Join a live guided tour around the harbor and through the idyllic canals where your guide will tell you about Copenhagen's beautiful churches, castles, old listed houses, new buildings, and other sights of interest.
The classic and original tour, dating back to 1904. With a Copenhagen Card you can board the "Classic Tour" that takes about an hour. You depart from Ved Stranden and pass by some of Copenhagen’s best sights and attractions. The tour is conducted with a live guide in Danish, English and sometimes also a third language (German, Italian, French or Spanish). You can find further information about languages at the ticket office at Ved Stranden.
During the tour you will pass by some of the most interesting sights in Copenhagen: The Operahouse, Amalienborg Palace, The Old Stock Exchange, Christianshavn, Our Saviours Church, Battery Sixtus, The Black Diamond, ‘BLOX’, the Little Mermaid and much, much more.
During the winter, the boats are covered and heated. Canal Tours sails all year - see time table on website.
Please have your Copenhagen Card scanned at the ticket sale before boarding
You can pre-book same-day tickets from the box office at Ved Stranden.
Photo: Christiansborg Slot
Photo: Christiansborg Slot
Photo: Christiansborg Slot
Photo: Karoline Lieberkind
Photo: Karoline Lieberkind
Photo: Karoline Lieberkind
Christiansborg - Ruins under Christiansborg Palace
When the present Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen was constructed, the National Museum took care to excavate and protect the ruins of the Palace's oldest predecessors, Bishop Absalon's Castle of 1167 and Copenhagen Castle that replaced it.
Christiansborg is outstanding in the respect that here you will find, under the same roof, Denmark's political centre of today and the remains of the country's principal castle of the Middle Ages.
Revealed by accident
When casting the foundations of the present Christiansborg Palace, workers struck upon the ruins of older buildings and the remnants of a curtain wall. Experts were called in from the National Museum, and a close inspection revealed that the ruins dated back as far as 1167.
What they had come upon was Bishop Absalon's Castle, once situated on a tiny island off the Merchants' Habour. Walking around this underground site, you will get an idea of how the castle was continually renewed and developed.
The later castle and the infamous Blue Tower
The Copenhagen Castle, built on the same site, was surrounded by a moat and had a large tower as an entrance gate. The castle was rebuilt several times. King Christian IV added a spire to the tower, the infamous Blue Tower, where only prominent prisoners of state were kept.
In the 1720s, King Frederik IV entirely rebuilt the castle, but as a result of this total reconstruction, the walls had become so heavy they started to give way and to crack. King Christian VI, Frederik IV's successor, soon realised the necessity of demolishing the old castle and erecting a new one on the site. This new castle was to be the first Christiansborg Palace.
Special Exhibitions (Christiansborgslot.dk)
Might & Magic, 27.09.2024 - 27.04.2025
The history of Danish witchcraft is a tangle of myths and mysteries. Three women acused of witchcraft, Maren Splids, Christenze Kruckow and Maren Ringsbjerg, will finally be given a voice in 2024, when the Might & Magic exhibition opens. Leading female actors lend their voices to a captivating audio track relating the fates of the three women in interactions with stunning set design.
The Might & Magic exhibition was created in collaboration with Award-winning set designer Ditte Marie Walter Tygesen and researchers from the HEX! Museum of Witch Hunt in Ribe. Join us on a journey back to the Renaissance, deep into in the dark ruins beneath Christiansborg Castle, where we’ll tell you what really happened, in the place where it happened.
You’ll meet three women from some of Denmark’s most famous witch trials. Sense the lingering echoes of that bygone era, palpable in the very air around you. Trace the fates of these women as their threads of fate weave their way through the scenography, criss-crossing the ruins and spinning a gripping visualisation of their lives.
The trials of Maren Splids, Christenze Kruckow and Maren Ringsbjerg were all personally overseen by Christian IV, who had them brought to Copenhagen Castle.
Who were the accused? And why did the king have them brought to his castle when he was so afraid of them?
Have a go at performing magic with engaging interactive elements. Try predicting the future in lead, measuring with threads of fate, using crystals to strengthen the mind and body, and get inspiration on how to make and use a wax child – the Nordic answer to voodoo dolls.
Related Attractions
Once home to kings and queens, Christiansborg Palace now houses the Danish Parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Ministry of State. You can visit the state rooms and walk in the footsteps of royalty. The Royal Reception Rooms at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen are used by the Queen for official occasions.
Walk though gilded rooms and decorated salons, some of which are still used by the Royal Family for various functions and events. The Royal Reception Rooms include The Tower Room and The Oval Throne Room where foreign ambassadors to Denmark are received by the King. The lavish Throne Room gives access to the balcony where the Danish monarchs are proclaimed, with twin thrones to admire.
