L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland - Viking Site

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Vikings at L'Anse aux Meadows Viking Site

Experience the Vikings in L'Anse aux Meadows


We are in L'Anse aux Meadows on Newfoundland and want to see how the Vikings once lived here. Blown by the wind, the northern tip of Newfoundland stretches out into the narrow strait of the Strait of Belle Isle. The strait separates the island from mainland Labrador. It's hard to believe that the Vikings reached the east coast of North America here in 1000 AD. What's even more incredible is that they chose such a harsh environment for their attempted settlement in the New World. But if you know that they headed west from their settlements in Greenland, this is understandable. Because this region must have seemed familiar to them.

 

 

 

Where Erik the Red went ashore in America

It was not known for a long time where Erik, the Red man and his followers had settled in America. Only Helge and Anne-Stine Ingstad, two Norwegian archaeologists, demonstrated in 1961 L'Anse aux Meadows in northern Newfoundland the remains of a Viking settlement. This shed light on the history of the Vikings in North America. Today you can see the original settlement. Right next door in the reconstructed Norstead settlement, you can experience what the life of the Vikings looked like in Newfoundland.

 

Viking boat at L'Anse aux Meadows Viking Site
longship

 

Viking boats

It was wooden nutshells that the Vikings used to take the long and dangerous journey across the North Atlantic. Storms and icebergs were on their way. But they were experienced seafarers. As living conditions in their homeland of Greenland deteriorated, they had reason to look for a new settlement area. They set off with their families and made their way west.

 

Viking woman working at L'Anse aux Meadows Viking Site
Viking woman at work

 

This is how the Vikings lived in L'Anse aux Meadows

They probably followed the Labrador coast south until they encountered the bay in northern Newfoundland. There they built a typical Viking settlement. The Ingstads found smelting furnaces where the Vikings melted iron and made nails. This was proof that this settlement had been built by the Norsemen. The island's natives had no knowledge of ironworking.

 

In a residential building in L'Anse aux Meadows Viking Site
In a Viking house in L'Anse aux Meadows

 

Iron nails as evidence - Vikings in L'Anse aux Meadows

"Stop! Women have no access here! ”This is how a young snot spoon receives me when I want to enter the Viking blacksmith's workshop. Somewhat astonished, I don't know how to behave at first. Then he suddenly grins mischievously across his face and says: "That was the way it used to be with the Vikings." Obviously, I am allowed to penetrate the male realm. Then he explains in detail how the Vikings once made iron. They melted iron-containing peat lumps in specially built forges. In this way, they obtained the raw materials for tools and nails that they needed for the construction of their accommodations and everyday life on the Newfoundland coast.

 

Viking woman at L'Anse aux Meadows Viking Site
Viking woman in L'Anse aux Meadows

 

The Viking women

It is more friendly in the neighboring house, where the Viking women are about to make blankets and warm clothes and scarves - with traditional Viking methods. They work hard with only one needle on warming cuffs, which were certainly worn in the cold winter months, but also on the stormy summer days. And proudly explain to me how the wool is made from the fur of the sheep and show me how to use a spinning whorl to make the yarn out of which the colorful blankets and knitted cuffs are made.

 

Church in the Viking Site
Viking Church at L'Anse aux Meadows Viking Site

 

The hard life of the Vikings

The wind is now blowing outside and rarely stops in this area. From the flat coast I look out over the Strait of Belle Isle, the narrow inlet in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. I wonder what the people thought when they tried to build a new life for themselves in this inhospitable region? It's amazing what people are capable of when necessary.

 

Viking boy at Norstead Viking Site
Viking boy

 

You need that on a trip to L'Anse aux Meadows

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You can get information about the excavation and the findings of the Ingstads in the

L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site

Opening times: June to early October

The visitor center is very informative.

A livelier visit to the Norstead Living History Museum is across the street. There, "Vikings" convey impressions of life in this village. This museum is open from mid-June to mid-September.

 

Do you like to travel by motorhome?

  • Camping in L'Anse aux Meadows can be done here, for example:
    • Viking RV Park, Quirpon Main St, Saint Lunaire-Griquet, NL A0K 2X0, Canada
  • Do you want to rent a motorhome? Then you will also find information here booking options.
  • Be sure to check our packing list for campers to see whether you have packed everything for your motorhome tour.

 

L'Anse aux Meadows Viking Site
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Do you know this?

 

Other Slow Travel Destinations you can find it here, for example. Also discover others Cities in Canada.

Source for L'Anse aux Meadows: On-site research with support from Tourism Newfoundland and the Canadian Tourism Commission. Our opinions definitely remain our own.

Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Video: © Copyright Petar Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline

L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland - Viking Site

Monika Fuchs

Monika Fuchs and Petar Fuchs are the authors and publishers of the Food and Slow Travel blog  TravelWorldOnline. They have been publishing this blog since 2005. TravelWorldOnline has been online since 2001. Their topics are trips to Savor, wine tourism worldwide and slow travel. During her studies Monika Fuchs spent some time in North America, where she - partly together with Petar Fuchs - traveled to the USA and Canada and spent a research year in British Columbia. This intensified her thirst for knowledge, which she satisfied for 6 years as an adventure guide for Rotel Tours and then for 11 years as a tour guide for Studiosus Reisen around the world. She was constantly expanding her travel regions, but curiosity still gnawed at her: "What's beyond the horizon? What else is there to discover in this city? Which people are interesting here? What do they eat in this region?" As a freelance travel journalist (her articles have appeared in DIE ZEIT, 360° Canada, 360° USA, etc.), she is now looking for answers to these questions as a travel writer and travel blogger in many countries around the world. Petar Fuchs produces the videos on this blog as well as on YouTube. Monika Fuchs from TravelWorldOnline is among Germany's top 50 bloggers in 2021. Find more Information about Monika and Petar Fuchs here.