Helsingør Old Town Walking Tour: Hamlet’s Castle and the Little Merman

Off the windy coast of Denmark, where the whispers of history echo through cobbled streets and the scent of saltwater lingers in the air, lies Helsingør – known to Shakespeare as Elsinore, where he set his great tragedy, Hamlet.

On this walking tour, you’ll stroll from the train station along Helsingør Harbor Promenade and through the old shipyards, once the lifeblood of Helsingør, to Kronborg Castle. There, you’ll walk the seaside stone ramparts where Hamlet once saw a ghostly vision of his father, and learn about the real-life Kings and Queens who once lived within.

But there’s more to this tour than just Kronborg Castle. You’ll also explore the medieval town of Helsingør, a charming tapestry of half-timbered houses and narrow streets. You’ll visit St. Mary’s Church and Priory, with its quiet cloister that’s even older than Kronborg Castle, and have the opportunity to enjoy a coffee on Axeltorv, the town square – or, in summer, a frozen treat at the 100-year-old Brostræde Ice Cream, where our tour ends.

On this two-hour tour, you’ll have a chance to:

• Take in the Culture Yard, part of a complex that includes the innovative (and underground) M/S Maritime Museum and ”He”, a sculpted male version of the Little Mermaid
• Gaze up at the Renaissance castle’s three copper towers as you stroll along the moat that once kept enemies at bay
• Hear about the town’s role in the Holocaust and discover the true purpose behind the Helsingør Sewing Club
• Pop into the Shipyard Museum, created by shipyard workers to share their oral histories, their tools, and dozens of models that are tiny versions of the giant ocean-going ships built in Helsingør
• Stroll past Saint Olaf’s Church, a local cathedral reflecting the riches Helsingør collected in tolls from ships passing Kronborg Castle
• See “The History of Churches” and “The Middle Ages and the Sound Dues” murals, which illustrate Helsingør’s history in fun, colorful images
• Peak down Gl Færgestræde, a medieval street that was closed for hundreds of years and preserved as it might have looked in the 1700s, with paving stones the size of potatoes
• Learn about Erik of Pomerania, the man who made Helsingør rich

From the haunting elegance of Hamlet’s castle, to the shipyards’ gritty legacy and the medieval streets’ crooked charm and weathered façades, this tour will take you on a journey through time: a story told in stone and sea, in shadows and light.