7 Best Sights in Zealand, Denmark

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.)

Back in the Iron Age, Lejre was the capital of the Lejre Kingdom; some scholars believe it's mentioned in Beowulf. These days it's best known as the home of the 50-acre Lejre Forsøgscenter, a pioneer in the field of "experimental archeology." In summer a handful of hardy Danish families live here under the observation of researchers; they go about their daily routine grinding grain, herding goats, and wearing furs and skins, providing a clearer picture of ancient ways of life. You can experience a Stone Age camp, a Viking market, and 19th-century farmhouses, and there's a large children's area.

The must-see Louisiana is a modern-art museum with fresh, often-witty temporary exhibitions and an impressive permanent collection that includes Picasso, Giacometti, and Warhol. Even if you're not an art lover, it's well worth the 30-minute trip from Copenhagen to see this beautiful combination of a 19th-century villa and modern Danish architecture, with its large sculpture garden and dramatic view of the Øresund waters. There's a children's section as well, where kids can draw and paint under the supervision of museum staff. To get here from the station, walk north about 10 minutes.

Close to Sankt Olai Kirke stands Sankt Marie Kirke. Its 15th-century Carmelite Kloster is one of the best-preserved examples of medieval architecture in Scandinavia.

While in town, you may want to join the Danish families hunting for fossils. You can have your fossils identified at the GeoCenter Møns Klint, a spectacular natural history museum with aquariums and a Mossasaurus skeleton.

The island of Møn is most famous for its dramatic chalk cliffs, known in Danish as Møns Klint. Circled by a beech forest, the milky-white 75-million-year-old bluffs plunge 400 feet to a small, craggy beach—accessible by more than 500 steps.

Construction began on Roskilde Domkirke around 1170 on the site of a church erected 200 years earlier by the Viking hero Harald Bluetooth. It was made possible by the introduction of brick making to Denmark—it is made up of more than 3 million bricks—and a commission by the powerful Bishop Absalon, who's also considered one of the founders of Copenhagen. The cathedral made the city one of the spiritual capitals of Northern Europe. These days, its best known as the mausoleum of the royals: 38 Danish monarchs are entombed here, including the first Queen Margrethe (1353–1412), and there's reason to believe that Queen Margrethe II will ultimately find her resting place in or near the cathedral, like her father, Frederik IX. Don't miss the 16th-century clock depicting St. George charging a dragon, whose hisses and howls throughout church cause Peter Døver, "the Deafener," to sound the hour. A squeamish Kirsten Kiemer, "the Chimer," shakes her head in fright but manages to strike the quarter-hours.