany to the island base of Noirmoutier, then up the Loire to Nantes, Angers and Tours.
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Biscay to Lisbon and Seville
The fleet of 844 coasted from the Loire round Galicia to Lisbon and up the Guadalquivir to Seville; others followed in 858–859 and 966–971.
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Into the Mediterranean with Björn and Hastein
The longest Viking raid in the west, 859–862: through the Strait of Gibraltar to Nekor, the Balearics, the Rhône and Luna in Italy.
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Norway to the Faroes and Iceland
The settlers' road: about seven days' sail from western Norway to eastern Iceland, by the Faroes.
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Iceland to Greenland
From Snæfellsnes west to the Greenland ice, then south round Cape Farewell to the Eastern Settlement and on to the Western Settlement.
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Greenland to Helluland, Markland and Vinland
Leif Erikson's route as the sagas give it: across the Davis Strait to Helluland (Baffin Island), south past Markland (Labrador) to Vinland. The Gulf of St Lawrence leg is inferred from butternuts found at L'Anse aux Meadows.
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Austrvegr: Birka to Ladoga and Novgorod
The 'eastern way': from Lake Mälaren across the Åland Sea, along the Gulf of Finland, up the Neva to Lake Ladoga and up the Volkhov to Novgorod.
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From the Varangians to the Greeks: the Dnieper road
Novgorod, Lake Ilmen, the Lovat, portages to the Dvina and the Dnieper, Gnezdovo, Kiev, the seven rapids, the island of Berezan and along the Black Sea coast to Constantinople.
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The Volga road to Bolghar and Itil
From Ladoga by Beloozero to the upper Volga, then downstream to the Bulgar market and the Khazar capital at the river's mouth. This road brought Arab silver north.
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The Caspian and the caravan road to Baghdad
Rus' merchants crossed the Caspian to Abaskun and, says Ibn Khordadbeh, carried their goods by camel to Baghdad; raiding fleets came in 913 and 943.
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The Daugava road: Gotland to Polotsk
From Gotland through the Irbe Strait into the Gulf of Riga and up the Daugava to Polotsk, with a portage to the Dnieper at Gnezdovo.
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Sweden to Curonia: Seeburg and Apuolė
From Birka and Gotland to the Curonian coast at Grobiņa (Seeburg), and five days inland to Apuolė, the route of King Olof's campaign c. 854.
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Wulfstan's voyage: Hedeby to Wolin and Truso
The southern Baltic coasting route. Wulfstan told King Alfred c. 890 that he sailed from Hedeby to Truso in seven days and nights.
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Birka to Hedeby
The trunk route of the Baltic trade, linking the Swedes' market on Lake Mälaren with the Danes' great port.
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1066: Harald Hardrada's invasion
August–September 1066: from Solund by Shetland and Orkney down the east coast to the Humber, Fulford and Stamford Bridge.
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1066: William's crossing
27–28 September 1066: from Saint-Valery-sur-Somme to Pevensey, then to Hastings.
No route matches both filters.
Journeys
Twelve journeys, stop by stop
Each card traces one person or army along the roads above. The badge says how far the story can be trusted: documented, approximate, disputed or legend.
Leif Erikson: Greenland to Vinland
Dates and details approximate
Around the year 1000 Leif Erikson sailed from Greenland and landed in three countries he named Helluland ("stone-slab land"), Markland ("forest land") and Vinland ("wine…
Erik the Red: Norway, Iceland and the naming of Greenland
Dates and details approximate
Erik Thorvaldsson left Norway as a boy when his father was banished for manslaughter, and grew up on the harsh north-west coast of Iceland. Killings got him expelled…
Gudrid the Far-Travelled: Iceland, Vinland and Rome
Dates and details approximate
Saga-based. Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir is said to have travelled farther than any other woman of her age: from Iceland to Greenland, on to Vinland, where she bore a son…
Björn Ironside and Hastein: the Mediterranean raid
Dates and details approximate
In 859 a fleet said to number 62 ships left the Loire, rounded Spain and passed the Strait of Gibraltar: the longest Viking raid on record. It struck al-Andalus…
Rollo: from Scandinavia to Rouen
Disputed
Disputed. Where Rollo came from is unknown: Dudo of Saint-Quentin, writing a century later for Rollo's grandson, calls him a Dane, while Norse sagas identify him with…
The Great Heathen Army in England
Well documented
In 865 a coalition of Viking war-bands landed in East Anglia, not to raid but to conquer. Moving each autumn to a new fortified winter camp, it destroyed the kingdoms of…
Ingvar the Far-Travelled: the last expedition east
Dates and details approximate
About twenty-six runestones around Lake Mälaren mourn men who "went east with Ingvar" and died in Serkland, the Muslim south-east. Icelandic annals date Ingvar's death…
Ibn Fadlan: Baghdad to the Volga
Well documented
In June 921 the caliph al-Muqtadir sent an embassy from Baghdad to the newly Muslim king of the Volga Bulgars. Its secretary, Ahmad ibn Fadlan, recorded the eleven-month…
Olaf Tryggvason: exile, raider, king
Disputed
Saga-based. Olaf's early life, with flight from Norway, slavery in Estonia, upbringing at the court of Vladimir in Novgorod and a marriage in Wendland, comes from sagas…
Cnut the Great: building the North Sea Empire
Well documented
Cnut first came to England in 1013 as a young man in his father Sweyn Forkbeard's invasion fleet. Driven out the following year, he returned in 1015 and by the end of…
Aud the Deep-Minded: from Dublin to Iceland
Dates and details approximate
Saga-based. Aud, daughter of Ketill Flatnose and by tradition wife of the Viking king of Dublin, lost her husband in Ireland and her son Thorstein in Scotland. Rather…
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Watch the roads open and close
On the map, routes appear in the decade they first carry traffic. The timeline shows what happened along them.