Denmark offers travelers beautiful royal castles. Since Denmark is the oldest continuous monarchy in Europe, visitors can find royal architecture and historic buildings everywhere and feel like a Scandinavian monarch themselves. What are the best castles in Denmark for travelers looking for an attraction worthy of kings and queens?
1. Fredensborg Palace (North of Copenhagen)
© Fredensborg Palace 2006
The castle of Fredensborg is an 18th-century palace north of Copenhagen. Fredensborg Palace at Lake Esrum enjoys a special status among Danish palaces as the royal couple's most used residence. The extensive palace and grounds came into being gradually during the 18th century. Copenhagen's Fredensborg Palace is used regularly by the Royal Family for official state banquets, including the 2004 wedding banquet of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary. The palace gardens are always open. Guided tours of the palace are offered in July, every 15 minutes in the afternoon.
2. Kronborg Castle (near Helsingør)
© Tanya Lee Markul, licensed to About.com
Kronborg Castle (in Danish: Kronborg Slot) is strategically located at a very narrow strip of water between Denmark and Sweden. This helped medieval kings to regulate import and export, along with incoming taxes paid by ships passing through. Helsingør is not very far from Copenhagen, and can be found at the northernmost tip of the Danish island of Zealand. Kronborg Castle was used as inspiration for "Elsinore" in Shakespeare's Hamlet.
