Copenhagen has been a royal capital for more than five centuries, and many of its grandest buildings were made for kings or given to the nation. This guide covers six of them: Rosenborg Castle, Christiansborg Palace, the Royal Library, the Royal Danish Theatre, Amalienborg Palace and the Opera House. Together they tell the story of the Danish court, from Christian IV's private castle to the theatres and libraries that now belong to everyone.
Rosenborg Castle
Rosenborg began as a country summer house for King Christian IV in 1606 and grew into a small castle by 1624, in the Dutch Renaissance style of red brick and sandstone that the king loved. Danish kings lived here until around 1710; after that it was used as a residence only twice, in emergencies: after Christiansborg burned in 1794 and during the British attack on the city in 1801. It opened to the public as a museum in 1838.
The castle stands in the King's Garden (Kongens Have), the oldest royal garden in the country, and next to it are the barracks of the Royal Life Guards, who also guard the castle. Rosenborg is not on our scavenger hunt route, but it is a short walk from the city centre and a good start for a royal day.
- The treasury in the basement with the Danish Crown Jewels and the crown regalia.
- The Long Hall, with the coronation chair of the absolute kings, the queen's throne and the three life-size silver lions standing guard in front of them.
Christiansborg Palace
Christiansborg, on the island of Slotsholmen, is said to be the only building in the world that houses all three branches of a country's government: the Danish parliament (Folketing), the Prime Minister's Office and the Supreme Court. The monarch still uses the Royal Reception Rooms, the palace chapel and the royal stables. The first castle on this site was built by Bishop Absalon in 1167.
The present building is the third Christiansborg. The first was destroyed by fire in 1794, the second burned in 1884, and the current Neo-baroque palace was built from 1907 to 1928 to a design by Thorvald Jørgensen. Its tower, 106 metres tall, has had a public viewing platform since 2014; you go through a security check on the way in. Christiansborg is one of the stops on our scavenger hunt.
- The ruins of Absalon's castle and the later Copenhagen Castle in the basement, open to visitors since 1924.
- The 17 tapestries of Danish history by Bjørn Nørgaard in the Great Hall, a gift for Queen Margrethe II's 50th birthday.
The Royal Library
The Royal Library was founded in 1648 by King Frederik III, who gave it his collection of European books, and it opened to the public in 1793. It is the largest library in the Nordic countries. Its old home on Slotsholmen, behind Christiansborg, was designed by Hans Jørgen Holm and completed in 1906.
In 1999 the library gained the Black Diamond, an extension on the harbour front by the architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen. Its slanted walls are clad in polished black granite, quarried in Zimbabwe and cut in Italy, and its glass atrium looks straight out over the water. Inside there are reading rooms, exhibitions and a concert hall. The collections include Hans Christian Andersen's manuscripts and Søren Kierkegaard's papers. The library is not a scavenger hunt stop.
- The bridges that cross the street at upper level and join the Black Diamond to the old building.
- The huge untitled ceiling painting by Per Kirkeby at the entrance to the reading rooms, one of the largest ceiling decorations in the Nordic countries.
The Royal Danish Theatre: Old Stage and Playhouse
The Royal Danish Theatre was founded in 1748 and is the national stage for opera, ballet and drama. Its oldest working house is the Old Stage (Gamle Scene) on Kongens Nytorv, built from 1872 to 1874 to designs by Vilhelm Dahlerup and Ove Petersen. It is still in use as a stage today.
Drama moved in 2008 to the Royal Danish Playhouse (Skuespilhuset), a building by Lundgaard & Tranberg on the harbour front a few steps from Nyhavn. It is built of a long, slim, dark brown brick made for the project, with a glass top floor and a copper-clad stage tower. The Royal Playhouse and the Old Stage are together one of our scavenger hunt stops.
- The statues of the playwright Ludvig Holberg, by Theobald Stein, and the poet Adam Oehlenschläger, by H. W. Bissen, on either side of the Old Stage entrance.
- The raised oak boardwalk along the water in front of the Playhouse, resting on slanted columns.
Amalienborg Palace
Amalienborg is not one palace but four identical Rococo mansions around an octagonal square. The royal architect Nicolai Eigtved designed them, and they were built from 1750 to 1760 for four noble families as the centrepiece of the new Frederiksstaden district. When Christiansborg burned in 1794 the royal family bought them and moved in that December, and they have lived here ever since.
Each palace has two names, the king who later lived there and the noble who built it: Christian VII's (Moltke's), Christian VIII's (Levetzau's), Frederik VIII's (Brockdorff's) and Christian IX's (Schack's). Christian VIII's Palace is a museum with royal private rooms. Every day the Royal Life Guards march here from Rosenborg for the changing of the guard. Amalienborg is one of our scavenger hunt stops.
- The equestrian statue of King Frederik V in the middle of the square, by the French sculptor Jacques Saly, begun in 1753 and unveiled in 1771.
- The view along Frederiksgade: the Marble Church (Frederik's Church) on one side and the Opera House across the harbour on the other.
Copenhagen Opera House
The Opera House stands on Dokøen, part of the island of Holmen, directly across the water from Amalienborg. It was a gift: the A.P. Møller foundation, linked to the shipping magnate Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, gave the building to the Danish state in 2000, and Møller had a strong hand in the design. The architect was Henning Larsen, and the house opened on 15 January 2005.
The gift caused a debate, because the donation was tax deductible, so the state in effect shared the cost; parliament accepted it anyway. From the main entrance you look straight across the harbour to Amalienborg and the dome of the Marble Church, on one line. The Opera House is not a scavenger hunt stop, but you see it from Amalienborg.
- The three spherical glass chandeliers in the foyer by the artist Olafur Eliasson.
- The curved wall of maple wood around the auditorium, nicknamed the pumpkin.
How to see them in one walk
Start in the King's Garden at Rosenborg, then walk east through the streets of Frederiksstaden to the Marble Church and on to Amalienborg, ideally in time for the changing of the guard. From the waterfront you can see the Opera House across the harbour; reach it by harbour bus, or come back to it at the end. Walk south along the water to the Playhouse, past Nyhavn to the Old Stage on Kongens Nytorv, then follow Holmens Kanal to Christiansborg. Finish behind the palace at the Royal Library and the Black Diamond on the harbour.
See Copenhagen with World City Trail
Our Copenhagen scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops, from City Hall to Frederik's Church, and Christiansborg Palace, the Royal Playhouse and the Old Stage and Amalienborg Palace are all stops, along with City Hall, the Church of Our Lady, the Round Tower, Strøget, Nyhavn, Nyhavnsbroen and Frederik's Church. At each stop you solve a puzzle and learn a story, at your own pace.
There is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Copenhagen, for people who prefer a different format.
Play the Copenhagen scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Copenhagen →
Play the outdoor escape game in Copenhagen →
Facts checked in October 2026.