Christiansborg Palace on Postcard

@travelleisure

"Christiansborg Palace is the seat of the Danish Parliament, the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme Court of Denmark." - Travel + Leisure Editors

20 Best Things to Do in Copenhagen

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@afar

"The Danish Parliament I absolutely love the interior courtyard of Christiansborg Palace. It is the type of place that seems straight out of a Disney fairy tale. Stand in the courtyard and close your eyes, imagining carriages, lanterns, and a steady stream of affluent Danes attending a grand ball—it's a magical place. Started in 1733, the palace was completed in its present form in 1928. Over the years various stages were added and expanded in response to fire damage, periods of prosperity, and the latest design trends. The Palace currently serves as the seat of the Danish Parliament, the Prime Minister's Office, the Supreme Court, The Royal Reception Rooms, and the Royal Stables which are the reason that the middle of the inner courtyard is a large dirt space (still used as part of the Royal Stables). You can access the ruins from the previous castle through the Christiansborg Palace museum."

What To Do: Day Two In Copenhagen

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@afar

"The Danish Parliament I absolutely love the interior courtyard of Christiansborg Palace. It is the type of place that seems straight out of a Disney fairy tale. Stand in the courtyard and close your eyes, imagining carriages, lanterns, and a steady stream of affluent Danes attending a grand ball—it's a magical place. Started in 1733, the palace was completed in its present form in 1928. Over the years various stages were added and expanded in response to fire damage, periods of prosperity, and the latest design trends. The Palace currently serves as the seat of the Danish Parliament, the Prime Minister's Office, the Supreme Court, The Royal Reception Rooms, and the Royal Stables which are the reason that the middle of the inner courtyard is a large dirt space (still used as part of the Royal Stables). You can access the ruins from the previous castle through the Christiansborg Palace museum."

If You Only Have Three Days in Copenhagen

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@afar

"The success of the TV drama Borgen has piqued international interest in the building that houses the Danish government. Christiansborg Palace (from which Borgen takes its name) is also the tallest tower in the city center, and it’s free to visit though you will have to go through airport-style security to get in. There’s a viewing platform or, better yet, go to the casual restaurant in the tower. One of the most unusual and memorable places to dine in Copenhagen , the belfry-like eatery has a Harry Potter –like charm, with casts of sculptures left over from the time the space was used as a storage room."

The Best of Summer in Copenhagen

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@afar

"The Danish Parliament I absolutely love the interior courtyard of Christiansborg Palace. It is the type of place that seems straight out of a Disney fairy tale. Stand in the courtyard and close your eyes, imagining carriages, lanterns, and a steady stream of affluent Danes attending a grand ball—it's a magical place. Started in 1733, the palace was completed in its present form in 1928. Over the years various stages were added and expanded in response to fire damage, periods of prosperity, and the latest design trends. The Palace currently serves as the seat of the Danish Parliament, the Prime Minister's Office, the Supreme Court, The Royal Reception Rooms, and the Royal Stables which are the reason that the middle of the inner courtyard is a large dirt space (still used as part of the Royal Stables). You can access the ruins from the previous castle through the Christiansborg Palace museum."

What To Do: Day Two In Copenhagen

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Nick Day

Google

Visited with the Copenhagen Card around 11am on a Sunday in September - no queues and not very busy. The palace complex is free to visit and you can wander around the external areas for some good photos. The inside of the palace is lovely but with a relatively small number of rooms to visit. The rooms are all as you would expect from a palace, all lavishly furnished and full of ornate displays of wildly expensive looking ornaments. The throne room and balcony were particularly nice to see. Combined with the other ticketed sites in the palace grounds, you could easily spend 2 or 3 hours here, not allowing for queues.

Alex Iacobita

Google

Really interesting palace that has many rooms available to visit. You can also buy tickets for other parts of the complex, such as the royal kitchen, royal stables and the ruins underneath the palace. The ruins was probably the least interesting part, but the other two were interesting.

Rubeena Pal

Google

The Palace is beautiful. A must visit attraction. Loads of different areas of the palace to see including the main halls, bedrooms, kitchens, stables and the ruins. Attraction included in the Copenhagen Card.

Alicia

Google

Suggest getting the Copenhagen card. There are many places you can visit and it's really worth the money.. Beautiful place and just come here to see the collection of tapestries. ♥️♥️ With the card you can also visit the ruin , kitchen and horse stable(check opening time before visit)

Thivanka De Silva

Google

A beautiful palace worth checking out. We do love seeing palaces around the world and have been to a few but was still beautiful. The library room was really epic. Grab the Copenhagen card if you plan on doing a few things. We got the 24 hour one and got about €150 in value and it cost €67.

