Daytrip to Roskilde

One of the best daytrips you can do from Copenhagen is to visit Roskilde which is a small old town a short trip from Copenhagen. It has attractions way above average for such a tiny town in the form of the famous cathedral Roskilde Domkirke which has made it to UNESCO world heritage list thanks to the many royal tombs inside the church. There is actually more kings and queens buried in this cathedral than you will find in any other cathedral around the world.

Down at the water you will see a memorial for the heyday of Danish history in the form of a Viking ship museum which houses no less than five old ships dating back from the time of the Vikings. We didn’t go to visit these attractions today – but the old town of Roskilde is still a nice place to go and wonder for a little bit. The natural first place to go is towards the cathedral since the old part of the city is centered around this area.

There is a square close to the cathedral which had a little market going on during this Saturday – I guess there is a little market on every Saturday and Wednesday. We didn’t go to do any shopping but it did give a little life to the square. Next to the square there is a large yellow building. It was built as a royal mansion for King Christian VI who used the mansion when he went to Roskilde for a burial in the royal family or if he was just passing by on other business on his way to or from Copenhagen. Today the mansion has been transformed into a museum and the royal family will have to commute when they go to a funeral in the city.

There are a few other nice old buildings in the city center which is rather small despite the importance of the city through history so it is good for a little walk and we go around enjoying the spring.

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Even though we are not going to the Viking ship museum today we decide to head down to the harbor and have a look at the recreated Viking ship which is in the harbor next to the museum. There are a few and they all seem to be home for the moment – I guess the weather is still too unstable for a longer voyage or maybe they just don’t want to have many people on a tight space for the moment.