The Best Copenhagen Museums according to Google Maps Users
Ah, Copenhagen. One of the world’s most liveable cities, full of some of the happiest people on earth. Beautiful design everywhere you look. And then there’s the weather — the sun shining from clear blue skies all year round… Sorry, what’s that? Scratch that last part? Okay, somehow the people of Denmark manage to keep their spirits high despite the country’s depressing weather. But if you find yourself in Copenhagen with some time to explore on a day where the wind and rain gets a little heavy or the temperature is a bit too close to zero for comfort, there’s always the roughly 100 museums in the area to take refuge in. Which one to choose though?
This article casts a light on what people generally think of the famous museums of Copenhagen, while also giving some of the lesser known places a chance to shine. By collecting ratings data from Google Maps, I’ve made a ranking of 97 museums (and museum-like places) in and around Copenhagen. If you’re interested in more information on the method I used to produce the ranking and the criteria I used to decide which places to include on the list, scroll to the bottom of this article. Do the same to see the full list with the ratings. If, on the other hand, you just want to read about the best museums, fret no longer. Without further ado, here are the…
Top 10 Museums in the Copenhagen Area according to Google Maps Users
1) Frederiksborg Castle (Frederiksborg Slot)
The top-ranked museum on the list isn’t strictly a museum — it’s actually a 17th century royal palace commissioned by the infamous King Christian IV. For more than 100 years, though, the castle has housed a division of the Danish Museum of National History. Inside, elegant state rooms, halls and even a chapel can be viewed, as well as a large collection of paintings. You don’t have to be indoors to enjoy the palace either, as the grounds contain beautiful gardens and lakes to stroll around. Frederiksborg Castle is in the town of Hillerød which takes about 45 minutes to reach from central Copenhagen by train.
2) The David Collection (Davids Samling)
A proper museum located in Copenhagen proper, The David Collection still isn’t as well known as it perhaps should be. The museum is highly praised for its collection of medieval Islamic art, which is supposedly among the most significant in the Western world and the largest of its kind in Scandinavia. There is also a collection of arts and crafts from 18th and 19th century Denmark and broader Europe on display. With around one tenth the number of Maps ratings of its immediate competitors at the top of this list, The David Collection might represent a chance to experience the finest museum in the area that no one you know has been to.
3) Kronborg Castle (Kronborg Slot)
People love the royal castles of the wider Copenhagen area, apparently! This 16th century stronghold was the inspiration for Shakespeare’s castle in Hamlet. It may not be as extravagant as Frederiksborg, but with its strategic and dramatic location guarding the entrance to the Baltic Sea and with the mythical protector of Denmark, Holger Danske, sitting in the basement, it makes for an intriguing day out nonetheless. Kronborg is located in the town of Helsingør which is also around 45 minutes north of Copenhagen by train.
4) Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
Ask a native resident of Copenhagen what the best art museum in the area is, and you’re likely to be referred to this place. Beautifully located on the seafront just outside the small town of Humlebæk, many of the city’s culturally-minded folk go on their annual or seasonal pilgrimage to Louisiana to catch the latest exhibition, attend one of the many events, or just take in the atmosphere of the place with its modern architecture and beautiful gardens. Inside, the museum mainly hosts art from the period since World War II. The trip to Louisiana by public transport involves a 40 minute train journey in the same direction as Kronborg, so the two can be combined for a cultural tour of the coast north of Copenhagen.
5) Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
No, this isn’t a museum about the famous beer brand (there used to be one in town, but it’s closed for the time being). Instead, Glyptoteket, as it is known to locals, showcases the art collection amassed by the former Carlsberg CEO, Carl Jacobsen, son of founder J. C. Jacobsen. This collection is mainly comprised of sculptures from ancient cultures and more recent masters, such as Rodin, but it also includes exquisite paintings by Monet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, van Gogh, and artists from the Danish Golden Age. The artworks are displayed in impressive architectural surroundings and as the cherry on the literal top, there is a rooftop terrace which enables beautiful views of inner Copenhagen.
6) Roskilde Cathedral (Roskilde Domkirke)
Most churches have been excluded from the longlist of museums, but this place holds too many treasures in its nooks and crannies to be dismissed. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better place to learn about the history of Danish royalty — no less than 38 kings and queens have their final resting place within the cathedral, with many of those resting places being beautifully-crafted sarcophagi. They are accompanied by plaques which very briefly sketch out the (often tragic) life story of the king or queen in question. Unsurprisingly, the chapel of our friend from Frederiksborg Castle, Christian IV, is particularly impressive. The trip to Roskilde from Copenhagen takes roughly 40 minutes by train.
7) The Open Air Museum (Frilandsmuseet)
Despite its name, this museum isn’t outdoors only. Instead, it’s a collection of more than 100 historical buildings from all around Denmark and its (former) territories. The buildings, which include farmhouses, mills, and poorhouses, have been dismantled in their original locations and moved to the outskirts of Copenhagen, where they were carefully put back together. The museum shows what life in Denmark was like and how it developed for different segments of the population across the three centuries from 1650 to 1950. Actors help portray those lives by conducting a bit of living history, particularly during holiday seasons throughout the year.
8) DieselHouse
Probably the most niche museum to feature in the top 10, DieselHouse tells the history of diesel engines from the perspective of the former Danish company B&W (now part of MAN Energy Solutions). This company produced large diesel engines for ships and power plants. The centerpiece of the museum is what used to be the world’s largest diesel engine, more than 12 meters tall and 24 meters long. The engine is turned on for a few minutes twice a month. DieselHouse is located in a running power station in Copenhagen’s south harbour.