Boryana Milenova

Google

The palace is spacious and beautifully decorated. I got a ticket only for the royal rooms, since they were my main point of interest and was fascinated with what I saw, especially the library. Don’t skip the tower, it’s free to enter and it has a wonderful view over the city centre.

Cynthia Shrauner

Google

Beautiful and well kept castle and grounds. The ruins and library were especially great. Staff were very nice, free bag lockers, clean bathrooms and very nice restaurant. Lines were not terrible but it was a rainy Friday.

Johanna

Google

Loved it here! I had no reason they were open to the public and had a VIP tour that I'm so so happy with since there was a lot of history in the building and the tour guides were extremely knowledgeable. They are disabled friendly and offer digital tours via the USEUM app in different languages too. It was cool to walk the very halls that are still being used by the Danish Royal family. I highly recommend a visit for people interested in history and royalty 😊

Nick Day

Google

Visited with the Copenhagen Card around 11am on a Sunday in September - no queues and not very busy. The palace complex is free to visit and you can wander around the external areas for some good photos. The inside of the palace is lovely but with a relatively small number of rooms to visit. The rooms are all as you would expect from a palace, all lavishly furnished and full of ornate displays of wildly expensive looking ornaments. The throne room and balcony were particularly nice to see. Combined with the other ticketed sites in the palace grounds, you could easily spend 2 or 3 hours here, not allowing for queues.

Alex Iacobita

Google

Really interesting palace that has many rooms available to visit. You can also buy tickets for other parts of the complex, such as the royal kitchen, royal stables and the ruins underneath the palace. The ruins was probably the least interesting part, but the other two were interesting.

Rubeena Pal

Google

The Palace is beautiful. A must visit attraction. Loads of different areas of the palace to see including the main halls, bedrooms, kitchens, stables and the ruins. Attraction included in the Copenhagen Card.

Alicia

Google

Suggest getting the Copenhagen card. There are many places you can visit and it's really worth the money.. Beautiful place and just come here to see the collection of tapestries. ♥️♥️ With the card you can also visit the ruin , kitchen and horse stable(check opening time before visit)

Thivanka De Silva

Google

A beautiful palace worth checking out. We do love seeing palaces around the world and have been to a few but was still beautiful. The library room was really epic. Grab the Copenhagen card if you plan on doing a few things. We got the 24 hour one and got about €150 in value and it cost €67.

Boryana Milenova

Google

The palace is spacious and beautifully decorated. I got a ticket only for the royal rooms, since they were my main point of interest and was fascinated with what I saw, especially the library. Don’t skip the tower, it’s free to enter and it has a wonderful view over the city centre.

Cynthia Shrauner

Google

Beautiful and well kept castle and grounds. The ruins and library were especially great. Staff were very nice, free bag lockers, clean bathrooms and very nice restaurant. Lines were not terrible but it was a rainy Friday.

Johanna

Google

Loved it here! I had no reason they were open to the public and had a VIP tour that I'm so so happy with since there was a lot of history in the building and the tour guides were extremely knowledgeable. They are disabled friendly and offer digital tours via the USEUM app in different languages too. It was cool to walk the very halls that are still being used by the Danish Royal family. I highly recommend a visit for people interested in history and royalty 😊

Jessica L.

Yelp

Very interesting old palace. Would definitely recommend getting the Copenhagen card and doing this on of if the days you have it because you each part of the palace is a separate fee. Copenhagen card gets you into all of them. Unfortunately none of the horses were outside in the yard while we were there so we only got to see two of them behind the bars in the stables but they were beautiful. I loved the library in the palace. The kitchens were fun as well but probably wouldn't have paid separately for it had I not had the card.

Tyler L.

Yelp

Christianborg Palace is unique in that actually houses rooms that are used by the monarchy, the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister and the Parliament. For the purposes of tourists, only the royal section related to the monarchy is open for exploration. The ticket that you purchase depends on how many parts of the royal section you wish to visit: 1) Reception room - where the Queens holds meetings 2) Royal Stables - where the horses and carriages are held 3) Royal Kitchen - where the meals are prepared 4) Ruins - the ruins underneath the castle If you have more time, you can see all of them. For me, the best part was easily the Reception area, where you will see many rooms constructed with very colorful and exquisite architecture and filled with luxurious paintings, furniture, and tapestries. This area is so fancy they actually make all visitors wear blue shoe covers to protect the floors. It is also worth it to go up the tower (free entry) where you get amazing views of the city.

L L.

Yelp

There are multiple attractions within the palace ground and would take at least half a day for the visit. The rooms were exquisite and the artifacts were beautiful. Highly recommended.

Austin G.

Yelp

To save money, I did NOT pay for the tour or see the inside rooms, BUT I did enjoy its gardens and the tower climb. When the palace is open for visitors, you can go up the tower for FREE! All you have to do is wait in line at the tower entrance, take the elevator up and see a 360 view of the city with stunning views! Bring your camera!

Elisabeth P.

Yelp

There is really so much to see here! A full experience gets you into 6 separate areas including the palace reception rooms, ruins, kitchen, the stables and royal horses, the church, and you can check out the courtyard and gardens and the tower as well. We had not budgeted nearly enough time to give this beautiful castle the attention it deserved so we elected to buy separate tickets to see only a few of the areas. We first went in to see the reception rooms where we donned fancy blue booties to protect the carpets and floors as the castle is still used for formal receptions today. Here you can explore the throne room, a beautiful red velvet room, the Queen's library, the great hall for parties, as well as view the modern art tapestries the Queen is fond of. For me, the most impressive aspect was how ornate the ceilings and walls were of every room and hall. It was incredible to see the detail in the hand paintings that cover every square inch of some of these rooms. We also enjoyed the quaint library, which we heard is only for display as the Queen has a much more comprehensive one at another castle. The grand staircase you get to walk up is pretty splendid as well. We enjoyed the cute little gift shop while we were here and also went into the church (free to all) and paid to see the ruins which was my favorite part of the castle to see. The tower had a long line so while we'd loved to have seen the view we unfortunately didn't have time. If you're planning your visit you can easily spend half a day or more here and if you have a Copenhagen Card your admission is included.

Bruce K.

Yelp

Interesting but not awesome, I toured the royal apartments of the Christiansborg Slot in less than an hour. I was sort of shadowing a very large tour group that was here at the same time as me, though they were getting it in Italian (which I do not understand). Rather than rush through or find a spot to wait them out, I tried hard to tune them out while I did my own self-directed tour. The majesty here is excellent and you can absolutely tell that this is the royal palace. I've toured Windsor and Hampton Court. This is definitely a big step up from that. Huge well decorated rooms, all of the furniture, tapestries and exhibits in excellent condition. Perhaps that's because they insist on us wearing paper booties to protect the floors. But with all that said, after you've been through three or four huge rooms, they do start to look alike. The big dining table was awesome. The throne room was also awesome. Hey, folks? It's okay to lift your feet as you walk instead of shuffling. Try it.

Paul L.

Yelp

One of the many incredible castles you will visit in Copenhagen. The main castle and ruins were really cool. There were also other areas like the kitchen and stable. Everything was included in the Copenhagen card. Pretty tapestries, big chandeliers, and plenty of great photos. Unfortunately, the horses were "on vacation" when we went, but I really enjoyed this place!

Dani S.

Yelp

This is one of the current castles for the royal family. Apparently this is the 3rd Christianborg Castle, as the last 2 burned down. The castle has 6 separate exhibits, which all opens at different hours. To be safe, winter hours are 11am-3:30pm, very short hours, so plan accordingly. The royal stable was really good with beautiful mild mannered horses, it does smell like a stable, so be aware of that, but it was my favorite exhibit out of the 6. The royal kitchen was very small but quite interesting. The theater was closed for private event the day I was there, so I was disappointed I couldn't visit. The tower elevator up to the top to get a nice view of the city was really nice. Definitely a must see if you are in the city.

Scott L.

Yelp

One of the many palaces currently utilized by the Royal Family. This is a working palace, thus do not expect to see older museum quality pieces as you would see in Fredriksborg or Rosenborg. Numerous sections, all free with the Copenhagen Card. Excellent Royal Reception Room tour in English at various times. Royal Reception Rooms - various rooms with a Great Room for the large gatherings Underground Ruins - Old Walls, Sewers, Video on the two prior Christianborg Palaces Royal Stable - Horses, Carriages Kitchen - Check out the Video and then look for the little girl mannequin hidden in a corner Theatre - Did not Visit Chapel - Did not Visit Parliament Tower - Free, Could have long lines at times, Security Check, Two Elevator rides and then a short staircase to the Top. Free 360 degree views of Copenhagen. Visit if you have a lot of days in Copenhagen.

Kathy V.

