Top Five Things to Do in Denmark – An Insider’s Look

Image Courtesy of Tivoli Gardens Winter Season, Copenhagen, Denmark

By Kelly Thomason

This is an independently submitted op-ed and does not reflect the views of The Tower.

Anyone who knows me is well aware of my obsession with Denmark. Over the past two years, I  have spent over six months in Denmark. I wanted to share my favorite things to do in Denmark because, even though it is a small country, Denmark has much more to offer than just Copenhagen! You can easily Google the best things to do in Denmark, but I wanted my list to focus more on things that might not necessarily be easily researched.

1. Amusement Parks! Specifically, Tivoli Gardens, Bakken, and LEGOLAND Billund

I love amusement parks, and Denmark has its fair share of them. Starting with Tivoli Gardens, which is located in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. This park is known for its beautiful scenery and history. You can pay to enter the park simply to enjoy the scenery or theater/concert events, or you can buy a ride pass! Tivoli Gardens is one of the oldest amusement parks still in use today, and Walt Disney himself said that he was inspired by Tivoli Gardens when he designed Disneyland. The most unique ride at Tivoli Gardens is “The Flying Trunk”, where you see the stories written by H.C. Andersen (who was a Danish fairytale author). The next park is Bakken (which means “the hill” in Danish), located about an hour north of Copenhagen. This park is the oldest amusement park still in use, founded in 1583. It is free to enter, and you can buy ride passes. This park has lots of historical charm to it and lots of great rides! Lastly, LEGOLAND Billund is located in Billund, Denmark. This park is the first LEGOLAND park made because the Danes invented LEGO (this is what I meant by “cool inventions”). The rides are fun and child-friendly (though I admittedly had way too much fun on them), and the LEGO sculptures are insanely cool!

2. Castles!!

Denmark has castles dating back to the 1200s, though it is difficult to pinpoint which castle is the oldest. I have seen the Hammershus (meaning “Hammerhouse”) Castle ruins, which are located on the island of Bornholm, and those ruins date back to 1200. Another castle, called Nyborg (meaning “New Castle”), located on the island of Fyn, was also built around 1200. However, Nyborg has been fully restored, whereas the Hammershus Castle Ruins have not. Regardless, there are countless castles to visit in Denmark. My favorite one to visit was Kronborg (meaning “Crown Castle”), located in the city of Helsingør. This castle is most known as the castle that Shakespeare based “Hamlet” on. The current castle that the royal family lives in is Amalienborg (meaning “Amelia’s Castle”) Palace, where you can see the Royal Guard change positions daily.

3. The Architecture (Obviously)

Denmark is well known for their architecture. As an architecture lover myself, I find myself fascinated by both new and old buildings. My favorite historical towns to visit that date back to the 15th century are Dragør, located south of Copenhagen, and Gudhjem (meaning “God’s home”), located on the island of Bornholm. These old fishing towns feature old buildings often made with brick or stone foundations, clay plaster walls, and clay roof tiles or thatch roofs. These buildings are incredibly charming! Copenhagen has buildings from every century since the 13th century. In Copenhagen, you can see historical buildings as well as the new signature contemporary architecture style that Denmark is currently known for (fun fact: a Danish architect designed the Opera House in Sydney, Australia, just to give you an example of what modern Danish architecture looks like!).

4. Viking History Museums

Denmark is also very well known for their Viking history, dating back to the 700s-1000s. There are museums all over Denmark that have Viking exhibits. A Viking-only museum is the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark, where five Viking ships were found and preserved. The best Viking exhibit (in my opinion) is in the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. Overall, it is very difficult to find Viking artifacts because the Viking age was so long ago, but I think the National Museum of Denmark has a decently expansive collection.

5. Zoos and Aquariums!

Denmark’s zoos and aquariums offer a unique experience due to the vast variety of animals and species they house. The Copenhagen Zoo, The Blue Planet (Denmark’s largest aquarium), and Krokodille Zoo (meaning “Crocodile Zoo”) have a lot of animals that I had never seen before in American animal parks. I specifically want to touch on Krokodille Zoo, because this is the animal park that I was most blown away by. Krokodille Zoo, also known as the World Crocodile Centre, houses the largest number of crocodiles and alligators compared to any other zoo in the world!