Logo

Sagnlandet Lejre – visit the Land of Legends

Sagnlandet

Sagnlandet Lejre is a 106-acre archaeological open-air museum established in 1964 as an experimental center for studies in the field of history and archaeology. It is located in Lejre, close to Roskilde.

You can see there the reconstructions of an Iron Age village and sacrificial bog (200 BC to 200 AD), a Viking marketplace (900 AD), a Stone Age campsite (5000 BC), an 18th-century farmstead, and various grave monuments, among which a lot of different farm animals roam around. You will encounter many goats, sheep, cows, geese, horses, pigs while walking through vast pastures and fields.

Interestingly, Sagnlandet is also home to Denmark’s largest Viking King’s Hall, reconstructing the one excavated only 3km away from the museum, in the village of Gl. Lejre. The Royal Hall, an incredible example of Nordic architecture and remarkable craftsmanship, is more than 10 meters high, 12 meters wide, and 60 meters long. It is built of over 1,000 tonnes of oak and exquisitely decorated with figures from Nordic mythology. 

During summer, many families with kids decide to spend their holidays there and live the same way people from those periods lived. They dress in period costumes and work, eat, and enjoy their life the same way as people from the olden days did 🙂 If you have any questions, they are more than happy to talk to you and explain how everything worked. Are you maybe interested in the pottery, the weaver’s workshop, or the smithy? Or perhaps you would like to know how to make a bench with traditional tools? Wait no more, and visit the Land of Legends.

Activities

There are also many interactive activities you could try yourself. I have tried making my own flour by grinding grains with a stone, and let’s say it like that; I appreciate now the fact I can go to a shop and buy it 🙂 After grounding enough flour, we made tiny cookies (pieces of bread?) and cooked them over the fire. Surprisingly they were delicious, even though they consisted only of flour and water 🙂 Too bad we only made enough flour for one and a half cookies each ;(

I also saw some pottery activities where kids made art with clay. There was also an area for some archeological excavations, where kids could feel like Indiana Jones looking for ancient Viking artifacts buried in the ground.

Picnic and food

There are many places in the area to have a picnic, and there is even a designated space with firepits where you can grill your sausages, meats, and veggies. And if you do not feel like a grill, there is a cozy cafe where you can buy what you need.

More details, schedules for different activities, and opening hours are available here.

How to get there

Car

As usual, the easiest way to get there is by car. There is free parking with enough space for everyone.

Bus and train

During the main season, trains and buses run all the way to Sagnlandet. Take the train to Lejre station, and get on bus 233. It runs directly, and the departure times match the train to and from Copenhagen. You can find the entire timetable for Bus 233 on DOT’s website.

In winter, however, there is no scheduled bus to Sagnlandet Lejre. Instead, you can order Telebus 875, which drives from Lejre Station. The price is the same as a regular bus ticket – you can use your Travel Card on Telebus. It can be ordered by phone: +45 70 20 78 29. You can read more about Telebussen on DOT’s website.

Bike

If you feel like biking through the charming area, grab a bike! Sagnlandet is only 7km away from Roskilde. On top of that, two national cycle routes and the Marguerite route run roughly past Sagnlandet’s main entrance.

 

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Jump to...