Yelp

This was the first of many castles I got to visit during my trip to Copenhagen. And it certainly left an impression! First, we got a little lost trying to find the entrance for where we wanted to start. Four different, separate spaces are included with the Copenhagen Card and they all have different entrances. Also...Parliament is connected to the palace. They have a different entrance...but depending on which direction you enter from, you might think the Parliament entrance is the Castle entrance. IT IS NOT. If you see official-looking police-ish security folks near a door that says "Indgang/Entrance"...that is not the castle entrance. Keep looking :-P Our first focus at Christiansborg was to see the reception rooms. (You can also visit the kitchens, the royal stables, and the ruins. They are all included with the Copenhagen Card, but have different entrances and different entrance fees if you are visiting without the card. Upon entrance to the Reception Rooms, you get a map and guide, and are instructed to put on only the freshest of fashions...blue plastic booties over your street shoes. The reception rooms are used in the present day for large and special events, beyond their being open for visits from the public. So they gotta keep it looking so fresh and so clean, clean. The rooms are large, beautiful, elaborate, spectacular....all of the superlative adjectives! And particularly as they are still in use, I think are really interesting to visit and see. One of the most interesting things to me was the tapestries in the great hall. The rooms and the palace are all fancy and in a traditional old-timey royal style. You know what I mean. But the tapestries are modern! They were created in the current Crown Prince's lifetime (as he and his brother appear in them...). They are brightly and boldly colored, and are in a more modern, expressionist, cubist-y style. And the panels show the history of Denmark, as well as portraits in textile of the Royal Family. It is a really interesting juxtaposition! It is really awesome to get to visit a castle that is still in use today. And the rooms are really impressive and beautiful. Definitely worth a visit! And I mean...who can say no to those fly plastic booties?!

Megan T.

Yelp

I enjoyed all this museum had to offer. You could spend a lot of time here taking in all the pieces they had. It also falls under the Copenhagen card. The design and architecture were beautiful inside. Also, there is a good amount of things to see here.

Leslie M.

Yelp

Incredible! The best tour of all the palaces we've done on our trip! The library is the stuff of dreams, and you could easily spend an hour looking at the modern tapestries. Do the tour, and they will give you a breakdown of some of the symbolism in the most recent tapestry including references to 20th century events. There are actually four tours at the Christiansborg Palace: the royal rooms, the kitchens, the stables and the ruins. The kitchens were probably my second favorite of the tours. It is pretty incredible to see a kitchen so big with all the dishes staged like they are in preparation for a big meal. Also on the property is the Royal Theatre. It's not one of the four, but is near the stables and definitely worth seeing. You can go on stage and sit in the boxes of the original theatre! Very cool!

Dana H.

Yelp

We were pretty determined to use our 24 hour Copenhagen Cards as much as we could. There's a lot to learn at this place. It was originally a castle that was rebuilt several times before finally demolished to become a palace that ultimately burned down TWICE the same way (stove). Nothing survived the first burn down, but some treasures were saved the second time. It's really cool to see the ruins below, so I definitely recommend doing that. It is a relatively new place, but it's kind of cool because the tapestries are new, so you can see what faded tapestries in other palaces would've really looked like. It's definitely worth a stop if you have the time. Why are the horses out at summer? I mean it makes sense but it also doesn't because the most amount of visitors are around in summer?

Louie-Mae B.

Yelp

Whilst it was pretty impressive, it was over quite quickly! There are three main sections, the royal rooms, the kitchens and the ruins. The rooms are the most impressive and you can really imagine the dangers and dinners and balls held there. Kitchens well, a couple of rooms, but interesting all the same. The ruins, not that interesting and it's hard to work out, apart from the fact that it has burnt down twice, what wall is what and why ...... You can queue for the tower to get a view over Copenhagen, which was worth a thirty minute wait, but would have been a bit miffed if I had waited longer to be fair. All in all, get the Copenhagen card and it makes it worthwhile doing all three at once. Can work out expensive and not that greater value if you buy tickets separately and outside of a Copenhagen card.

Herbert E.

Yelp

'Ello chaps! Christiansborg Slot is home to Denmark's royal family, as well as Parliament and the Supreme Court. The palace is the third to bear the name, after the first two palaces burned to the ground. We ended up touring the palace because it was raining on this particular day and found it to be quite a suitable indoor activity. PRICING: They segment the entire palace tour as six separate areas: The Palace, the Ruins, the Kitchen, the Stables and two other spots. You can purchase tickets to each separate area although it's cheaper to purchase the pass that gives you access to the Palace, Kitchen, Stables, and Ruins. You'll be steeply disappointed if you pay for those like the kitchen as they're quite underwhelming unless you're a total history buff. The grounds of the palace are well maintained. Overall I give Christiansborg Palace three stars out of five. Many castles and palaces start to look at the same as each other. Would be unique to get perspective on the Supreme Court and parliament, wishing those two would be provided on the accessible tour.

