27 Best Sights in Centrum, Copenhagen

This peaceful, leafy cemetery in the heart of Nørrebro is the final resting place of numerous great Danes, including Søren Kierkegaard (whose last name actually means "cemetery"), Hans Christian Andersen, and physicist Niels Bohr. In summer the cemetery takes on a cheerful, city-park air as picnicking families, young couples, and sunbathers relax on the sloping lawns amid the dearly departed.

Surrounded by canals on three sides, the massive granite Christiansborg Palace is where the queen officially receives guests and from where the Parliament---and the prime minister---rules the country. From 1441 until the fire of 1795, it was used as the royal residence. Even though the first two castles on the site were burned, Christiansborg remains an impressive neobaroque and neoclassical compound. Several parts of the palace can be visited, including the Royal Reception Chambers, Ruins of Bishop Absalon's Castle, the Royal Kitchen, and the Royal Stables, all of which have separate admission fees unless you buy a combination ticket. The tower, which is free to access, offers wonderful views over Copenhagen. While Christiansborg was being rebuilt around 1900, the National Museum excavated the ruins of Bishop Absalon's castle beneath it. The resulting dark, subterranean maze contains fascinating models and architectural relics.

At the Kongelige Repræsentationslokaler, you're asked to don slippers to protect the floors in this impossibly grand space.

One of the best museums of its kind in Europe, the National Museum sits inside an 18th-century royal residence that's peaked by massive overhead windows. Extensive permanent exhibits chronicle Danish cultural history from prehistoric to modern times. The museum has one of the largest collections of Stone Age tools in the world, as well as Egyptian, Greek, and Roman antiquities. The exhibit on Danish prehistory features a great section on Viking times. The children's museum, with replicas of period clothing and a scalable copy of a real Viking ship, makes history fun for those under 12. Displays have English labels, and the do-it-yourself walking tour "History of Denmark in 60 Minutes" offers a good introduction to Denmark; the guide is free at the information desk.

Exquisite antiquities, a beautiful winter garden, and a world-class collection of Impressionist masterpieces make this one of Copenhagen's most important museums. The neoclassical building was donated in 1888 by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of the Carlsberg Brewery. Surrounding its lush indoor garden, a series of rooms house works by Pissarro, Degas, Monet, Sisley, Rodin, and Gauguin. The museum is also renowned for its extensive assemblage of Egyptian and Greek pieces, not to mention Europe's finest collection of Roman portraits and the best collection of Etruscan art outside Italy. A modern wing, designed by the acclaimed Danish architect Henning Larsen, provides a luminous entry to the French painting section. From June to September, guided English-language tours start at 2. The café Picnic, overlooking the winter garden, is well known among Copenhageners for its delicious small dishes.  The museum's permanent collection is free on Tuesday.

This pretty harborfront neighborhood, whose name means "new harbor," is perhaps the most photographed location in Copenhagen. It was built 300 years ago to attract traffic and commerce to the city center. Until 1970, the area was a favorite haunt of sailors. Though restaurants, boutiques, and antiques stores now outnumber tattoo parlors, many old buildings have been well preserved and retain the harbor's authentic 18th-century maritime character. You can even see a fleet of old-time sailing ships from the quay. Hans Christian Andersen lived at various times in Nyhavn houses at numbers 18, 20, and 67.

The Dutch Renaissance Rosenborg Castle contains ballrooms, halls, and reception chambers, but for all of its grandeur, it has an intimacy that makes you think the king might return at any minute. Thousands of objects are displayed, including beer glasses, gilded clocks, golden swords, family portraits, a pearl-studded saddle, and gem-encrusted tables. The underground treasury contains the crown jewels. The castle's setting is equally welcoming. It's in the middle of King's Garden, amid lawns, park benches, and shady walking paths.

King Christian IV built Rosenborg Castle as a summer residence but loved it so much that he ended up living here until his death. In 1849, when the absolute monarchy was abolished, all the royal castles became state property except for Rosenborg, which is still passed down from monarch to monarch.

Old Master paintings—including works by Rubens, Rembrandt, Titian, El Greco, and Fragonard—as well as a comprehensive array of antique and 20th-century Danish art make up the National Art Gallery collection, the biggest art museum in Denmark. Also notable is the modern art, which includes pieces by Henri Matisse, Edvard Munch, Henri Laurens, Emil Nolde, and Georges Braque. The space also contains a children's museum, which puts on shows for different age groups at kids' eye level. Wall texts are in English. The bookstore and café, which was recently taken over by Frederik Bille Brahe, one of Copenhagen's most hyped chefs, are also worth a visit.

