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Helsingør

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Cobblestone streets from Helsingor in Denmark.

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Overview

Fascinating Helsingør commands the narrowest point of the Øresund, the sound that separates Denmark from today's Sweden. In the 15th and 16th centuries the city became immensely wealthy by taxing shipping that had to pass this way between the Baltic Sea and the open ocean. For a sizeable town, Helsingør has done a pretty good job of maintaining mementoes of its medieval character, best appreciated by strolling through the grid of narrow cobbled streets between the harbour and the bustling shopping core. Here, half-timbered back-alley houses lean precariously behind towering hollyhocks and creeping ivy. The main sight, however, is the gigantic Kronborg Slot, made famous as Elsinore Castle in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, although the intimate psychological nature of the play is a far cry from the real-life military colossus.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Kronborg castle, Helsingor, Denmark

    Kronborg Slot

    Helsingør

    Best known as the Elsinore Castle of Shakespeare's Hamlet, this Unesco World Heritage Site is a vast Renaissance masterpiece topped by baroque green…

  • M/S Museet for Søfart

    M/S Museet for Søfart

    Helsingør

    Ingeniously built into a dry dock beside Kronborg Slot, this subterranean museum merits a visit as much for its design as for its informative multimedia…

  • Helsingør Bymuseum

    Helsingør Bymuseum

    Helsingør

    One block north of the cathedral, Helsingør Bymuseum occupies a former sailors’ hospital, built in 1516 by the monks of the adjacent monastery. It…

  • Sankt Mariæ Kirke & Karmeliterklostret

    Sankt Mariæ Kirke & Karmeliterklostret

    Helsingør

    Karmeliterklostret is one of Scandinavia’s few fully preserved monastic cloisters, its arched brick arcades giving the feel of an Oxford college. The…

  • Skibsklarerergaarden

    Skibsklarerergaarden

    Helsingør

    Meaning 'Shipwreck Garden', this 1580 terraced building has a feel that has remained virtually unchanged for centuries. The ground floor 'Boutik' …

  • Hammermøllen

    Hammermøllen

    Helsingør

    About 5km west of Helsingør, this picturesque old smithy was founded by Christian IV in 1765 to hammer out cannons for his battleships, and has also…

  • Sankt Olai Domkirke

    Sankt Olai Domkirke

    Helsingør

    The handsome, red-brick Sankt Olai Domkirke is a Gothic cathedral built in 1559 on the site of a 13th-century original. Eclectic features include a…

  • Danmarks Tekniske Museum

    Danmarks Tekniske Museum

    Helsingør

    On an industrial estate southwest of Helsingør, Danmarks Tekniske Museum displays innovative technological inventions from the late 19th and early 20th…

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