Rita L.

Yelp

Free to go up to the top to take some pictures on a nice day.

Elisabeth P.

Yelp

(This review is specifically for the ruins underneath the palace - the main palace rooms were closed due to a royal function.) Wow! As a history junkie, particularly for architecture, this was really amazing. The museum did a great job with signage (in English next to Danish), including short but intense descriptions of history, sketches of how the completed buildings would look, and discussions of the sequence of when certain things were built, demolished, and changed hands. There were clear arrows indicating how you should proceed through the exhibition rooms, so you were guaranteed to see everything. The film on the evolution of the Christiansborg Palace was essentially a video version of the wall plaque in that room, so pending attention span, you could probably skip it (though it does show illustrations from artists at the time of each fire). If you are asked to put your bags in the lockers, don't leave your coat! It was very chilly down below - I had to put my gloves on! Given that this is the only thing of its kind in the city and you are likely to see many other castles if you are staying a few days, I highly recommend going to the ruins and skipping the palace.

Kim N.

Yelp

There's no shortage of castles and palaces in and around Copenhagen. Christiansborg palace starting in the 1100s has since been many buildings and also a combination of architectural styles. It's also very utilitarian in that it holds all major branches of the government, executive, legislative and judicial. From the outside, the combination of styles makes it seem disjointed. I didnt go inside but apparently there is a huge preservation of the original castles ruins. Also, a theater and chapel exist there with the Thorvaldsen's museum. I thunk next time im there ill overlook the external aesthetics and explore what exists inside the palace instead. 3.5 stars

Cathy C.

Yelp

We had a free day in Copenhagen to do whatever since I didn't plan one day on our itinerary. The plan was to not have any plans. Walk and get lost. No schedule, no specific destination. On our walk, one of the first few things we saw by accident was Christiansborg Palace. It was beautiful and looked important so, we walked towards it early in the morning. We saw white horses and stables. We saw two men on horses - one of them looked important. This place reminds me of France. Cobblestones, grand palace and copper statues. Not a bad place to get lost in.

Michael U.

Yelp

Difficult to navigate, pricey for admission and generally not the most friendly of staff members made Christiansborg Palace mostly a miss during a July trip to Copenhagen. Why a landmark would choose to divide its exhibits into several different parts with alternating opening hours makes little sense save for monetization, which seems to be the point.

Jack F.

Yelp

Christiansborg Palace is the latest of several palaces on the site - they had a couple of fires and rebuilds. The current palace is a good reconstruction, though, and fulfills a lot of duties - however you can't access the areas of the Parliament or the Supreme Court. You do get to go to a few different areas. With the Copenhagen Card, all of these areas are included. However, without it I believe you have to pay separately for each area, which would get annoying. The Queen's Reception rooms are very opulent and fun to check out. You do have to store your backpacks and put on foot covers. Most people can just put them on over their shoes, but since I have giant feet, I had to walk around with them over my socks. The ruins of the original castle from the 1100s are still there in an underground area. They have done excavations and you can now see the ruins underground. The lighting is dark but this was interesting to check out. There is a palace chapel you can normally also check out, but it was closed when we visited. If you don't want to pay to get in, you can still walk around the courtyard, and go up the tower near the entrance, where there is a nice observation area that looks over the city on all sides. Definitely do this, if nothing else.

Cindy B.

Yelp

I really enjoyed going to Christiansborg Slot. I did the tour of the estate rooms and also took the tower elevator up to see the view from up there. The estate rooms were very pretty and ornate. The view from the tower was pretty impressive. There is free wi-fi here and a nice gift store too. I recommend going for first time visitors.

Jessica R.

Yelp

Christianborg Palace was a fine stop for an afternoon with our Copenhagen Card, though I don't end up feeling that it's a must-see site in Copenhagen. A lot of the internal sites were closed for renovation (crypts, e.g.), so we were able to see just one thing here--a self-guided tour of the Versailles-esque interior. And that's exactly what it was, only much less Versailles-esque than Versailles, of course. We walked around and saw some rooms and read some descriptive plaques. There wasn't anything hugely special about it, I don't think (aside from the fact that we all had to wear plastic booties over our shoes so as not to track in mud on the drizzly day).

Christiansborg Palace

Christiansborg Palace

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