Vikings – the great explorers

Expedition America 2016 is an expedition about sailing the world’s largest Viking ship from Norway to America via Iceland and Greenland like the vikings did a thousand years ago. It is also about exploration, cross border meetings and highlighting the vikings, not for their raiding and plundering, but for their pioneering spirit.

“The Vikings reconnected humanity and made the world a smaller place by traveling huge distances … We look back to the Vikings as the origin of this kind of human endeavor to find new horizons, use new technology, meet new people, and think new thoughts.”
– William Fitzhugh, director of the Arctic Studies Center at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

There is a picture of the vikings as savages and warriors, and yes, some fought and raided. But they were also, as stated in the quote above, known for their innovative and entrepreneurial way of exploring the world. They were sailors, craftsmen, traders and settlers. They sailed the transatlantic route we are planning for, in a time we only know through archaeology, hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus and his fleet. Todays expedition will follow the traces over the North Atlantic Ocean and explore the world in a modern Viking way.

The aim for this voyage:

Expedition America 2016 will explore one of the most mythological sea voyages – the Viking discovery of the New World.  The project will create cross-border meetings and inspire people to go beyond the horizon in a modern Viking saga.

Follow our adventure!

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