Copenhagen’s Amalienborg Palace is home to both the Danish royal family, and a chorus of soldiers in blue uniforms and bearskin hats. In fact, it looks as if it’s straight out of a storybook. Copenhagen does have a fairytale kind of a quality to it; Hans Christian Anderson lived here, and the Little Mermaid statue seems to be consistently surrounded by tourists wielding iphones. After years of visiting the city, I finally ventured inside Amalienborg Palace- and took plenty of photos for you to have a peek too.
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I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve visited Copenhagen, although my first visit was in 2016 and I’ve returned pretty regularly ever since. It’s an absolute gem of a city, and I love the mixture of effortless modernity and historic drama. Amalienborg definitely fits into the latter.
(I mean, check out the soldiers- there’s no denying those fur hats are fabulously dramatic.)
The story of Amalienborg Palace
Once upon a time (in 1748, to be precise), King Frederik V declared that a whole new fancy-schmancy neighbourhood should be built in Copenhagen, and the centrepiece of this was four Rococo mansions centred around an octagonal courtyard. The king’s favourite noble families were chosen to live in the four mansions after they were complete. (Lucky families.)
In 1794 however, the Royal Palace of Christiansborg burnt to smithereens in a great fire and the Danish royal family found themselves newly homeless. The owners of the mansions agreed to part with their homes for large sums of money and hefty promotions, and soon enough the royals moved in. Ever since, these four mansions have been known as Amalienborg Palace, and this is still the official place of residence for the Danish royal family.
And who actually are the Danish royal family, I hear you ask!? Well that would be the Harvard-educated King Frederik X, his Australian-born wife Queen Mary (who was a marketing consultant), and their four children. King Frederik was crowned after his mother Queen Margrethe II abdicated in 2024; as the first Danish monarch to abdicate in 900 years, it was kind of a big deal.
How to see the Changing of the Guard
There’s no denying that the Royal Life Guard, who guard Amalienborg palace 24/7, look rather resplendent in their uniforms, and the paintbox-red guard houses hand-painted with the royal crest complete the storybook picture. The full dress uniform has a red jacket instead of a blue one- in fact it looks similar to the King’s Guard in London. However, unlike Buckingham Palace, there are no tall fences or walls around Amalienborg.
Members of the public can come and go through the courtyard as they please, and although the soldiers are part of an armed protection force (who really do serve a purpose), I’d argue that they’re as much of a draw for visitors as the palace itself.
Every single day at 11.30am, the guard marches from Rosenborg Castle to Amalienborg Palace, arriving at 12pm to complete an elaborate changing of the guard ceremony. If the King is in, you’ll know because the changing of the guard will be accompanied by music and the Royal Flag will be flying above Christian IX’s Palace.
Inside the Amalienborg Palace
I am so glad that I finally paid to see inside Amalienborg Palace. The rooms of the Amalienborg Palace Museum are intact from the days of Christian IX and Queen Louise, who became known as ‘the Grandparents of Europe.’ They got this rather regal name because four of their children went on to be in the royal families of other European nations. (Greece, England, Russia and of course Denmark.) The museum tells the story of the Danish monarchy from then onwards, and not only are the rooms beautiful, but I found it really interesting to learn about.
I was expecting a ticket to Amalienborg to be super-expensive- similar to entry in a major tourist city like Barcelona. But entry was actually really reasonable, particularly when you take into account the amount of information you’re learning.
Amalienborg Palace tickets and opening hours
Amalienborg Palace tickets cost 125DKK (2026), and it’s a good idea to book them in advance; visitors are allowed entry in timed slots. Book tickets for the Amalienborg Museum here.
Entry is also included in the cost of the Copenhagen Card, which is a great way of seeing lots of Copenhagen sights for less money!
Opening hours are 10am-4pm, and 10am-5pm from 27th June until 30th August. Closed on Mondays.
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