Ribe - Denmark's oldest town

Photo: Vadehavskysten

With ist outstanding status as Denmark's oldest and best preserved town, dating back to the Viking Age, Ribe offers you a unique atmosphere. 

First on the programme is a 30 min. coach tour from the cruise ship to Ribe. Then in Ribe a guided walk through the narrow, winding streets and the idyllic alleyways with beautiful, old half-timbered houses. Pass Skibbroen, the former harbour area with the Flood Column where the worst catastrophes in Ribe's history are marked. 

Ribe Cathedral
The guided walk also include a visit to the Cathedral completed between 1225 and 1250. The Cathedral is the prominent landmark of the town and can be seen for miles across the flat landscape. 

Around 860 AD, St. Ansgar was granted permission to build the first church in Ribe, and construction of the present cathedral started around 1150, replacing the older stone church on the same site.  Even then, Ribe was already a large, well-organised trading hub, with the areas south-west of the town providing a supply of building materials, inspiration and craftsmen for the ambitious cathedral project. The cathedral is now the main church in the diocese of Ribe, which extends from Tønder and nearly all the way to Holstebro.

Ribe Viking Museum
The tour can also include a visit to Ribe Viking Museum. The exhibition chronicles the building of a marketplace in Ribe around the year 700 and the rise of the town as a cathedral town and trading hub. Throughout the Middle Ages, Ribe was one of Denmark's most important commercial centres, with a large port and connections to every part of Europe. Thousands of archaeological finds bear witness to the life of the Vikings and their active trade with the rest of Europe.

Shopping in Ribe
In stead of visiting the Viking Museum the group can undertake a shopping tour on its own through the busy pedestrian street of the old market town with special shops, galeries and arts and crafts shops and cosy cafés.

After some interesting and enjoyful hours in beautiful Ribe we return to Esbjerg.

Practical information
The tour may be operated in reverse order.

Duration
4 hours.

Distance
30 km from Esbjerg.

Guides in
German and English.

Entrance fees
Entrance to the cathedral is free. Viking Museum DKK 70 per person min. 15 persons (children free).