DENMARK - Scandinavia - page 231

Tourist Information: Hillerød's TI, with a good town map and brochures
for the entire North Zealand region, is in the freestanding white house next
to the castle parking lot (to the left as you face the main castle gate; Mon-
Fri 9:30-16:00, closed Sat-Sun except open Sat in July 9:30-13:30, likely
closed Oct-April, Frederiksværksgade 2A, tel. [phone],
www.visitnordsjaelland.com ) . Because the TI is inside an art gallery, if the TI
is “closed” while the gallery is open, you can still slip inside and pick up a
town map and brochures.
Getting There: From Copenhagen, take the S-tog to Hillerød (line E,
6/hour, 40 minutes). From the Hillerød station, you can enjoy a pleasant
20-minute walk to the castle (see next page), or catch bus #301 or #302 (free
with S-tog ticket or Copenhagen Card, buses are to the right as you exit sta-
tion, ride three stops to Frederiksborg Slot bus stop). Drivers will find easy
parking at the castle.
When you're exiting the station, bear left down the busy road (Jernbaneg-
ade) until the first big intersection, where you'll turn right. After a couple of
blocks, where the road curves to the left, keep going straight; from here, bear
left and downhill to the pleasant square Torvet, with great views of the castle
and a café pavilion. At this square, turn left and walk through the pedestrian-
ized shopping zone directly to the castle gate.
After your visit, if you'd like to continue directly to Helsingør (with Kron-
borg Castle), hop on the regional train (departs from track 16 at Hillerød
station, Mon-Fri 2/hour, Sat-Sun 1/hour, 30 minutes). From Helsingør, it's a
quick trip on the S-tog to Humlebæk and Louisiana Art Museum.
Cost and Hours: 75 kr, daily April-Oct 10:00-17:00, Nov-March
11:00-15:00. Take advantage of the free, extensive, informative (if fairly dry)
iPod audioguide; ask for it when you buy your ticket. My tour, below, zooms
in on the highlights, but the audioguide is more extensive. There are also
posted explanations and/or borrowable English descriptions in many rooms,
but—like the audioguide—these tend to be quite dry (tel. [phone],
www.dnm.dk ) .
Eating: You can picnic in the castle's moat park or enjoy the elegant
Spisestedet Leonora at the moat's edge (65-90-kr smørrebrød and sand-