The Great Hall is the most imposing room in the palace. This is where you will find the Queen's tapestries.The Danish business community marked the occasion of Queen Margrethe's 50th birthday in 1990 by ordering a gift of 11 tapestries. Bjørn Nørgaard painted the full-size sketches upon which the tapestries were woven. The tapestry series depicts 1000 years of Danish history.The Prime Minister of Denmark also uses The Royal Reception Rooms in connection with state visits by foreign state leaders. The Alexandra Hall is used for official dinners.If you hold a ticket to the Royal Reception Rooms, you are entitled to a free guided tour of the premises. Other experiences at Christiansborg Palace include a spooky tour of the ruins discovered underneath the palace, which include a wall dating to the Middle Ages, and a trip round the castle's former kitchens, complete with sounds and models.
The Reception Rooms are richly adorned with furniture and works of art rescued from the two previous palaces, as well as decorations by some of the best Danish artists, such as Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg and Bjørn Nørgaard.
Admission during opening hours, provided that the royal family is not using the premises for official occasions.
The Royal Stables are located at Christiansborg Palace on the island of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen. In 1789 the number of horses reached a peak with 270 horses stabled. Today, there are about 20 horses in the Royal Stables.
Shortly after his accession to the throne in 1730, King Christian VI had the old and outdated Copenhagen Castle torn down to make way for a new Baroque palace: the first Christiansborg Palace. The old stable complex behind Copenhagen Castle was also torn down to make way for a new and larger stable complex.
The new and still existing stable complex was constructed from 1738 to 1745. The complex included an outdoor riding ground surrounded by buildings containing an indoor riding school as well as stables with room for a total of 87 riding horses and 165 carriage horses. Part of these stable buildings still remain unchanged since their inauguration in 1746 with an extravagant decoration of marble pillars.
A lively museum
The museum has three departments: The Harness Room with old uniforms of the Royal Stables and the splendidly decorated eight-horse harness with a wealth of lovely details - the actual Stables with the Royal Family's carriage and saddle horses, and finally the Coach Hall with old well-preserved state coaches and carriages.
Pay a visit to the Royal Kitchen under Christiansborg.
This is where you can have a unique look behind the scenes of the royal parties and celebrations. What goes on in the royal kitchen when there is a gala dinner at the palace in 1937? The sweet aroma of beef tenderloin for 275 guests wafts out of the ovens - muscular chefs stagger around under the weight of the ton-heavy copper pots - the confectioner constructs exquisite crowns of candied fruit.
Come and experience the royal party preparations as they are today and in days of old.
According to written sources from the middle ages, it was in the area surrounding Lejre Museum, that the birth of the Danish realm took place. It is here, you find the first line of Danish kings, Skjoldungerne, who, according to the legend, had their base during the Iron Age and the Viking Age in Denmark (500-1000 A.C.).
Lejre Museum reopened with a brand new exhibition in March 2016. The exhibition combines digital installations and archaeological treasure findings, which gives unique historical experience.
The legend tells, that just outside the doors of Lejre Museum, in the beautiful, scenic landscape, lay the great castle of Skjoldungerne, who descended from King Skjold. Skjoldungerne were mythical kings, but archaeological findings in the area suggest, that Gl. Lejre was one of the most important centers in the Viking ages.
The exhibition is divided into three general themes. The first presents the original sources – the written myths and the archaeological evidence. Here you can experience the legendary myths through sound, light, and film, and it is here, that you get an introduction to the history of Lejre.
The second main theme is shaped like a big digital wall map, where you actively can seek information about the monuments and the excavations in the area surrounding the museum.
In the third theme, you find the museums archaeological treasures from the area – the world-renowned Odin-statue, the Gevninge-finding and Denmarks largest silver treasure, Mannerupskatten.
Lejre Museum also has a cosy bookstore and shop, where you can immerse yourself in the ancient myths while you enjoy a delicious cup of organic coffee.
Visit Vedbækfundene Museum and meet the hunter-gatherers who lived a tough and dangerous life 7000 years ago!
At the museum Vedbækfundene you can experience unique finds from Danish prehistory. In our main exhibition a reconstruction of the life in the Stone Age Denmark, containing both graves and lifelike dioramas, will bring you back in time. The Special Exhibitions gives you the opportunity of meeting Jacob – a bog skeleton from the Iron Age, admiring beautiful neckpieces from the Bronze Age and much more.
A young woman from Vedbaek, Denmark, buried with her newborn child who had been placed on the wing of a swan, 4000 BC.Vedbaek 'The swan's wing burial' Tomb 8 is the most famous of the burials, containing a young woman, who may have died in childbirth, and a premature baby.
The archaeological finds are of international importance because it has given great insight into human life and society in Stone Age Northern Europe.
It is possible to book a guided tour.
Transport
The Vedbæk Finds is included in COPENHAGEN CARD - DISCOVER, which also includes public transport in zone 1-99. To get to The Vedbæk Finds, you can take bus 150S from Nørreport (approx 25 minutes) to the stop "Øverødvej" and walk about 10 minutes to the museum.
Opening Hours
01.10.2024 - 23.12.2024:Monday: 10:00 - 16:30
Tuesday: 10:00 - 16:30
Wednesday: 10:00 - 16:30
Thursday: 10:00 - 16:30
Friday: 10:00 - 16:30
Saturday: 10:00 - 16:30
Sunday: 10:00 - 16:30
Location
Prins Jørgens Gård 1
1218 København K