Christiansborg Palace: Royal Reception Rooms and the Best Views of Copenhagen

Christiansborg Palace (or Christiansborg Slot) is one of favorite buildings in Copenhagen! It’s definitely worth visiting if you get the chance. You can see the Royal Reception Rooms filled with glittering chandeliers and my all time favorite library (it has gold balconies, just to give you an idea), plus, you can get the best views of Copenhagen from the top of tower of Christiansborg Palace- for free! 🙂

Christiansborg Palace

I think Christiansborg Palace is one of the most impressive buildings in Copenhagen! The building is simple but grand, and the tower with the three crowns is one of the coolest ones in the city’s skyline. The palace isn’t used for the royal family anymore, and it’s used by Denmark’s Parliament, making it one of the most beautiful parliament buildings I’ve ever seen! The rooms still look like the queen lives there though, so you’ll see tons of chandeliers and marble doorways.

The Stock Exchange building is another one of my favorites! How cool is the tower with dragons??

I went on a tour of Christiansborg Palace when I studied abroad in Copenhagen 5 years ago, and they do have a student discount. You can pick and choose which places you want to see, but I would recommend doing at least a tour of the Royal Reception Rooms (90 krone) or you can do tours of everything in the palace (150 krone), including seeing the ruins of the previous castles. If you have a tight budget, the chapel is free, and I’ll talk about how you can get free views of the city in the tower further down!

For a little history on Christiansborg, it’s actually one of the newest palaces, and it was built in 1907. The first castle on that site was built in 1167, and a lot of different palaces were built there over the years. The royal family lived there until 1794, and it became the seat of parliament in 1849 and it’s home to the three supreme powers now. Even though it’s used for the government now, Christiansborg was built with Royal Reception Rooms for the royal family to use, which you can see on the tour.

The chapel (free to tour)

#doorgoals

My dream library! 🙂

The Best Views of Copenhagen

Like I mentioned earlier, you can get the best views of Copenhagen for free! I actually didn’t know this when I was living in Copenhagen, but when I went back recently, I overheard a tour guide saying that you can go to the top of the tower for free. I’ve climbed to the top of the Round Tower and the Church of Our Savior, and I think Christiansborg has the best deal. The climb for the Round Tower is really cool because you go in circle, but the view is partially blocked by the fence. The climb for the Church of Our Savior is much tougher because you’re in very confined spaces with a lot of people, and the view is good but it’s hard to take pictures with lines of people behind you waiting their turn.

For Christiansborg Palace, you actually ride in an elevator most of the way and climb a staircase (with lots of room) for maybe two floors worth. There are large open windows to get a view from every angle, but you do have to step up a bit to take pictures without the ledge in them (I have a picture of the area at the end). I definitely think climbing the Round Tower and the Church of Our Savior are worth it (especially if you’re a photographer, the inside of the Round Tower is so cool!) but if you want an easy climb and the best views of Copenhagen for free, go to Christiansborg! 🙂 And if you want more free things to do in Copenhagen, check out my One Day in Copenhagen on a Budget post!

I LOVE this view of the Stock Exchange building!

They only allow a certain number of people up at time so you might have to wait your turn at a window, but the space doesn’t get crowded

So if you’re visiting Copenhagen, you need to visit Christiansborg Palace! You’ll see some beautiful, gold-covered rooms and some amazing views of the city for a price that can’t be beat 🙂

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