The Secrets of Kronborg tour after hours

Why it is on the list

Kronborg is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.¹ It stands over the Øresund, the narrow water between Denmark and Sweden; the Renaissance castle stands largely as Christian IV rebuilt it in the early 1600s, and it is Shakespeare's Elsinore.² The Secrets of Kronborg tour goes behind locked doors, up winding stairs and into cellars and attics away from the public halls, with one of the castle's hosts, in English or Danish.³

It is the wrong choice for anyone who cannot manage stairs: the route covers the whole castle and there is no lift.³ For a day of art rather than history, Louisiana for Two at Humlebæk is 10 km to the south.⁴

How to get it

Write to kronborg@natmus.dk or call +45 49 21 30 78, Monday to Friday 10:00 to 14:00, and ask for the Secrets of Kronborg private tour outside opening hours, in English.³ Email answers take 2 to 5 days.⁵ Outside opening hours it costs DKK 4,500 plus entrance for up to 35 people; within opening hours, DKK 2,500 plus entrance. The tour lasts at most 60 minutes and starts at the fountain in the middle of the courtyard.³ Entrance is DKK 150 an adult, children free.² Trains from Copenhagen Central to Helsingør run about every 20 minutes and take around 46 minutes, then a 10-minute walk along the harbour; by car it is 45 to 50 minutes up the E47.⁵

Discretion

Booked outside opening hours, the tour runs beyond the public day, which is 10:00 to 17:00 every day until 31 October and shorter in winter.³⁵ Accessible parking is inside the castle grounds, left of the red gate; the public car park on Nordhavnsvej is five minutes' walk north. Large backpacks and luggage are not allowed inside.⁵