The Castle Island's Royal History: A walk around Slotsholmen and Christiansborg

(83 reviews)

Copenhagen audio tour: The Castle Island's Royal History: A walk around Slotsholmen and Christiansborg

This is a 1.1mi walking tour

It takes an average of 90 mins to complete.

Copenhagen

Denmark

$9.99

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About the Tour

Slotsholmen, the island in Copenhagen’s harbour, has been a power base for nearly 900 years, for Copenhagen’s founder, Denmark’s kings and today’s Danish parliament, housed in the beautiful Christiansborg Palace.

This walking tour takes you around “the Castle Island”, as Slotsholmen is known, including into and through the grounds of the magnificent and historic Christiansborg Palace (PLEASE NOTE: this tour goes through the palace grounds but does not go inside the palace building itself, as a separate entry fee is required).

You start at the very spot where Copenhagen’s story began in the 1100s, Højbro Plads, before crossing over to Slotsholmen and the palace. There are centuries worth of fascinating tales to listen to and several historical buildings to take in before our tour ends in front of Thorvaldsen Museum, dedicated to Bertel Thorvaldsen who inspired kings and nobles.

You’ll hear how the original fortress evolved over the centuries into a series of castles and, later, spectacular palaces. I’ll show you how to spot where earlier palaces have been blended into the current complex, and I’ll tell you how to access the underground ruins of the medieval castles. You’ll also hear about Denmark’s rulers, including Christian IV, the larger-than-life “builder king” who created beautiful buildings but bankrupted the country. Then there’s Frederik VII, the unlikely hero king who avoided a revolution, and Christian VI, the shy king who created northern Europe’s largest and most awe-inspiring palace. You’ll also discover a secret garden!

Other highlights you can look forward to on this tour include:

Seeing the statue of Copenhagen’s founder, Bishop Absalon
Taking in the Palace Chapel, where for generations monarchs have been baptised, married, and lain in state after death
Spotting the Christiansborg Palace balcony, from which new monarchs are proclaimed to the people
Finding out about the doorway to Folketing, the Danish Parliament, with its controversial engravings
Discovering the peaceful tranquility of the Royal Library Garden, one of the city’s best kept secrets with an unlikely history
Hearing about the Royal Library and its bold modern extension, the Black Diamond
Travelling back to 1943, when the Danes united to rescue almost all of the country’s Jewish population before they could be seized by Nazi occupiers
Passing the ornate and historic Court Theatre

Allow at least 90 minutes to get the most out of this tour. Music and sound effects, including a magnificent royal pageant with hundreds of white horses, help bring the stories to life.

Updated to include the 2024 accession of the new Danish King, Frederik X, and the destruction of the historic stock exchange building by fire on 16th April 2024.

Tour Producer

James Cowan

11 tours

I love creating audio tours of cities which lie close to my heart in the hope that others will share my love and passion.

I wrote my first audio tour of Cardiff, Wales in 2018. I grew up with Cardiff on my doorstep and lived there most of my adult life. Discovering its incredible but still largely unknown history became an ever-growing passion. This led me to develop walking tours and telling people the history, legends and ghost stories of Cardiff and Wales – tales of Kings, Princes, and a one-time tiny town on the Taff that overnight become the world’s biggest coal port, from which emerged the grand domes, towers and columns of its beautiful civic centre….and all the time, in its woodlands and castles lurk ancient legends and tales of ghosts!

I am delighted that, thanks to VoiceMap, I have been able to convert some of these tours into self-guided audio tours.

Since 2019 I have had a new home, Copenhagen, and I have fallen in love with this city. Discovering its history, its character, and its characters past and present, has been an all-consuming pleasure, always full of surprises. In 2021 I was delighted to offer my first Copenhagen audio tour, which was a labour of love to research and develop, as a prelude to more Copenhagen tours following in 2022 and 2023.

In 2023 I was very excited to introduce my first ever audio tour in Poland, of Warsaw’s beautiful Old Town. I have been fascinated and deeply moved by Polish history since childhood, and as an adult I have been spellbound by the beauty of its cities, and awe struck by the resilience and determination of the Polish character despite everything the country has experienced.

In 2025 I published a series of audio tours of Łódź! I hope that my tours of Łódź shed new light on this striking, exciting, and much underrated city! Moreover, I hope that my audiotour of the site of the Łódź Ghetto serves as a powerful informational and educational tool, shedding light on the city's darkest chapter. Indeed, I hope all my Polish audio tours convey my admiration and respect for the country's history and culture.

