Zealand Sights

Guidebooks

Kronborg Slot (Kronborg Castle)

Kronborg Slot (Kronborg Castle) Review

Kronborg Slot dominates the city of Helsingør. Built in the late 1500s, it's the inspiration for Elsinore castle in Shakespeare's Hamlet (1601). Shakespeare probably never saw the castle in person, but he managed to capture its spirit—it's a gloomy, chilly place, where it's clear that an ordinary person today lives much better than kings once did. The castle was built as a Renaissance tollbooth: from its cannon-studded bastions, forces collected a tariff from all ships crossing the sliver of water between Denmark and Sweden. Well worth seeing are the 200-foot-long dining hall and the dungeons, where there is a brooding statue of Holger Danske (Ogier the Dane). According to legend, the sleeping Viking chief will awaken to defend Denmark when it's in danger. (The largest Danish resistance group during World War II called itself Holger Danske.)

    Contact Information

  • Address: At point, on harbor front, Helsingør, | Map It
  • Phone: 49/21-30-78
  • Cost: DKr 95
  • Hours: April--May and Sept.--Oct., daily 11--4; June--Aug., daily 10--5:30; Nov.--Mar., Tues.--Sun. 11--4
  • Website:
  • Location: Helsingør

Fodorite Reviews

Be the first to review this property

Free Fodor's Newsletter

Subscribe today for weekly travel inspiration, tips, and special offers.

· Forums Trip Reports

View more trip reports

·, ,

View more travel discussions

· News & Features

View more blog stories