Elsinore, or Helsingør: Hamlet's Castle

I asked my friend to go to Elsinore (Helsingør in Danish), because I wanted to see the castle that is the setting for William Shakespeare's Hamlet as well as UNESCO's World Heritage Site.  I had a high expectation for Kronborg.  However, we were surprised at a barren look of Kronborg from a distance after we saw a stunningly beautiful Frederiksborg.  We saw a construction site with heavy machineries near the castle, when we walked toward it.  In addition, we had an overcast sky.  Everything seemed to make this castle darker and gloomier.  Kronborg definitely impressed me as the setting for Hamlet's tragedy. 

The major sight of Elsinore is Kronborg Castle.  We unexpectedly lost our time on the way to Kronborg and arrived at the castle's courtyard 30 minutes before the closing time.  At the courtyard, we could choose a type of ticket which would determine where we could go inside the castle.  We wondered whether it was worth entering the castle by looking at its savage appearance.  We just felt that we would not have enough time to explore the inside of the castle.  Therefore, we decided to walk around the ticket-free area in Kronborg.  The outside of the castle was interesting, with fortifications and signs explaining stories related with Kronborg.  It was interesting to see people fishing on the beach of the World Heritage Site.  We walked to the beach and learned from a Danish man that a town across the sea was the Swedish town, Helsingborg.  We also saw ferries running between two countries.  It was amazing to see how close two countries were to each other.  Despite a lack of blazonry, Kronborg Castle must have been a significant fortress castle by guarding the gateway to the Baltic Sea.

On the way back to the train station, we saw a pretty park with a statue of three dancing young ladies.  We also stopped by the old town, which were small and cute.  The town uses a grid street system.  So, it was easy to walk around the town.  However, most of the stores were closed around 6 PM.  We looked for Denmark's oldest ice cream shop, which was noted on the city map.  Fortunately, the ice cream shop was open.  The ice cream was very good.  I recommend tasting the ice cream at the old town!     

We stopped by the old town after Kronborg.  The old town was so small that we could finish walking all over the town in a short period of time.  However, many shops were closed after 6 PM when we visited there.  In addition, we only needed 45 minutes to reach Copenhagen.  Therefore, I personally did not see needs for an overnight stay in Elsinore. 

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Our overall trip plan:

We planned to visit both Frederiksborg and Kronborg for one day.  After we visited Frederiksborg, we headed for Kronborg.  From Kronborg, we returned to Copenhagen.

From Hillerød to Kronborg, Elsinore:

We took a train from the Hillerød station to the Helsingør station.  The train trip took about 30 minutes.  However, we had to wait for approximately 20 minutes at the station.  We did not know that a train to Helsingør ran only every 30 minutes. 

From the Helsingør station, we walked to Kronborg for 15-20 minutes.  It was an easy walk because of flat roads to the viewable castle from a distance.  It seemed to me that we might be able to use a bus or train to get closer to the castle.  However, we were running out of our time.  We just walked fast.  We arrived at the courtyard of the castle 30 minutes before its closing time. 

From Helsingborg, Sweden to Elsinore, Denmark:

Elsinore, or Helsingør is the closest Danish city to Sweden.  A ferry ride takes approximately 20 minutes only between Elsinore and Helsingborg.  Well, we did not take a ferry.  However, we saw a few ferries frequently running between two countries from the beach in front of Kronborg Castle.  In addition, we met a girl who came from Sweden everyday to work in Elsinore.  It might be fun to visit Sweden by ferry. 

From Kronborg, Elsinore to Copenhagen:

On our return, we took our time to walk from Kronborg to the train station.  The actual railway trip took approximately 45 minutes from Elsinore to Copenhagen.  By the way, returning to Copenhagen, we experienced a quiet zone on a train for the first time.  We did not know that we were not supposed to talk in the quiet zone.  We just moved to a different area where we could talk. 

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