Kronborg, Frederiksborg & Roskilde Castles Day Tour from Copenhagen

Kronborg Castle in Helsingør, Hamlet's Castle

Kronborg stands on a point at the narrowest part of the Øresund, only about 4 kilometres from Sweden. King Frederik II rebuilt it in the 1570s and 1580s as a splendid Renaissance fortress, and for centuries every ship passing between the North Sea and the Baltic had to pay a toll here, which made the Danish crown rich. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.

Shakespeare set Hamlet in this castle, which he called Elsinore, and actors still perform scenes in its courtyard in summer. Inside you see the vast ballroom, the royal chambers and the dark casemates, where the statue of the sleeping hero Holger Danske waits to wake if Denmark is in danger. Is Kronborg Castle worth visiting? For its setting and stories, absolutely.

Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød

Frederiksborg Castle was built by King Christian IV between about 1600 and 1620 on three small islands in a lake, and it is the largest Renaissance palace in Scandinavia. Its red-brick walls, copper spires and sandstone decoration reflect in the water, and a formal Baroque garden stretches along the far shore.

Since 1878 the castle has housed the Museum of National History, with portraits and furnished rooms covering five centuries of Danish history. The richly gilded chapel, where Danish kings were anointed for nearly two hundred years, is the highlight. A Frederiksborg Castle visit usually takes around an hour, and entrance fees are covered by this tour.

Roskilde Cathedral and the Old Royal Capital

Roskilde, about 30 kilometres west of Copenhagen, was the capital of Denmark in the Viking Age and the Middle Ages. Its cathedral, begun in the late 1100s, was one of the first large Gothic churches built in brick in northern Europe and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995.

Around forty Danish kings and queens are buried inside, in chapels ranging from medieval tombs to modern monuments, which makes a Roskilde Cathedral visit a walk through the whole Danish monarchy. The town is also famous for its Viking Ship Museum on the fjord, where five original Viking ships sunk around 1070 are displayed; your guide will explain how it fits into Roskilde's long history.

The North Zealand Coast and Countryside

The road from Copenhagen to Helsingør follows the Øresund coast, known as the Danish Riviera, lined with fishing villages, beech woods and elegant villas. On clear days you look across the water to Sweden, and the ferries between Helsingør and Helsingborg cross almost every 20 minutes.

Inland, North Zealand is a landscape of lakes, forests and royal hunting grounds, including the Deer Park north of Copenhagen, a UNESCO-listed par force hunting landscape. A day trip to Kronborg and Frederiksborg by car is the easiest way to see this region, since public transport between the three sites takes much longer.