Visit The Round Tower in Copenhagen
No trip to Copenhagen is complete without a trip up the Round Tower (Rundetårnet in Danish).
Its’ location beside the city’s busiest shopping streets of Købmagergade and Strøget, means it’s most often seen from street level surrounded by busy crowds of passers-by.
Yet by making your way inside and ascending the wide spiral ramp to the top, you can step back in time, escaping into a quiet world at the very epicentre of bustling, modern Copenhagen.
The panaromic viewing platform at the top offers spectacular views across to Sweden on clear days like this.
A short history of The Round Tower
King Christian IV built the tower in the first half of the 17th century, with the last brick being laid in 1642. The famous astronomer Tycho Brahe, after whom the Copenhagen planetarium is named, had recently passed away, and Christian was keen to build a state-of-the-art observatory to help continue Denmark’s success in this field.
You can still use that observatory today, in the cylindrical box (pictured above) at the very top of the tower - it’s actually the oldest functioning observatory in Europe.
The Spiral Ramp in the Round Tower runs from the entrance in the street of Købmagergade to the stairs leading to the top of the tower. It leads visitors to the Library Hall, the Bell Loft and the hollow core - and was built so wide to allow the king to ride his horse to the top!
Inside the hollow core of The Round Tower, a narrow stone staircase takes visitors to the very top, where a panoramic view opens out.
Views span across as far as Sweden to the east, and far inland across the island of Zealand (Sjælland).
It was commissed by Christian IV to be part of a so-called Trinitatis Complex. This was intended to provide scholars with a university chapel, the Trinitatis Church, and an academic library which were the first facilities of the Copenhagen University Library - founded 160 years before The Round Tower was completed, in 1482.
In 1716, The Czar Peter the Great ascended the staircase on horseback, while in in 1902, a Beaufort car was the first motorised vehicle to ascend this Round Tower.
The amount of light pollution in the centre of Copenhagen mean that the original function of the building as an observatory is no longer viable. However, for locals and tourists alike it remains a unique architectural landmark and a fantastic aerial view across the rooftops and buildings of Denmark’s capital.
Visiting The Round Tower
It is well worth a visit any time of the year, but for the best views from the top, make sure to choose a clear day with good visibility.
Ascending the tower is done via the ramp, over steep cobblestones, so do make sure you wear appropriate footwear on the day you climb!
Ticket prices:
Adults 40 DKK
Children (5-15 years) 10 DKK
Children under 5 years are free of charge
Price for school visits: Adults 25 DKK/Children 10 DKK
Opening hours: 10am - 8pm
Getting there:
If coming from the direction of Central Station, you can take an overground S-train to Nørreport Station, from where The Round Tower is a short 3-minute walk.
If you’re on a bike in Copenhagen (which I would definitely recommend), it’s a 7-minute ride from Central Station and an even shorter hop from nearby sites like: