Sights in Zealand
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Museumsø
On Museumsø, adjacent to the Viking Ship Hall and also part of the Viking Ship Museum, craftspeople use Viking-era techniques and tools to build replicas of Viking ships. Ottar, Roar Ege, Helge Ask and Kraka Fyr (reconstructions of Skuldelev 1, 3, 5 and 6 respectively) are moored in the harbour, where you can really appreciate their light, flexible designs.
In mid-2007 the largest Viking ship reconstruction ever sailed from Roskilde to Dublin. An incredible 340 trees went into the creation of Havhingsten fra Glendalough (based on the 60-oared warship Skuldelev 2), and the total labour totted up to 44,000 man hours. In mid-2008 it made its successful return to Roskilde: r…
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Fanefjord Kirke
A fascinating Møn church, 13th-century Fanefjord Kirke is adorned with superb frescoes. The oldest, from 1350, depicts St Christopher carrying Christ across a ford, but most of the vaults are covered with a cartoon-like ‘paupers’ Bible’ by the ‘Elmelunde master’. Unique images include a gruesome one of Judas, with two devils pulling out his soul; Mary on doomsday, tipping the judgement scales in humanity’s favour; and a gleeful horny-kneed demon listening to two women gossiping! You can see the master’s signature (which resembles a stick man with rabbit ears) on an altar-facing rib in the northeastern vault.
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Aalholm Automobil Museum
Vintage car lovers will be in seventh heaven at the Aalholm Automobil Museum, which contains one of Europe’s largest collections of antique cars. Rare models include an 1899 Daimler, a 1900 Decauville, 1903 Ford Model A, 1905 Cadillac, 1911 Rolls Royce and a 1931 Bugatti. Those clueless about old vehicles might be impressed by the supercute pink-and-purple Heinkel, a car straight from a cartoon, or Professor Fate’s wacky Hannibal Twin-8, from the film The Great Race. The museum is in the grounds of the 12th-century Aalholm Slot, one of northern Europe’s oldest inhabited castles (closed to the public).
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Roskilde Domkirke
Denmark’s most amazing cathedral is Roskilde Domkirke, a designated Unesco World Heritage Site. It dates back to the 12th century, but has been added to so many times that it’s now a superb showcase of 800 years’ worth of Danish architecture. As the royal mausoleum, it contains the crypts of 37 Danish kings and queens – contemplating the bones of so many powerful historical figures is a moving memento mori. No fewer than 11 spectacular chapels and crypts sprout from the main body of the cathedral. No doubt every visitor will have their favourite: here are ours.
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Longboat Trips
If you've always had an urge to leap aboard a longboat for a spot of light pillaging, join one of the Viking Ship Museum's hour-long longboat trips. Traditional Nordic boats are propelled across the water by you and the rest of your shipmates.
In July and August, trips run up to five times daily (definitely at 14:00, usually at noon, 11:00, 15:00 and 16:00); in May, June and September, there are up to four sailings (definitely at noon and 13:00, usually at 15:00 and 16:00) at weekends only. Sailing tickets are additional to the main museum entry ticket.
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Sankt Mariæ Kirke
The medieval church of Sankt Mariæ Kirke contains some spiffy 15th-century frescoes. Alongside standard biblical scenes are bizarre faces from whose mouths spring frogs, foxes, bulls and rams; while in the southern aisle pipers and lute players burst from giant flowers. There’s also an ornate rococo gallery and a 17th-century organ played by Dieterich Buxtehude (1637–1707), a Baroque composer who greatly influenced Bach; frequent organ concerts are attended by aficionados.
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Knuthenborg Safari Park
Drive-through Knuthenborg Safari Park, 7km north of Maribo via Rte 289, has free-roaming zebras, antelopes, giraffes, rhinoceroses, camels and other exotic creatures. The park occupies what was once Denmark’s largest private estate and has an arboretum, aviary, enclosed tiger section and a big adventure playground for your own little monkeys. The savannah is off limits to anyone not inside a vehicle, but you can cycle round most of the grounds – rent bikes for 50kr per day.
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Kronborg Slot
The monstrous military bulk of Kronborg Slot is a Unesco World Heritage Site, and top of the town’s sightseeing list. Despite the attention it has received as the setting of Hamlet, the castle’s real function was far less romantic – it acted as a formidable tollhouse. Imagine sitting in the Øresund with the cannons of Kronborg aimed squarely at your creaking ship, and you can understand how wonderfully effective the castle was in its tax-gathering purpose.
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Sankt Bendts Kirke
Ringsted is mostly a modern town, with a bustling shopping centre but little in the way of tourist attractions. However, if you’re passing through, it’s worth stopping at the imposing Sankt Bendts Kirke, Scandinavia’s oldest brick church. It was built in 1170 by Valdemar I, partly as a burial sanctuary for his father, Knud Lavard, and partly as a political act, to intertwine the influences of the Valdemar family and the Catholic Church.
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Danmarks Tekniske Museum
Southwest of the centre on an industrial estate, Danmarks Tekniske Museum displays innovative technological inventions from the late 19th and early 20th centuries: early gramophones, radios, motor vehicles and aeroplanes. The latter includes a 1906 Danish-built aeroplane that, it’s claimed, was the first plane flown in Europe (it stayed airborne for 11 seconds!). The museum is a 15-minute ride away on bus 805, in the direction of Espergærde.
