Kronborg Castle: Day Trip to Hamlet’s Castle

On my first full day in Copenhagen, I hopped a train for the hour-long ride north to 600-year old Kronborg Castle, the setting of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Strategically located in Helsingør (Elsinore) at the eastern edge of Denmark, the castle overlooks the Sound, a stretch of water separating the country from Sweden.

Kronborg’s resident royalty grew incredibly wealthy by levying a toll on the estimated 1.8 million ships that passed by in route to the Baltic Sea from 1429 to 1857.

As a result, Kronborg became one of the most important castles in Northern Europe during the Renaissance.

In 2000, Kronborg Castle was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Got Denmark on your bucket list for 2022 or beyond? Now’s the time to familiarize yourself with the European…