Tivoli is not only Copenhagen's best-known attraction, but also the most charming one. The amusement park, the second-oldest in the world, is located conveniently next to the city's main train station and attracts an astounding 4.4 million people from mid-April to mid-September. Tivoli is a pleasure garden as well as an amusement park. Among its attractions are a pantomime theater, an open-air stage, several dozen restaurants (some of them very elegant and with Michelin stars), and frequent concerts—from classical to rock to jazz. Fantastic flower exhibits color the lush gardens and float on the swan-filled ponds. The park was established in the 1840s, when Danish architect George Carstensen persuaded a worried King Christian VIII to let him build an amusement park on the edge of the city's fortifications, rationalizing that "when people amuse themselves, they forget politics." Try to see Tivoli at least once by night, when 100,000 colored lanterns illuminate the Chinese pagoda and the main fountain. Tivoli is also open select hours around Halloween and in the winter season.

This museum chronicles the working class from 1870 to the present, with evocative life-size "day in the life of" exhibits, among them reconstructions of a city street and re-creations of apartments, including the home of a brewery worker, his wife, and eight children. Changing exhibits focusing on Danish and international social issues are often excellent. The exhibitions have explanatory texts in English. The museum also has a 19th-century-style café and beer hall serving old-fashioned Danish specialties and a 1950s-style coffee shop.

Trees, flowers, ponds, sculptures, and a spectacular 19th-century Palmehuset (Palm House) of tropical and subtropical plants blanket the garden's 25-plus acres. There's also an observatory and a geological museum. Take time to explore the gardens and watch the pensioners feed the birds. Some have been coming here so long that the birds actually land on their fingers.

This masterpiece of fantasy and architecture is Europe's oldest stock exchange. Børsen was built between 1619 and 1640, with the majority of the construction in the 1620s. Christian IV commissioned the building in large part because he wanted to make Denmark the economic superpower and crossroads of Europe. Rumor has it that, when it was being built, he was the one who twisted the dragons' tails on the spire that tops the building. When it opened, it was used as a medieval market, filled with shopping stalls. Though parts of Børsen still operate as a stock exchange, the bulk of the building houses the chamber of commerce, and the interior isn't open to the public except on special occasions such as Culture Night, held in mid-October. Across the canal, look for a square, modern building: the Nationalbanken (Denmark's central bank), designed by the famed Danish designer and architect Arne Jacobsen.

This Dutch baroque–style castle on Kongens Nytorv was built by Frederik III's half brother in 1670. Since 1754 the garden-flanked property has housed the faculty and students of the Danish Academy of Fine Art. A section of the building is devoted to exhibitions of contemporary art and is open to the public.

In a wing of Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Royal Library), this national center of Jewish culture, art, and history holds objects of both secular and religious interest, including paintings, prints, jewelry, scrapbooks, and films. The site was designed by the famed architect Daniel Libeskind. The museum also gives extensive coverage to the Danish resistance movement, whose work during World War II helped bring nearly all of Denmark's 7,000 Jews to safety in Sweden. The museum has information in English.

If you like grand architecture and great views, visit the majestic Royal Library. Among its more than 2 million volumes are accounts of Viking journeys to America and Greenland and original manuscripts by Hans Christian Andersen and Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen). Peer through the glass opening in the door to the old, ornate reading room, which is open only to readers.

The library's massive new glass-and-granite addition, called the Black Diamond, looms between the main building and the waterfront. The Black Diamond hosts temporary historical exhibits that often feature books, manuscripts, and artifacts culled from the library's extensive holdings. The National Museum of Photography, also housed in the Black Diamond, contains temporary exhibitions with handouts and wall texts in English.

Escalators that lift you from sea level to the main study areas provide spectacular views of both the harbor and an impressive ceiling mural by the Danish artist Per Kirkeby. The small park that lies hidden between the library and the Parliament is a lovely place for a stroll or a pensive rest.

The old, pillared Royal Theater, dubbed Gamle Scene (the old stage) after the openings of the Opera and the Skuespilhuset (Royal Danish Playhouse), is almost as beautiful on the outside as on the inside. The main stage is located in what might just be the most stunning place in all of Denmark. The theater was established in 1748, although the facade dates from 1874. Since the division of the Royal Theater into separate venues, the original building is primarily devoted to ballets performed by the world-renowned Royal Danish Ballet. Statues of Danish poet Adam Oehlenschläger and author Ludvig Holberg—whose works remain the core of Danish theater—flank the facade.

Free tours of the Folketinget are given on weekends, holidays, and certain other days. A full list of the days the parliament building accepts visitors is on its website. You can sign up for a tour in advance or pick up a ticket when they are distributed at 10 am on tour days. You can also visit the tower and see the view for free most days.