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Helsingør Bymuseum
One block north of Sankt Olai Kirke is Helsingør Bymuseum, built by the monks of the adjacent monastery in 1516 to serve as a sailors’ hospital. There’s a detailed model of 19th-century Helsingør, with an interesting 15-minute recording about the town’s history in Danish, Swedish, German and English; and a hotchpotch of exhibits (old chemists’ bottles, medieval pottery finds, 200 dolls) labelled mainly in Danish.
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Viking Ship Museum
Viking fans will be wowed by the superb Viking Ship Museum, which displays five Viking ships discovered at the bottom of Roskilde Fjord. The museum is made up of two main sections – the Viking Ship Hall, where the boats themselves are kept; and Museumsø, where archaeological work takes place. There are free guided tours in English daily at noon and 3pm in July and August; and at noon on weekends in May, June and September.
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Handels- og Søfartsmuseet
Tracing Denmark’s maritime past and overseas colonies, Handels- og Søfartsmuseet, running round three whole sides of the courtyard, is worth a visit. This collection of model ships, paintings, nautical instruments and sea charts helps one to appreciate the impact of the sea on Danish culture and history. It also contains the world’s oldest ship biscuit, c 1852 – which looks peculiarly edible.
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Museet Skibsklarerergaarden
The higgledy-piggledy Museet Skibsklarerergaarden, the shipping agent's house, is steeped in seafaring history: while the agent checked cargo and filled out paperwork in the office, ships' captains could stock up on supplies, have a meal, or catch forty winks in the attic. Unfortunately the 50-minute tours are in Danish only; but pop into the spicy-smelling 18th-century shop, and buy a beer brewed in the tiny backyard.
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Sankt Olai Kirke
Surrounded by lime trees, Sankt Olai Kirke is a handsome red-brick Gothic cathedral built in 1559. Unusual features include an over-the-top white-and-gold altarpiece (one of Denmark’s largest at 12m high), an ominous black stone slab where the names of wrong-doers were written, and, wedged in an archway, an English cannonball fired on route to the Battle of Copenhagen (1801).
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Esrum Kloster
Esrum Kloster, a monastery 15km north of Hillerød, has a juicy ghost story attached, about the demonic Brother Rus, employed as the monastery’s cook in the 16th century. Wicked old Rus served up decadent dishes and lashings of sinful wine to his fellow monks, in between chasing the serving wenches round the kitchen and having late-night chats with Satan.
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Hammermøllen
If you don’t have a pressing itinerary, consider cycling to Hammermøllen, five kilometres west in Hellebæk. This picturesque old smithy was founded by Christian IV in 1765 to hammer out cannons for his battleships, and has also served as a copper mill and textile mill. Admire the thatched roof and water-wheels, and relax over coffee and cake.
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Marienlyst Slot
About 1.5km northwest of town is Marienlyst Slot, a stately neoclassical manor house built in 1763, set back in a manicured garden ablaze with rhododendrons. Inside there’s a small collection of silverware and 19th-century paintings of Helsingør and Hornbæk, including one on the 2nd floor that’s half Venice and half Copenhagen.
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Hamlet's Grave
'Hamlet's grave' Marienlyst Slot can be found in the parkland behind the manor house Marienlyst Slot, added because every good romantic garden should provoke melancholic thoughts; and as a tourist attraction for visiting English merchants convinced that Hamlet was real.
The Hornbæk-bound train stops at Marienlyst station, 100m north of the manor house.
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Roskilde Museum
The well-presented Roskilde Museum covers Roskilde’s history from the Stone Age through Harald Bluetooth’s legacy to the contemporary ‘rock age’ of the Roskilde Festival. The exhibits have been arranged by two Danish artists, meaning that you get aesthetic pleasure along with an education.
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Køge Skitsesamling
Køge Skitsesamling is a unique art museum that displays not the artist’s finished work, but the notes and scribblings, sketches, models and mock-ups that built up into the final piece. It’s fascinating, particularly for non-artists, to see the creative process deconstructed.
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Karmeliterklostret
Sankt Mariæ Kirke is attached to one of Scandinavia’s best-preserved medieval monasteries, Karmeliterklostret, a soothing place of red brick and whitewash. Christian II’s mistress, Dyveke (c 1490–1517), is thought to have been buried here.
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Kong Asgers Høj
Kong Asgers Høj is northwest of Røddinge, just by the roadside – there’s nowhere to park. This is Denmark’s largest passage grave, with a burial chamber 10m long and more than 2m wide. Bring a torch (flashlight) and watch your head.
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Palæet
The Palæet (Palace) was built in the 18th century, to be used by Christian VI whenever he happened to stop by. Today it houses three galleries/museums, the most worthwhile of which is the Museet for Samtidskunst (Museum of Contemporary Art).
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Himmel & Hav
There's a sandy Blue-Flag beach on the edge of Roskilde Fjord, 4km north of the Viking Ship Museum. You can hire kayaks for kr75/kr375 per hour/day from Himmel & Hav, next door to Roskilde Camping. It's a 20-minute bus ride (19kr) from town.
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