9) Assistens Cemetery (Assistens Kirkegård)
Visit website (Danish only)
Okay, we’re just about reaching the limits of what can be included in a list of museums here — but this isn’t just any old cemetery. In some ways more resemblant of a park than a graveyard, the first thing that strikes many people about Assistens is the beauty of the place. However, it’s two other features of the cemetery that make it fit neatly into the category of “museum-ish places”. The first is the number of world-famous Danes who were laid to rest here: Among the graves that can be visited are those of fairy-tale writer Hans Christian Andersen, philosopher Søren Kirkegaard, and physicist Niels Bohr. The other museum-esque feature is the QR codes that can be scanned at prominent graves, revealing a short video about the inhabitant’s life and their grave. Make sure to pack some mobile data before heading here, or maybe just use the free digital guided tour in English, linked below.
10) Peder Skram Frigate (Fregatten Peder Skram)
Rounding out the top 10, HDMS Peder Skram is the main attraction in a collection of Cold War navy vessels located inside a military facility in Copenhagen’s harbour. The ship was in use as one of two naval command vessels until 1990 and was heavily armed with missiles, cannons, torpedoes, and depth charges. The collection also includes a smaller missile-attack ship, HDMS Sehested, and a submarine, HDMS Sælen (The Seal in English), but only Peder Skram can be visited without a guide. The vessels have limited opening hours, so be sure to check in advance!
Honourable Mentions
11) The Round Tower (Rundetårn)
With the second-highest number of Maps ratings of all places on the list (beaten only by Copenhagen Zoo), The Round Tower is one of the most famous buildings in Copenhagen and another one of King Christian IV’s pet projects. Ascend its 35 meters via the spiral ramp, designed for horses to be able to pull carts to the top, and you’ll be rewarded with a great view of the inner city.
13) Barbie Museum
Visit website (Danish only)
A bit of a curiosity, Barbie Museum is the only inhabitant of the list with more than two ratings to have a perfect raw Google Maps score of 5.0 (it has seven ratings, leading to an adjusted score of 4.47). The collection consists of more than 4000 Barbie dolls spanning five decades. It can only be visited through prior arrangement though, so phone ahead if you’re wanting to experience this niche place.
16) SMK — The National Gallery of Denmark (Statens Museum for Kunst)
Denmark’s national art gallery deserves a mention here for being in the top 20% of museums on the list, while also featuring in all four curated lists of top museums in Copenhagen that I consulted (only aforementioned Louisiana and Glyptoteket also made it onto all four lists). The museum is housed in a majestic building located in the corner of a lovely park, and as you might expect, it boasts an impressive collection of art ranging from the contemporary to works from the 14th century.
As a bonus, I’ve also included…
The 3 Worst-Rated Museums in the Copenhagen Area
95) Planetarium
Unless you are a serious astronomer, the mixed reviews of this place suggest that you might want to hold off on exploring the galaxies until your next city break.
96) Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum
Maybe …believe it not?! Though the fact that this is the second last museum on the list probably says more about the high quality of museums in Copenhagen than it does about this Ripley’s. I mean, the reviews aren’t terrible.
97) Guinness World Records Museum
Oh, the irony… In an unexpected turn of events, the Guinness World Records Museum now holds a record of its own: The worst-rated museum in Copenhagen. And by some distance too: The drop in adjusted score from Copenhagen’s Ripley’s museum to this one is of the same magnitude as the difference between the list’s 1st and 55th position. Granted, you might be able to find more spectacular records than that — just possibly not at this museum.
There you have it — the best (and worst) museums in Copenhagen according to Google Maps users! I hope you’ve found this list useful and that you enjoy your time in this beautiful city. To see the full list of museums and their scores, keep scrolling. If you’d like to see an article like this with Google Maps rankings of places within a particular category in a particular city or country, let me know, and I’ll take it into consideration for my next article!
Compiling the List of Museum-like Places
Putting together the list of museums and similar places required making choices of what to include and what not to. Starting with this Wikipedia list of museums in and around Copenhagen in its July 2022 form, I removed places that were either not listed on Google Maps or listed as permanently closed. I then made a couple of subjective judgement calls to remove places that seemed too far removed from being museums. In total, these steps removed five places from the list. Many of the remaining places are renamed to their Google Maps listing names in my ranking above. To make sure I wouldn’t make any glaring omissions, I then consulted lists of top museums in Copenhagen by Lonely Planet, Time Out, Condé Nast Traveller, Tripadvisor, and Visit Copenhagen. This led to the addition of an extra six museums to the list, making for a final total of 97 museums and similar places in the Copenhagen area.
Ranking Method
I’ve based this ranking on the individual places’ average rating on Google Maps, adjusted in accordance to how many ratings that average rating is based on. This yields the museum’s adjusted score, which is the metric this list is ranked by. I plan to write an article on the precise mathematical method later on, but for now, suffice to say that the places with many ratings will have adjusted scores that are very similar to their raw average Google Maps rating. Places with only a few ratings, on the other hand, will have adjusted scores that are very close to the overall average adjusted score for all museums on the list. The more ratings a place has, the more we can trust its average rating, so the more its adjusted score will move away from the overall average score and towards its own raw average Google Maps rating.