Scandinavian Trip - Day 13 - Helsingor

We wanted to start early today, so we will have a bit more time to visit the attractions. The plan was to take the train to Copenhagen and rent a car from there to tour northern Denmark by road. Helsingor is in the north eastern tip of Denmark and is famous for the Kornborg castle that featured in Shakespeare's Hamlet. We also wanted to visit the Danish Museum of Technology nearby. 

We rented out from Sixt this time around as it was nearby the Central station. The checkout was smooth but yet again had to learn a new Renault car and struggled to change the language to English at first. With Android Auto, it was smooth to find the directions. Getting out of the city, I learned the controls and realised the brake wasn't that great, so I had to pace myself and constantly remind me of the gap to the vehicle in front. Getting out of the city took a while but the highway ride was smooth.

It was a short 30 min ride to Helsingor, but I didnt quite enjoy the ride as much as the other countries in this region. The landscape was nothing to write about as well. We first reached the Technology museum, where we were greeted warmly but warned it was a small operation with limited food options. After downing a couple of crossaints (which was the only veg option), we were given a map that said there are only 2 rooms in the museum.  

We expected a short stop but was surprised by the amount of stuff in those two hangers (not rooms), giving us a feeling of going back in time. From the first Danish airplanes and fighter jet to cycles, cars and trucks from different eras, Soyuz landing capsule to vintage electronics and mobile phones, it captivated all of us. They had a fun Christmas heart hunt as well that kept the kids occupied. Time ran past and we quickly realised it was 2pm.

We didnt want to miss yet another castle because of timing issues, so we wrapped up and went on a short 10 mins ride to the Kornborg Castle. Like with the other castles in Copenhagen,  this was on a hugh sprawling landscape, with the castle etched on the junction of the North Sea and the Oresund Strait. We realised one of the watch towers functioned as a light house as well. 

The castle had one of the most beautiful landscapes I have seen, and no wonder inspired literary works of art. We had a nice walk along the windy shoreline to get to the castle entrance. The castle had everything we could imagine, from a courtyard, countless rooms for separate activities like dining, cooking, war preparations, closets, dancing, art, courtroom etc. 

The castle also had underground tunnels and dungeons. The kids enjoyed exploring the underground tunnels (getting scared at times when they got lost and we had to find each other by following the echos). They also dressed up as kings and queens with extremely heavy dresses and had a challenging task to learn to walk on stilts in the courtyard, which soon became a competition! 

We climbed up the 147 steps at the Cannon Tower to have a 360 view of the castle and the surrounding landscape, including a distant view of Helsingborg, Sweden that is a short ferry ride away. The climb felt an awful lot more difficult with small curving steps designed to make any invading armies difficult to capture the fort. 

We stayed until we were kicked out of the castle at 4pm, after which we started hunting for food. The street food court next to the car park was fantastic, with a variety of cuisines to whet the appetite. We decided to have a lunch/ dinner with some Punjabi cuisine, including samosas, bhajji, naan, thali, along with some pizza and pasta for the kids. It seemed a lot of food at first glance but we managed to finish almost everything in an hour and half. 

The kids had still not got used to ignoring the sun and started feeling sleepy at 5.30. So we started on our drive back. The drive at night seemed a lot harder in Denmark with the highways mostly illuminated by the headlights. Pushing 110 kmph seemed a bit risky so I took my time getting upto speed. I did take one wrong exit but was able to quickly rejoin the expressway. 

We returned the car in Copenhagen and made our way back to Malmo by train, to grab some drinks and snacks from the train station before heading home. Having spent 5 days in the Skane and Denmark,.feels like we need a couple of more days to explore more thoroughly. Having said that, Denmark is filled with art museums that none of us are really interested in, so we might have also got bored. The whole of Europe is pretty much connected by road and high speed rail, so it might be equally worth driving around a bit more across countries the next time we are here.