Preview Location

Location 18

The Riding Fields and Christian VI

Please find a comfortable place where you can stop and look across the open field beside you.

3 second pause

Where you now stand was part of the grand approach to the first Christiansborg Palace, completed in 1745. This wide open space is Christiansborg Ridebane, the Rid... Please find a comfortable place where you can stop and look across the open field beside you.

3 second pause

Where you now stand was part of the grand approach to the first Christiansborg Palace, completed in 1745. This wide open space is Christiansborg Ridebane, the Riding Field. All the white sandstone buildings you see surrounding it are from the first palace, and survived the fire of 1794.

In the 1700s, grand processions to and from the palace would pass right through this field. But more importantly this field was an open arena for pomp, ceremony and spectacle with horses centre stage. The colonnaded buildings which start at the entrance and run along both sides of the field were the royal stables, housing at one time up to 250 horses. The large building on the opposite side of the Riding Field, with the black tiled roof was an indoor arena and is today a riding school. Its identical building on this side of the field still serves as the royal stables, though with far fewer horses. Originally the upper floor of this building housed an armory.

So let's go back in time and try and imagine the scene! It's the 1760s. The first Christiansborg palace stands spectacularly at the far end of this field, and right here, before a packed audience, a great celebration is taking place - possibly a royal wedding or the visit of a foreign king. The arena is filled with horses and their colourfully attired riders. A grand colouful pageant is underway. To the gasps, applause and cheers of the crowds, the horses perform choreographed displays and movements demonstrating grace and strength, beauty and might, echoing also the spectacles enjoyed centuries before at medieval jousting tournaments, but all now displaying, for all to see, the might and power of the Danish King.

However, there is a peculiar irony in all this. The first mighty palace, the stables, the arena for spectacles were all created by King Christian VI, who was probably Denmark's most reclusive and introverted King. Shy and awkward in front of people, often suffering from chronic ill health, he was rarely seen in public, and whenever he did venture out in his horse-drawn carriage, it was usually with the shutters pulled firmly down! It's almost as if he wanted to use the grandiose appearance of his palace as a cloak to mask his own lack of personality. His reign was marked by his deep religious conviction and his authoritarian rule. Therefore church attendance was made compulsory while theatre attendance was banned.

His successors could not have been more different. His son Frederik V presided over a court and country in which culture, the arts and science flourished, and which saw the foundation of the Danish Royal Theatre, while his grandson, Christian VII literally brought theatre right here to home. To find out how please continue walking along the cobbled road towards the main palace building and I will join you shortly. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Bishop Absalon
Christiansborg Slotskirke
Christiansborg Palace
Frederik VII
Børsen
Rigsdagsgården
Garden of the Royal Library
Det Kgl. Bibliotek
Marmorbroen
Thorvaldsens Museum

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Højbro Pl. 4-10, 1200 København, Denmark
Total distance

2km
Final location
Bertel Thorvaldsens Plads 2, 1213 København K, Denmark
Distance back to start location

206.89m

Directions to Starting Point

The tour begins on Højbro Plads, which is a short walk from the famous Strøget shopping street, with the exact starting point between the statue of Bishop Absalon on horseback, and the entrance to Gammel Strand metro station.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

If the Palace Chapel is open, it is highly recommended that you enter while listening to the description, or pause the tour for a few minutes to take a closer look inside.
The Royal Library Garden is a lovely place to pause the tour and take a seat and enjoy the atmosphere. A small refreshment stall is usually open during the summer months in the passageway you walk through to get from the parliament courtyard and the garden.

Best time of day

This is intended to be a daytime tour which can be done all year round. During the evening or night access to certain parts of the route (those parts within the grounds of Christiansborg Palace) may be restricted. The tour suggests an option of pausing the playback to look inside the Palace Chapel if it is open. The Palace Chapel is open every Sunday between 10am and 5pm, and in July it is open every day between 10am and 5pm. On weekends Christiansborg Palace car park is much quieter than on weekdays, and is therefore easier to access. The grounds to Christiansborg Palace, where part of the tour takes place, are open every day, although on Mondays the palace building itself is closed to visitors (should the listener wish to visit the palace building after the tour has finished).

Precautions

Copenhagen is a very safe city, and the tour follows a route which is open, visible and accessible. Common sense precaution is advised regarding leaving personal belongings unattended, and being aware of pickpockets. Most of the route is pedestrianised. Please pay close attention to the traffic signals when crossing roads. Parts of the route involve cobblesones, so comfortable flat soled shoes are recommended. It is also recommended that you take water or other refreshments, especially in hot weather.

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