We visited Kronborg Castle after stopping by Frederiksborg Castle. We didn’t know if we would have enough time to visit Helsingør, so we didn’t do much advanced planning. The 800 year old town of Helsingør, known in English as Elsinore, is a port city on the eastern edge of Denmark. It’s a 20 minute ferry ride to Sweden. You may have heard of this castle and not realized it. It’s depicted as “Elsinore”, the setting of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
How to Get to Kronborg Castle
It’s very easy to get to the town of Helsingør via train. If you are going to Kronborg Castle after a visiting Frederiksborg Castle, from the Hillerød Station take the 930R to Helsingør, which is about 25 minutes with no transfers. If you are coming straight from Copenhagen, take the direct RE train which is about 53 minutes. Once you arrive at the Helsingør Street Station you will walk 15 minutes to the castle.
Booking Tickets to Kronborg Castle
You can book your tickets in person or online to save time. Adult tickets are 125 DKK ($18.50 USD) and children under 18 are free. Tickets in June, July & August are 145 DKK. If you have the Copenhagen Card like we did you do not need to reserve tickets in advance, just show your pass at the entry.
History of Kronborg Castle
Construction of the Renaissance castle began in 1574 under the direction of King Frederick II. Unfortunately a fire destroyed much of the castle in 1629 but King Christian IV had it rebuilt It was besieged in 1659 by the Swedish Army who took many of its valuables. In 1758 the castle was converted to Army barracks and was used by the Army until 1923. After the castle was renovated it was opened to the public. In 2000 it was inscribed on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List
Inside Kronborg Castle
Kronborg Castle Church
The castle church was the only area spared in the 1629 fire. It’s a small chapel with beautiful details.
The Town of Helsingør
Helsingør is very picturesque and quite enjoyable to walk through as you make your way to the castle. If you have more time than we did there are a few things to see in Helsingør such as the Helsingør City Museum, National Maritime Museum of Denmark, St. Olaf’s Church and St. Mary’s Church and Carmelite Monastery. We saw both of these from the exterior but didn’t go inside unfortunately.
If you have time in your Copenhagen itinerary, I highly recommend making a trip to Helsingør and Kronborg Castle. The town and castle are beautiful and rich with history.
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