In the northern suburbs of Aalborg is a windswept, lonely-feeling grassy hillock with a mesmerizing sight: the largest Viking burial site in Scandinavia. There are 700 graves from the Iron Age and Viking Age at Lindholm Høje (nordjyskemuseer.dk/en; free), once a high-status Viking village – 41 of the graves were burials, while the rest were all cremated. It's a place heavy with atmosphere, edged by a wall of beech trees.
The oldest tombs are higher on the hill, and youngest at the foot. Many of the male burials are arranged in a "ship setting" – the oval outline of a Viking boat – to sail the glorious dead to their eternal reward in Valhalla. Female graves are circular and oval. The shape and size of each setting relates to the status of the deceased.
The reason for the site’s remarkable preservation is that at the end of the Viking era the whole area was buried under drifting sand, and only excavated in the 1950s. Lindholm Høje Museet (adult/child 100kr/free) showcases archaeological finds from its excavations, alongside exhibitions on daily life in the Viking Age.
Lindholm Høje is 15 minutes' north of central Aalborg via bus 13.
