Museums, Manor Houses, Castles or Churches

The Old Town Museum in Aarhus is the world's first open-air museum for the culture and history of market towns, and first opened its doors in 1909.

Today the museum is visited by more than 350,000 guests a year, and has been rewarded the maximum 3 stars by the world-famous Guide Michelin.

The museum houses 75 houses from different areas in Denmark, and walking around the Old Town Museum is like jumping into the time machine and experiencing life as it was in a typical Danish city from the 16th to the 20th century, complete with shops, horse drawn carriages and people dressed as they would have at the time of Hans Christian Andersen the famous Danish fairytale writer.

I invite you inside many of the historic buildings, including the building that used to be opposite Hans Christian Andersen's childhood home in Odense, which was where he was first introduced to the wonderful world of books. I shall also show you the 17th-century pharmacy packed with mysterious medicines and the associated Baroque pharmacy gardens with about 100 different herbs.

Are you more interested in recent history and do you remember Bob Dylan, the hippies and your first television? Then you can also experience the year 1974 which is now part of the Old Town Museum. In this part of the museum I can walk you down the avenue of memories, where we stop at the sausage trolley, flatten our noses at window at Poul's Radio or visit the collective.

Whether you are fascinated by old or recent history it is also a good idea to set aside time to enjoy some traditional Danish cakes from The Old Town Bakery as well as a cup of tea or coffee after the tour.

Roskilde Cathedral was originally built of wood by Harald Bluetooth around 980. The current building is from the 13th century. The church is the funeral church of the Danish kings and queens, although the tradition was only seriously cemented with Queen Margaret I, who died in 1412.

Probably right where the towers stand today, Harold Bluetooth's grandson, Canute the Great of England, Denmark and Norway, sat playing the fatal game of chess with Wolf Earl. According to legend, Wolf was killed in front of the alter the next day.

Around 1450 Christian I built the Chapel of the Holy Three Kings and in 1620 Christian IV completed his chapel on the north side. Frederik V's chapel was built in the late 18th century, and the Glückborg Chapel in the 1920s.

The guided tour is a time travel that begins with Harald Bluetooth's life and ends with today's Queen Margaret II, a fascinating marathon through the history of the church, the kings and queens, and to a certain extent Denmark. There is so much breath of history that the experience will follow you for some time after.

Odense Cathedral is called St. Canute's Church, and has two main attractions. It houses the body of the victim of a regicide in 1086, and it has an absolutely marvelous altarpiece.

Odense Cathedral is named after the Viking king Canute IV Svendsen, who in 1086 had sought refuge in St. Alban's church, near to the present cathedral, but was assassinated anyhow. It is an exciting story and tale of the rebellion against the king, the king's flight through Jutland with a small band of men, his murder, and the solemn transfer of his body to the present cathedral in 1095.

In the crypt I will show you St. Canutes shrine and his famous Byzantine silk blanket with motifs of eagles. The crypt is also the final resting place for the later Danish King Hans (1487-1513) and his spouse Queen Christine.

It was Queen Christine who ordered the church's amazing, golden altarpiece from the best and most skilled carver in Northern Europe at the time, Claus Berg from Lübeck. It shows hundreds of wooden figures, all individually designed and carved by hand. It is considered to be the most outstanding Scandinavian medieval piece of art.

You will also hear about the main features of the construction of the church and about the English monks, who after the canonization of King Canute came to settle at the monastery associated with the church, and you will get acquainted with the lives and fates of some of the persons who have been interred in the church during the centuries.

A fabulous Renaissance castle situated in a well-tended beautiful park.

Egeskov Castle was built in the middle of the 16th century. The castle that now looks so peaceful and idyllic was built for defence purposes. Egeskov Castle is built on oak piles driven into the bed of the lake. It is said that a whole forest was felled to provide timber for the foundations. Moreover the only access to the castle was across the drawbridge.

Join me for a tour of the castle and listen to a lot of stories and legends that have been connected to it during more than 450 years of its history. for example the story about the daughter Rigborg, who had an unfortunate affair and therefore was walled up in the Rigborg Room in 1599.

We're going to visit various museums belonging to the castle: the Veteran Car Museum, opened in 1967, that houses an outstanding collection of old cars and aircraft, the Motorcycle Museum, Falck Museum that contains fire engines, ambulances and rescue vehicles spanning more than 100 years of Falck's operations.

If we're lucky with weather we can take a walk in the beautiful park that lies around the castle. If you don't loose yourself in the big maze!

Opening hours 2024 according to Egeskov's website

WINTER SEASON 2024: open for Play and exhibitions (Castle and garden are closed)
02.01. – 26.04. 10 am – 4 pm (Castle and garden are closed)
09.02-18.02. 16.30 – 21 LUMINIS light event in the garden. Daytime closed
09. – 10. + 16. – 17. + 23. – 24.11. + 30.11. – 01.12. Egeskov Christmas Market
07 December – 30 December 10 am – 4 pm (closed 24 + 25 December) 

SUMMER SEASON: All offers open
27.4. – 28.16. 10 am – 5 pm (Castle 11 am – 5 pm)
29.6. – 11.8. 10 am – 7 pm (Castle 10 am – 7 pm)
12.08 – 20.10. at 10 am – 5 pm (Castle at 11 am – 5 pm)
13.06. – 15.06. Heartland Festival
21.10 – 27.10. 10 am – 5 pm (castle and castle lake closed.)