Anundshög in Västerås, Sweden

Getting to Anundshög

Here is some advice on how to get to Anundshög depending on your time and budget:

Closest Airport

• Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN) – Approximately 1 hour 20 minutes by car to Anundshög.

By Car (Fastest Option)

• From Stockholm, take E18 westbound → Västerås.

• At Västerås, follow signs toward Anundshög / Badelunda (about 6 km northeast of the city).

• Free parking is available at the site.

By Train + Bus

• Take an SJ or Mälartåg train from Stockholm Central Station → Västerås Central Station (Approx. 55–60 minutes).

• From Västerås, board Bus Line 21, 22, or 569 toward Irsta/Badelunda — get off at the Anundshög stop.

• Walking distance from the bus stop to the mound is about 5 minutes.

By Guided Tour (Seasonal Option)

• Several tour operators in Stockholm and Västerås offer Viking heritage day tours that include Anundshög, often paired with Strömsholm Castle or Old Uppsala.

Cycling Route

• From Västerås city center, it’s a 20-minute bike ride along well-marked countryside paths — ideal in summer.

When to see Anundshög

The best seasons to visit Anundshög in Sweden are spring, summer, and early autumn. In spring (April–June), the surrounding fields and forests bloom with fresh greenery, providing excellent contrast with the ancient burial mounds and stone ship formations, ideal for photography. Summer (June–August) offers long daylight hours, warm weather, and easier access to the archaeological site, making it perfect for exploring the Viking mounds and runestones. Early autumn (September–October) presents stunning fall colors, softer light, and fewer visitors, allowing for a more peaceful and scenic experience. Winter visits are possible, but snow and short daylight hours can limit outdoor exploration.

The best time of day to visit Anundshög depends on your goals. Early morning is ideal for capturing soft light, long shadows, and minimal crowds around the burial mounds and stone ships. Late afternoon and golden hour provide warm, dramatic lighting that highlights the textures of the runestones and the contours of the mounds. Twilight and early evening can create striking silhouettes of the mounds against the sky, perfect for dramatic landscape photography. Planning your visit around these times ensures the best experience and most visually compelling shots of Anundshög.

Photography

Here are some photo spots with respective coordinates as suggestions for ways to capture this amazing spot:

Main Burial Mound

• Location: Largest mound (~59.2648° N, 15.2120° E)

• Details: Capture scale and perspective of the main mound; show walking paths

• Best Time: Morning for soft shadows

• Lens: Drone or wide-angle ground shot

Stone Ship Formation

• Location: Circular stone arrangement (~59.2650° N, 15.2115° E)

• Details: Perfect overhead symmetry to show Viking stone ship layout

• Best Time: Mid-morning or late afternoon for soft shadows

• Lens: Drone (high altitude)

View Toward Mälaren

• Location: North edge overlooking lake (~59.2655° N, 15.2125° E)

• Details: Mounds leading to lake in distance; panoramic composition

• Best Time: Sunrise for reflective water or golden hour

• Lens: Drone or panorama lens

Viking Runestones

• Location: Cluster of runestones (~59.2645° N, 15.2110° E)

• Details: Close-ups of inscriptions; emphasize textures and carvings

• Best Time: Morning for directional light

• Lens: Macro lens or 35–50mm prime

Walking Path with Mounds

• Location: Main path (~59.2649° N, 15.2118° E)

• Details: Leading lines along multiple mounds; adds depth and scale

• Best Time: Early morning for soft light

• Lens: Wide-angle (16–35mm)

Aerial Over Entire Site

• Location: Center of the site (~59.2650° N, 15.2120° E)

• Details: Drone captures full layout of mounds, stone ships, and forest

• Best Time: Morning or afternoon for even lighting

• Lens: Drone camera

Sunset Silhouette of Mounds

• Location: South ridge (~59.2648° N, 15.2125° E)

• Details: Dramatic silhouette of mounds against colorful sky

• Best Time: Sunset / golden hour

• Lens: Telephoto or wide-angle for silhouette

Trees Framing Runestones

• Location: Around small grove (~59.2646° N, 15.2112° E)

• Details: Natural frames of trees around runestones; seasonal compositions

• Best Time: Late afternoon for warm light

• Lens: 50mm or 24–70mm zoom

Close-Up of Stone Textures

• Location: Individual stones (~59.2645° N, 15.2115° E)

• Details: Capture weathering, moss, and stone detail; artistic composition

• Best Time: Overcast for soft, even lighting

• Lens: Macro lens

Panorama from North Ridge

• Location: Elevated northern ridge (~59.2652° N, 15.2128° E)

• Details: Panoramic view of entire archaeological site, mounds, and forest

• Best Time: Sunrise or golden hour

• Lens: Drone or panoramic lens

You can see that some of my photos of Anundshög were taken by drone. To get some of these shots, you will need to submit a request via the drone app, Drone Request. From here, you can pick your drone flight radius, elevation, as well as time of flight and date.

MORE IMPORTANTLY: Anundshög itself is located very close to Västerås airport and sits right in the flight back of incoming planes. Fortunately, this airport is not nearly as busy as others in Sweden. Therefore to fly here, I not only filled out a DroneRequest that I described above, but I contacted the air traffic control tower for Västerås airport. I did this a day before my flight and right before my drone flight the day of. They were super helpful and essentially told me when it was safe for me to fly. More information is available here on their website.

Enjoy!

Purchasing Photos

Conclusion and Further Resources

Although it is situated in a smaller Swedish city, I truly enjoyed visiting Anundshög early in the morning to capture the sunrise and to have the place to myself. Since living in Sweden, I vastly enjoy learning more about Viking history and seeing the relics of that time and sharing them with my readers through photo and video.

If you like cities in Sweden as well as the castles and fortresses they may contain, check out my related blog posts below:

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