Helsingør / Denmark

Helsingør, also known as Elsinore, is a port city in eastern Denmark. Overlooking the Øresund strait, you need to visit the Kronborg Castle, one of the most important Renaissance castles in northern Europe to which Willian Shakespeare brought world fame when he decided to use it as the setting for his play Hamlet. The castle as we know it today was built in 1585, although a small fortress had already existed in its place since 1420. Nearby, the M/S Maritime Museum of Denmark, with stunning architecture and modern, interactive exhibitions. Its modern architecture totally breaks with everything else you can see in this small city. For a sizeable town, Helsingør has done a good job of maintaining mementoes of its medieval character, best appreciated by strolling through the grid of narrow cobbled streets near the harbour. Here, half-timbered back-alley houses lean precariously behind towering hollyhocks and creeping ivy.