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National Museum of Denmark

Denmark’s past unfolds in an 18th‑century palace, where Viking hoards, iconic Bronze Age finds and hands‑on galleries bring 14,000 years of history vividly to life.

4.5

Housed in the elegant 18th‑century Prince’s Palace in central Copenhagen, the National Museum of Denmark is the country’s flagship museum for history and culture. Inside, 14,000 years of stories unfold across galleries devoted to prehistoric Denmark, the Viking Age, the Middle Ages, world cultures, and modern life. Star objects like the Sun Chariot, Egtved Girl and Gundestrup Cauldron sit alongside immersive exhibits, a hands‑on Children’s Museum, and thought‑provoking special shows such as “The Viking Sorceress” and “KA‑CHING!” exploring money’s impact on society.

A brief summary to National Museum of Denmark

  • Ny Vestergade 10, København K, København K, 1471, DK
  • +4533134411
  • Visit website
  • Duration: 2 to 4 hours
  • Mid ranged
  • Environment icon Indoor
  • Mobile reception: 5 out of 5
  • Thursday 10 am-5 pm
  • Friday 10 am-5 pm
  • Saturday 10 am-5 pm
  • Sunday 10 am-5 pm

Local tips

  • Arrive close to opening time to enjoy headline objects like the Sun Chariot, Egtved Girl and Gundestrup Cauldron before the galleries become busy.
  • Plan at least two to three hours and prioritise floors in advance; prehistory, Vikings and the Children’s Museum alone can easily fill a full afternoon.
  • Use the free audio guide to deepen your understanding of key pieces and look out for temporary exhibitions such as “The Viking Sorceress” or “KA‑CHING!”.
  • Combine your visit with a relaxed lunch or coffee at the museum restaurant, then browse the shop for history‑themed gifts, books and Danish design items.
  • Families should factor in extra time for the Children’s Museum, where kids can role‑play in Viking ships, medieval kitchens and a 1950s classroom.
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Getting There

  • Metro and short walk from central Copenhagen

    From Copenhagen Central Station or Rådhuspladsen metro stations, the National Museum is typically 10–15 minutes on foot along central city streets. The route is flat and paved, suitable for wheelchairs and strollers, and you pass through busy urban areas with frequent crossings. As both metro and mainline trains converge here, this option suits most visitors staying anywhere along the city’s metro lines, with total travel times from outlying districts usually between 20 and 35 minutes door to door.

  • City bus within Copenhagen

    Several city bus lines stop on or near H. C. Andersens Boulevard, a few minutes’ walk from the museum, making this a good option if you prefer minimal walking. Typical in‑city bus journeys take 10–25 minutes depending on distance, with services running every few minutes during the day. Standard single tickets within central Copenhagen usually cost around 20–30 DKK and can be bought via ticket machines or travel apps. Buses are low‑floor and generally wheelchair accessible.

  • Bicycle in the inner city

    Cycling is one of the most convenient ways to reach the museum from neighbourhoods such as Vesterbro, Nørrebro or Østerbro. Expect 10–20 minutes of riding along Copenhagen’s dedicated cycle lanes, with mostly flat terrain and clearly marked bike traffic lights. Many hotels offer rental bikes, and city bike schemes provide short‑term hire from around 15–25 DKK per half hour. Remember to park only in designated racks near the museum entrance to keep pavements clear.

  • Car or taxi from greater Copenhagen

    Driving into the historic centre typically takes 15–35 minutes from the outer districts, depending on traffic. There is no large car park at the museum itself, so visitors usually use nearby paid parking facilities such as underground garages in the area. Hourly rates in central Copenhagen commonly range between 30 and 60 DKK. Taxis offer a more direct option and often cost around 120–250 DKK from inner suburbs, varying with distance and congestion. Allow extra time at peak commuter periods.

