What to see: Modern design, historic walks and shopping in Elsinore

Explore Elsinore by foot and walk along the cobbled streets with the free guidebook Elsinore Walk, which takes you on a 10,000 steps journey through the history of the old port city.  

It’s one of the many cultural offers in Elsinore, and the guidebook is available in Danish, English, Swedish and German. For those interested in history, there is the award-winning M/S Museum Maritime Museum of Denmark and the UNESCO-heritage-listed Kronborg Castle, but there are also three smaller museums to visit in the town centre, with one entrance fee giving access to all three.  

Opening in spring 2023, The Culture Yard will house the new Elsinore Town Museum, and in the same venue, you’ll find The Shipyard Museum, which tells stories about the local shipyard and its workers through 100 years. The settings are especially fitting, as the Culture Yard opened in 2010 in the buildings of the former Elsinore Shipyard.   

The third museum is The Shipping Agent’s House, which is the best-preserved shipping agent’s office and suppliers shop in Elsinore dating back to the years of the Sound Dues.  

Today, Elsinore is a mix of its historic heritage and modern art and design.  For those interested in the modern part of Elsinore, there is the ‘Han’ Sculpture on the harbour front, which means ‘He’ in English. The modern steel sculpture has a clear reference to the famous Danish statue The Little Mermaid, and it is of a young man sitting in the mermaid pose. It is on the edge of the pier of the Culture Yard and was unveiled in 2012 and is created by the artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset.  

Among the local design shops to visit is the internationally known Egeværk. Furniture makers Mette Bentzen and Lasse Kristensen are behind the sculptural wooden pieces created out of sustainable Nordic wood. Lasse Kristensen has previously won both the Danish and Nordic championships in cabinetmaking and participated in the world championship in Japan. As a duo, the team has been awarded a Carpentry Award and a Danish Design Award for best arts and crafts. Egeværk Display is the name of their shop in the centre of Elsinore, and Egeværk Studio is their workshop located about 9 minute's drive from the city centre.  

For more design shops, visit the M/S Shop, which is part of the Maritime Museum of Denmark. It is free to visit the museum shop, and here you’ll find a unique selection of Danish designs with a maritime twist. For more maritime inspiration, there is Tibberup Høkeren, which takes you back in time with products like old-style brushes and soap. For Danish ceramics with a maritime twist, there is also Nichen.  

Other noteworthy design shops are Witzke Design, Nordiska Raum and Mutte Storm, and if you are into Danish furniture, then Olai Furniture has a wide range of the classics.