An important period in North European history is known as the Viking Age, normally dated to around AD 800 - 1050. This was a period when Scandinavian peoples from the region now occupied by the countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden dominated much of northern Europe and had influence far beyond. They travelled further than Europeans had ever gone before and established a network of communications over great distances.

They exploited the riches of the East and explored the uncharted waters of the North Atlantic. They settled as farmers in the remote western lands of Greenland and reached America five hundred years before Columbus. As the Varangian guard, Scandinavians served in the Byzantine army and navy of the eastern Emperors.

Scandinavians were undoubtedly responsible for great changes during the Viking Age, many of which were beneficial. The Viking Routes highlight the history and travels of the Scandinavians and their connections in Europe and beyond. One of the aims is to draw the attention of today’s Europeans to the Viking period and to make better known the high level of the civilisation of the Nordic region and its influence on Europe during the dramatic centuries before and after the year AD 1000.

The development of the Viking Routes has been led by the network Viking Heritage: an international forum sharing information and promoting knowledge about the Viking world, hosted by Gotland University, Sweden. Viking Heritage consists today of an information database on the Internet and the "Viking Heritage Magazine",the world’s leading magazine aboutViking history. Viking Heritage has also developed a series of International Viking excavation courses, open to students as well as the general public from all over the world.

Exhibitions have also been carried out in Italy as well as in Australia and USA.Viking Heritage is currently working on a project supported by the European Union called "Destination Viking: Baltic Stories", connecting different Viking sites around the Baltic Sea into a common marketing strategy. A guidebook for the project is being prepared and will be published early in 2005.