Top 10 Castles in Denmark
Denmark's castle tradition is smaller in scale than France or Germany's but concentrated in quality. The country's maritime wealth — derived from the Sound Toll, the tax on all shipping passing through the Oresund between Denmark and Sweden — funded castle building of extraordinary ambition in the 16th-17th centuries. The result is a handful of outstanding Renaissance palaces, a string of royal residences around Copenhagen, and several of the best-preserved medieval fortifications in Scandinavia. Find them on the map.
1. Kronborg Castle, Elsinore
Kronborg dominates the narrowest point of the Oresund strait between Denmark and Sweden, commanding the passage that all Baltic shipping had to use and from which the Sound Toll was collected. The current castle was built from 1574-85 for Frederick II in Dutch Renaissance style by the Flemish architect Anthonis Opbergen. Shakespeare set Hamlet here — the earliest known performance reference is 1603 — though there is no evidence he ever visited Elsinore. UNESCO listed Kronborg in 2000. The Great Hall, at 62 metres the longest in northern Europe, is supplemented by an extensive network of casemates beneath the fortification bastion.
2. Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerod
Frederiksborg, on three islands in the lake at Hillerod north of Copenhagen, is the largest Renaissance castle in Scandinavia. Christian IV built it from 1606-25 on the site of an earlier Frederik II palace. The castle's three-island plan — outer island with the gatehouse, middle island with the domestic buildings, inner island with the chapel — creates a sequence of approaches across the lake that is as much a landscape composition as a military arrangement. The castle houses the National History Museum of Denmark.
3. Egeskov Slot, Funen
Egeskov, built on oak piles driven into a lake on the island of Funen, is one of Europe's best-preserved Renaissance water castles. The castle was built from 1554 for Frands Brockenhuus as a defended manor house; its double outer wall, separated by a corridor that could be flooded, was among the most advanced defensive architecture of its period in northern Europe. The grounds house several museums and some of Europe's finest Baroque and Renaissance gardens.
4. Rosenborg Castle, Copenhagen
Rosenborg, in the centre of Copenhagen, was built by Christian IV from 1606 as a summer residence and later became the storage location for the Danish Crown Jewels. The castle, in Dutch Renaissance style, is now a museum of Danish royal history from Christian IV to Frederick VIII; the collection of royal furnishings, silver, and the regalia is displayed in rooms that retain much of their original 17th-century character.
5. Koldinghus, Kolding
Koldinghus, the medieval and Renaissance royal castle in the Jutland town of Kolding, was largely burned in 1808 when Spanish troops billeted here lit fires to warm themselves, accidentally igniting the roof. The ruins were preserved as a romantic monument for 150 years before a partial restoration of the medieval tower was completed in 1991. The result — modern concrete infill within medieval masonry walls — is a deliberately honest conservation solution that preserves both the ruin and the building within it.
6. Hammershus, Bornholm
Hammershus, on a cliff above the sea in the northwest of the island of Bornholm, is the largest castle ruin in Scandinavia. The fortress, begun by the Archbishop of Lund in the early 13th century, was continuously developed through the 17th century before being abandoned in 1743. The scale of the ruins — multiple towers, curtain walls, and residential ranges — and the dramatic cliff setting above the Baltic give it a grandeur that few Danish sites can match.
7. Spottrup Castle, Jutland
Spottrup, in the Jutland peninsula, is among the best-preserved medieval castles in Denmark. The moated enclosure, dating from the early 16th century, retains its full perimeter wall, the great hall, and the moat. The combination of completeness and modest size makes it an unusually legible example of the Danish water-castle tradition.
8. Glucksburg Castle, near Flensburg
Glucksburg, on a lake near the German border, is the ancestral seat of the House of Glucksburg — the dynasty that supplies the royal families of Denmark, Norway, and the United Kingdom. The white-painted Renaissance water castle, built from 1583-87, is reflected in its lake with a simplicity of form that makes it one of the most photogenic in Scandinavia. The interior preserves original 16th-17th century furnishing including a collection of Flemish tapestries.
9. Nyborg Castle, Funen
Nyborg, dating from around 1170, is one of Denmark's oldest castles and the site where the Danish constitution — the Great Charter of 1282, requiring the king to rule with the consent of the nobility — was signed. The surviving round tower and parts of the curtain wall are the oldest military architecture in Denmark. The castle is associated with the medieval tradition of the Danehof, the Danish parliament.
10. Christiansborg Palace, Copenhagen
Christiansborg, on the Slotsholmen island in central Copenhagen, is the seat of the Danish Parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Prime Minister's Office — the centre of Danish government. The current building is the third on the site and dates from 1907-28, though the medieval foundations are preserved and accessible; the ruins of the earlier castles are displayed in the basement.
Explore on the map
Denmark's castles and royal residences are concentrated around Copenhagen and on the islands of Funen and Bornholm. Every site is on the interactive map and the country's excellent cycling infrastructure makes a castle tour by bike entirely practical.