At the Kongelige Repræsentationslokaler, you're asked to don slippers to protect the floors in this impossibly grand space.

A mounted statue of Christian V dominates Kongens Nytorv, King's New Square. The square is the beautiful center of the royal, historic, and affluent part of the city. The statue was crafted in 1688 by the French sculptor Abraham-César Lamoureux, and the subject is conspicuously depicted as a Roman emperor. Every year, at the end of June, graduating high school students arrive in truckloads and dance beneath the furrowed brow of the sober statue.

The contemporary architect Gustav Friedrich Hetsch borrowed from the Doric and Egyptian styles to create the arklike Copenhagen Synagogue. Women sit in the upper galleries, while the men are seated below. Access to the synagogue is limited, so call ahead.

Though the green spire of the imposing Nicholas Church—named for the patron saint of seafarers—appears as old as the surrounding medieval streets, it's actually relatively young. The current building was finished in 1914; the previous structure, which dated from the 13th century, was destroyed in the 1795 fire. Today the church is a contemporary art gallery that often has good exhibitions.

Entry is free on Wednesday.

City Hall Square is dominated by the 1905 mock-Renaissance Rådhus (City Hall). Architect Martin Nyrop's creation was popular from the start, perhaps because he envisioned that it should give "gaiety to everyday life and spontaneous pleasure to all." A statue of Copenhagen's 12th-century founder, Bishop Absalon, sits atop the main entrance.

Besides being an important ceremonial meeting place for Danish VIPs and a popular wedding hall for locals, the intricately decorated City Hall contains the first world clock. The multi-dial, highly accurate, astronomical timepiece has a 570,000-year calendar and took inventor Jens Olsen 27 years to complete before it was put into action in 1955.

Topped by two Vikings blowing an ancient trumpet called a lur, the Lurblæserne (Lur Blower Column) displays a good deal of artistic license—the lur dates from the Bronze Age, 1500 BC, whereas the Vikings lived a mere 1,000 years ago. City tours often start at this landmark, which was erected in 1914. 

While Christiansborg was being rebuilt around 1900, the national museum excavated the ruins of Bishop Absalon's castle beneath it. The resulting dark, subterranean maze contains fascinating models and architectural relics.

Instead of climbing the stout Round Tower's stairs, visitors scale a smooth, 600-foot spiral ramp. Supposedly, Peter the Great of Russia once ascended this ramp on a horse alongside his wife, Catherine, who took a carriage. From its top, you enjoy a panoramic view of the twisted streets and crooked roofs of Copenhagen. The unusual building was constructed as an observatory in 1642 by Christian IV and is still maintained as Europe's oldest such structure.

The art gallery has changing exhibits, and occasional concerts are held within its massive stone walls. An observatory and telescope are open to the public evenings mid-October through mid-March, and an astronomer is on hand to answer questions.

Completed in 2008, the newest addition to the Danish Royal Theatre focuses mainly on drama. While theater stagings are primarily in Danish, more accessible dance and music performances are also featured. A beautiful wooden ramp extends in front of the striking glass building. In summer, the café and restaurant move onto this deck and offer one of the best views of the Copenhagen harbor. The theater closes for part of the summer.

The 19th-century artist Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844) is buried at the center of this museum in a simple, ivy-covered tomb. Strongly influenced by the statues and reliefs of classical antiquity, Thorvaldsen is one of the world's greatest neoclassical artists, having completed commissions all over Europe. The museum, once a coach house for Christiansborg, now houses Thorvaldsen's interpretations of classical and mythological figures, and an extensive collection of paintings and drawings by other artists that Thorvaldsen assembled in Rome, where he lived for most of his life. The outside frieze by Jørgen Sonne depicts the sculptor's triumphant return to Copenhagen after years abroad. A free English audio guide is available.

The museum is free on Wednesday.

This Renaissance structure—built by King Christian IV and one of central Copenhagen's oldest—contains impressive displays of uniforms, weapons, and armor in a 600-foot-long arched hall. Children usually like this museum, but it's very much a look-but-don't-touch place. Each artifact has a label in English.

The site of Denmark's main cathedral, the Church of Our Lady, has drawn worshippers since the 13th century, when Bishop Absalon built a chapel here. The previous church, consecrated in 1738, was burned to the ground in 1807 during the Napoleonic wars. Despite the country's poverty after the defeat, the city built a new place of worship, in the then-modern neoclassical style. Inside you can see Thorvaldsen's marble sculptures depicting Christ and the 12 Apostles, and Moses and David cast in bronze. The funerals of both Kierkegaard and H. C. Andersen were held here.