Frederiksborg Castle

Spilling across three small islands in a lake at Hillerød, north of Copenhagen, Frederiksborg is the largest Renaissance castle complex in all of Scandinavia. Christian IV built it through the opening decades of the seventeenth century on the footprint of an older castle his father, Frederik II, had bought — and whose name it still bears.

Red brick, carved sandstone and copper-clad spires repeat themselves in the still water below, while across the lake a formal Baroque garden marches up the slope in clipped hedges, falling cascades and the royal monogram picked out in box.

What it is famous for

For well over a century this was the coronation church of the Danish kings, anointed one after another in its lavishly decorated chapel. After a ruinous fire in 1859 hollowed out much of the building, it was restored with the backing of the brewer J. C. Jacobsen, founder of Carlsberg, who in 1878 set up the Museum of National History within its walls.

That museum now narrates the story of Denmark through one of the country's richest collections of portraits and history paintings — kings and scientists, writers and ordinary citizens alike — hung across more than seventy rooms, from Renaissance interiors through to a modern portrait gallery.

Good to know

The gardens are open to all and free to wander, and in season a small ferry crosses the lake. Hillerød is the northern end of Copenhagen's S-train network, roughly 40 minutes from the centre, and the castle is a signposted walk or a short bus ride from the station.