Settled On Canada's Fog-Kissed North Coast Is The Only Known Viking Settlement In The New World

As far as European history in North America goes, most people associate the earliest settlers with Christopher Columbus in the 15th century, or maybe the pilgrims coming to New England in the 1600s. But there was one European group that arrived on the continent long before. In fact, the Norse Vikings came to North America around AD 1021, a 2022 study in Nature estimated, which would place their arrival nearly 500 years before Columbus'. There's one site that serves as evidence of these early American settlers, tucked among the windblown cliffs of Newfoundland, Canada, overlooking the Atlantic horizon. It's the L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, a UNESCO World Heritage location where you can visit relics of an ancient Viking settlement.

Considering that Canada is the country with the longest coastline in the world, it makes sense that the Vikings landed here en route from Greenland. The site wasn't discovered until 1960, though, making it the first confirmed Norse site in North America (and, so far, the only). Its discovery flipped the previously accepted narrative that Columbus was the first European to find the continent — and might flip some of your assumptions, too. The site includes eight Viking buildings and dozens of artifacts from the settlement, including tools and ornaments. There's even some evidence of the Vikings' exploration of other areas of North America. Plus, you can listen to Norse sagas, see reenactments of the old settlement, and hike along the same coastline explored by the Vikings over 1,000 years ago.

Before the L'Anse aux Meadows site was discovered, there were stories about Vikings discovering a place they called "Vinland" in Icelandic Sagas. Historians believed that this was referencing North America, so they began looking for evidence of the Vikings' presence on the continent. One Norwegian explorer, Helge Ingstad, began to excavate a series of strange ridges along the Newfoundland coast. These structures turned out to be the overgrown walls of a legendary Viking settlement. Among the group of buildings, they discovered three homes, a forge, and four workshops. A few clues pinpointed the site as belonging to the Norse Vikings, including the signature timber-framed building style, remains from smelted iron, and artifacts typical of Norse garb.

The L'Anse aux Meadows site served as a starting point for Vikings to explore the continent, rather than a long-term colony. "It was a base for further exploration, a gateway to other sites," said former Parks Canada archaeologist Birgitta Wallace in Archaeology Magazine. Some artifacts at the site — namely, hardwood lumber and butternuts — come from the south of Canada, suggesting that the Vikings were also active in the New Brunswick region. With a tour of L'Anse aux Meadows, you get to see a reconstruction of what this settlement would have looked like in the 11th century. You can wander the site on your own or partake in one of its special programs that include reenactments and guides.

Your visit to L'Anse aux Meadows will begin at its visitor center, which is a museum in itself. The center has artifacts on display from the excavations, including a bone needle and bronze pin once used to fasten cloaks. You'll see a model of a Viking færing boat, watch videos depicting how Vikings smelted iron, and browse souvenirs at the gift shop. Around the settlement, you can do guided tours that provide a deeper dive into how the Vikings lived and traveled, as well as their relationship to the Indigenous populations that originally occupied the area.

One of the unique events offered Tuesday and Saturday evenings during the summer is the Sagas and Shadows program. Visitors gather around a reconstructed Norse kitchen to hear retellings of Viking Sagas with a specially concocted spiced juice. If you'd rather learn by wandering into the former settlement yourself, the Birchy Nuddick Trail is an under-two-mile hike that meanders through the L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, which also features bogs, a pond, and spectacular ocean views.

The L'Anse aux Meadows visitor center and encampment are open from June through October, daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Note that the entry fee doesn't include special programs or tours. To get here, you can fly into the small St. Anthony Airport, which has connections to St. John's and Blanc-Sablon (the Canadian destination lauded by Samantha Brown for its European culture), then drive about an hour to L'Anse aux Meadows. Alternatively, you can make the site part of a road trip along Newfoundland's Viking Trail (Route 430), which also includes a stop at a giant national park full of coastal fjords and mountains.