Roskilde Things to Do Tips by bpacker

Giant Vases Near the Railway Station

Here's your chance to feel like Gulliver in Lilliput. Go south of the railway station till you see the giant vases and sit next to them. Of course, you'll also wonder what the hell can go into them. Giant flowers, hmm, but that would attract giant bees...

Bpacker's Roskilde page

Directions: South of the Railway Station, near the Town Square

Byparken

The City Park or the Byparken is just next to the harbour. It's just the kind of place you'll want to have a picnic or write poetry. There's a picturesque stream and a tree-lined path leading up to the Cathedral Square.

Bpacker's Roskilde page

Directions: Walk south from Roskilde Domkirke till you find a small gravel path.

Saint Hans Hospital Museum

There is another musuem at the shore of Roskilde Fjord , it isn’t as famous as The Viking ship Museum but it caught my interest since I'm training to be a psychologist.
Yup, the Saint Hans Hospital Museum is the oldest hospital of psychiatry in Denmark. It still functions as a hospital and the museum displays the horror chamber items of 60's psychiaty :straitjackets / force-chairs and a collection of art pieces created by their patients.
The admission is free, but the museum is only open on Wednesdays between 1pm and 4pm.
Bpacker's Roskilde page

Address: Address: Kurhuset, Skt. Hans Hospital, 4000 Roskil

Directions: Very near to the Viking Musuem, Roskilde Fjord.

Roskilde Domkirke

Unless you're a bat, you'll have a hard time missing Roskilde Cathedral. The tall spires of the building is visible from almost everywhere in the city and it is awesome in every aspect, in size and history, so much so that the folks over at UNESCO have decided that it is one of the world’s greatest cultural treasures.

Not surprising since the cathedral is more than 1000 years old and houses many of Denmark’s most famous kings and queens, All 39 of them, in beautiful but somewhat spooky burial chambers.

Liz and I paid about 15 DK to go in and discovered that the cathedral also had its own mini museum which displayed a replica of Queen Margrethe’s gold robe.
If you're keen on guided tours, it's also possible to have one over here. Guided tours in Danish and English take place from

Monday to Friday ( 11am and 2pm) Saturdays at 11am
Sundays at 2pm

Taking one will set you back by 35 DK but it includes the admission fee.

Do take note that during the summer season the opening hours are a little odd, to accomodate the parishioners, I suppose.

They are:
11.05 to 2.35am on weekdays,
9.05am to 11.35am on Saturdays
1.05pm to 3.35pm on Sundays.

Bpacker's Roskilde page

Directions: It's so big, you can see it from miles around! Let your homing instincts guide you.

Viking Ship Museum / “Museumsøen”

Long, long ago, during the time where Asterix lived , ok, maybe some time around the year 1000, Roskilde was the capital of Denmark and the target for enemy attacks.

To prevent these attacks, the Vikings created a hell-of a big barrier reef by deliberately sinking five ships into the water. But that's not the end of the story, almost a thousand years later, in 1962, some ingenious Danes excavated the artificial reef, buillt a museum there and restored those ships!

Amazing but true, as you can see in the picture, I'm standing in front one of the five restored ships. Hmm, this was after I witnessed some gorgeous blond hunks re-create a wooden Viking ship. Yup, there is also a workshop there called the “Museumsøen” where you'll get a chance to play with all the ancient tools. So you get to do something other than ogling at Danish hunks...

Bpacker's page

Address: Vindeboder 12, DK- 4000 Roskilde.

Directions: Walk south from town centre/ railway stationand head towards Roskilde Fjord

Website: http://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/