Kronborg Castle

Kronborg is the most famous castle in Denmark and the great day trip from Copenhagen. It stands on a point at Helsingor, where the Oresund between Denmark and Sweden narrows to about four kilometres, and for centuries it was the key to the Baltic: from here the Danish kings collected the Sound Dues, a toll on every ship passing through, which made the crown rich. King Frederik II rebuilt an older fortress in the 1570s and 1580s as a magnificent Renaissance castle, with sandstone facades, copper roofs and towers, surrounded by star-shaped bastions and moats, and after a fire in 1629 Christian IV restored it. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its other claim to fame is literary: it is Elsinore, the setting of Shakespeare's Hamlet, and actors from English troupes are known to have performed at the Danish court in the playwright's time. The visit takes in the castle courtyard, the royal apartments, the Renaissance chapel, which survived the fire, and the great ballroom, one of the largest halls in Northern Europe when it was built. Below ground, the casemates, a warren of dark, damp vaults that once held soldiers and supplies, are the highlight for many visitors, and there sits the statue of Holger Danske, the legendary hero who, according to Danish legend, sleeps here and will awake if Denmark is ever in danger. The castle also hosts temporary exhibitions, Hamlet performances in the courtyard in summer, and a Christmas market at weekends in November and December. Adults pay about 150 DKK at the door and a little less online, and children go free. From November to the end of March, the castle is closed on Mondays, with shorter winter hours. Direct trains from Copenhagen Central Station take about 45 minutes, and the castle is a ten-minute walk from Helsingor station along the harbour.

The history is dramatic. The Sound Dues, collected from the fifteenth century until 1857, made Helsingor one of the busiest ports in the region, and Kronborg's cannons ensured that ships paid. Frederik II's castle was a showpiece of Renaissance splendour, with tapestries, paintings and lavish feasts in the ballroom, and its reputation spread across Europe, perhaps reaching Shakespeare through the English actors who visited the Danish court. After the fire of 1629 and a Swedish siege and occupation in 1658, the castle became more of a fortress and barracks than a royal home, and the army only left in the twentieth century. Since then, it has been restored and opened as a museum, and Hamlet has been performed in the courtyard by famous actors over the decades, a tradition that continues with summer performances.

How to visit well: take the train from Copenhagen Central Station, which runs about every twenty minutes, and walk from Helsingor station along the harbour to the castle. Start with the casemates, bringing a torch or using your phone's light, as they are very dark, and then visit the royal apartments, the ballroom and the chapel. In summer, check the programme for Hamlet scenes in the courtyard and guided tours. The castle grounds and bastions, with views over the Sound to Sweden, are free to walk, and the M/S Maritime Museum of Denmark, built underground in an old dry dock beside the castle, makes an excellent second stop.

Make it a full day: Helsingor has a charming old town of half-timbered houses, and ferries cross to Helsingborg in Sweden in about twenty minutes, so you can add a second country to your day. On the way back to Copenhagen, stop at Humlebaek for the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, which is on the same line and open until 22:00 from Tuesday to Friday. In November and December, the castle's Christmas market adds weekend magic; it is closed on 24, 25 and 31 December.