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A palace packed with 14,000 years of stories

The National Museum of Denmark fills the former Prince’s Palace on Ny Vestergade, a refined 18th‑century residence of stuccoed ceilings, creaking parquet floors and glittering chandeliers. Behind its dignified façade, the museum traces human history on Danish soil from the first hunter‑gatherers to the present day, linking local finds to global stories. The setting gives a sense of walking through layers of time: one moment you are ascending a grand staircase under baroque plasterwork, the next you are face‑to‑face with Ice Age tools or Bronze Age ritual objects. Core to the experience is the sweep of Denmark’s past told across several floors. Prehistoric Denmark, Viking galleries, medieval and Renaissance rooms and modern‑era displays sit in dialogue with each other, showing how beliefs, technology and power have shifted over millennia. Carefully lit cases, atmospheric room settings and strong interpretive storytelling turn archaeological finds into vivid scenes from lived lives.

Icons of Danish prehistory and the Viking world

The museum’s best‑known treasures are gathered in its prehistory galleries. Here you encounter the delicate Sun Chariot, a Bronze Age masterpiece of a horse drawing a gilded disc, thought to represent the sun’s journey across the sky. Nearby, the Egtved Girl, a remarkably preserved young woman buried in a wool skirt and belt disc, offers an intimate glimpse into life and death around 3,500 years ago. The great silver Gundestrup Cauldron, covered in mysterious deity figures and animals, anchors a section on ritual and cosmology. The Viking Age sections explore Denmark as a seafaring power. Weapons, hoards of twisted silver, amulets and tools evoke a society balancing trade, warfare and belief in unseen forces. Recent exhibitions like “The Viking Sorceress” delve into the role of the völva, a traveling seeress whose staffs, charms and burial goods reveal ideas of fate and magic. Interactive elements and reconstructed objects help you picture longships under sail, workshops humming and distant voyages across the North Atlantic.

From medieval hearths to global connections

Moving forward in time, the Middle Ages and early modern galleries set church art, royal portraits and everyday domestic items side by side. Altarpieces and reliquaries speak to centuries when faith structured community life, while coins, guild tools and household ceramics trace the growth of towns and trade. Later rooms chart absolutist monarchy, the rise of a modern nation state and the impact of industrialisation and democracy. The museum also looks far beyond Denmark’s borders. World cultures collections feature artefacts from Greenland and the wider Arctic, including sealskin clothing, kayaks and amulets that illustrate life in harsh northern environments. Other sections connect Denmark to global trade routes and colonial entanglements, inviting visitors to reflect on how objects travelled and how cultural exchange has shaped identities.

Playful encounters in the Children’s Museum

One wing is devoted to the Children’s Museum, a hands‑on universe where history is meant to be climbed on, sailed in and cooked with. Here younger visitors might haul ropes on a Viking ship, help prepare a meal in a smoky medieval kitchen or step into a 1950s classroom complete with wooden desks and strict rules on the blackboard. Costumes, role‑play and tactile props turn abstract dates into memorable scenes, making it easy for families to explore together. Scattered through these spaces are small surprises: hidden soundscapes, drawers to open, replicas to handle. The emphasis is on curiosity and experimentation, allowing children to test how heavy a sword feels, how scratchy old fabrics are or how different school once sounded compared with today.

Money, modern life and rooms frozen in time

Recent thematic exhibitions such as “KA‑CHING!” examine big ideas through concrete objects, in this case money and its role in shaping societies. Old coins, banknotes, credit cards and playful installations trace how systems of value have evolved and how financial change has affected daily life. Elsewhere, intact historic interiors like the richly furnished 19th‑century Klunkehjem apartment preserve the atmosphere of a bourgeois Copenhagen home, down to patterned wallpapers, lamps and heavyweight upholstery. Across the museum, shifting temporary shows add new angles on topics from Arctic cultures to contemporary questions of identity and belonging. Together with the permanent galleries, they ensure the institution is not just about the past, but also about how history informs current debates.

Café comforts, quiet corners and practical details

After exploring the collections, visitors gravitate to the on‑site restaurant and café, where modern takes on classic Danish dishes and traditional cakes offer a taste of local food culture. The museum shop extends the experience with design objects, book selections and history‑inspired gifts ranging from jewellery and toys to beer or mead brewed from historic recipes. The building is designed to be broadly accessible, with lifts and ramps integrated into the historic structure. Benches and seating areas are dotted along key routes, offering pauses between galleries. A typical visit lasts between two and four hours, though those drawn into the detail of the collections can easily spend longer following the threads of Denmark’s long, interwoven stories.

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