Hamlet Tours vs Ophelia Tours: Which Castles Day Includes the Viking Ship Museum, and When

Two operators run this castles day out of Copenhagen, and the Viking Ship Museum is where they part. Hamlet Tours’ day, the Kronborg, Frederiksborg Castle and Roskilde Tour, includes the museum in every month: Roskilde Cathedral, the Viking Ship Museum, Frederiksborg and Kronborg in a minivan of at most 16 people, from US$208 on GetYourGuide with the calendar below (Viator sells the same day as the Grand Day Trip around Copenhagen, from US$199). Ophelia Tours’ Castle, Palace & Cathedral day visits the same two castles and the cathedral, but takes in the Viking Ship Museum only from April to September; from October to March it leaves the museum out. Prices are from our October 2026 data check.

Hamlet Tours vs Ophelia Tours

Stop times and winter days are Hamlet Tours’ and Ophelia Tours’ own, from their itineraries and booking calendars in October 2026; prices, ratings and review counts are from our October 2026 data check. Viator’s review count adds its own reviews to Tripadvisor’s.

Hamlet Tours: one day, two places to book it

Hamlet Tours runs one castles day, the Grand Day Trip around Copenhagen. GetYourGuide sells it as the Kronborg, Frederiksborg Castle and Roskilde Tour, and the calendar on this page books it there; Viator sells it under Hamlet Tours’ own title. The day does not change with where you book: pickup from hotels in central Copenhagen, Roskilde Cathedral and the Viking Ship Museum in the morning, Frederiksborg in the middle of the day with time for lunch, Kronborg at the end, and the entrance fees in the price. The group never goes above 16.

What can differ is the price on your date. In our October 2026 check it started at US$208 on GetYourGuide and US$199 on Viator. Hamlet Tours prices in Danish kroner and by season, DKK 1,350 for an adult to 31 October 2026 and DKK 1,300 from 4 November to 31 March, so the dollar figure moves with the season and the exchange rate.

Ophelia Tours: the Viking Ships in summer only

Ophelia Tours runs its full day as a set of seasonal versions, and the Viking Ships are in the name only part of the year. From April to September the day goes Kronborg, Frederiksborg, Roskilde Cathedral and ends at the Viking Ship Museum on the fjord, about ten hours with hotel pickup. From October to December and from January to March the winter versions keep Kronborg, Frederiksborg and the cathedral and drop the museum. That is why Viator’s January-to-March version is called Full-Day Tour; Castle, Palace & Cathedral, Winter (JAN-MAR), with no Viking Ships in the title, and the October-to-December one the Castle, Palace and Cathedral Full-Day Winter Tour. On GetYourGuide the day is sold as Out of Copenhagen; 2x Castles, Cathedral & (Viking Ships), the museum in brackets.

Three things to know before booking it:

• The museum gets more time than on the Hamlet Tours day, about 75 minutes on your own against about 55, but only in summer.
• Mondays in November and December are a Kronborg problem. The October-to-December version runs on Mondays, and Kronborg is closed on Mondays from November to late March. If you want a Monday, check how that date runs before you pay.
• Departures with fewer than six bookings are likely to be cancelled, with a full refund and usually another date offered. It is not suitable for wheelchair users, walking frames or children under five.

Book whichever fits your day:

Prices, ratings and review counts from our October 2026 data check; operators use seasonal pricing, so treat them as the shape of the market, not a quote.

What the day includes

The itinerary on the GetYourGuide booking page sets the Hamlet Tours day out in this order:

The written description on the same page runs the other way round, Kronborg first and Roskilde last. Reviewers who name the order describe the itinerary’s version, and so does Hamlet Tours’ own itinerary for the Grand Day Trip: Roskilde in the morning, Kronborg at the end of the day.

Entrance fees, transport, the driver-guide, water and wifi on the bus are included. Luggage and large bags cannot be stored on the bus, so leave them at your hotel. The day is not suitable for wheelchair users or people with limited mobility: there is a lot of walking and steep stairs, and Kronborg itself has no lift. You can cancel for a full refund up to 24 hours ahead.

Frederiksborg is the one stop without a guide. You walk the castle and its museum at your own pace, find lunch in Hillerød, and meet the bus again at the time the guide gives.

How much time you get at the Viking Ship Museum

The museum is a real stop, not a drive-past: Hamlet Tours sets about 55 minutes for it, with the entry included. In the newest 350 reviews of this tour, written between May and October 2026, 19 name the Viking Ship Museum, 19 Kronborg, 14 Frederiksborg and 13 Roskilde Cathedral.

The complaint that comes up is time. One reviewer wished for “an extra 30 minutes at the Viking museum”; another found too little time at both the castles and the ship museum. With four sites and the driving between them, that is the trade the day makes: you see everything, and nothing at length. Ophelia Tours’ summer day gives the museum about 75 minutes, on your own, as its last stop.

If the ships are why you are going, take the train instead. Copenhagen Central to Roskilde takes about 22 minutes on DSB’s InterCity trains. From Roskilde station the museum is a 20 to 25 minute walk, or bus 203. Entry is DKK 130 for adults from 19 October to 30 April and DKK 165 in summer, and children under 18 go free. Between 1 May and 30 September you can also row and sail one of the museum’s reconstructed boats on the fjord, which no day tour includes. Our guide to the museum covers the five ships and the sailing, and Roskilde from Copenhagen covers the trip itself.

From November to March

Hamlet Tours keeps all four stops in winter, with one change: from November to March the Roskilde Cathedral stop is a photo stop outside, not a visit inside. The cathedral publishes its opening hours day by day and closes to visitors during church services. The Viking Ship Museum stays on the itinerary, and between November and February the day runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, plus a few more days around Christmas.

What reviewers describe matches that: a review from December 2025 lists “the cathedral, the Viking museum, two amazing castles”, and one from February 2026 the “castles, cathedral, Viking museum” on “a cold winter day”. That is evidence, not a promise. Before you book a date between November and March, open the itinerary on the booking page for that date and check that the Viking Ship Museum is still listed as a visit.

Ophelia Tours’ winter versions leave the Viking Ship Museum out altogether, from October to March: if the ships matter to you in those months, the Hamlet Tours day or the train are the ways to see them.

The opening hours are certain, and they are shorter in winter: the Viking Ship Hall at 16:00 from 19 October to 30 April, and Kronborg at 16:00 on most days, which squeezes the castle at the end of the day (a December 2023 reviewer arrived to find it closing at four). And Kronborg is closed on Mondays from November to late March, apart from the February winter break, and in 2026 stays open to 17:00 at weekends in December only (in November it closes at 16:00 every day it opens). Frederiksborg opens every day of the year, Mondays included, from 10:00 to 17:00. If Kronborg matters most to you, avoid a Monday between November and March and check the booking page for how the day runs on your date.

The four stops in brief

Roskilde Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the burial church of the Danish monarchs. Adult entry is DKK 80 and under-18s go free; on the tours it is included.

The Viking Ship Museum holds the five Skuldelev ships, scuttled across the fjord around 1070 and raised in 1962. The five ships page explains what each one was.

Frederiksborg Castle was built by Christian IV in the early 1600s on three islets in the castle lake at Hillerød, and is the largest Renaissance complex in the Nordic countries. Since 1878 it has housed the Museum of National History, founded by the Carlsberg brewer J. C. Jacobsen. The chapel survived the fire of 1859; Danish kings were anointed there from 1660 to 1848.

Kronborg is the castle Shakespeare called Elsinore in Hamlet. Frederik II built it between 1574 and 1585 at the narrowest point of the Øresund, where the Sound Toll was collected until 1857, and it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2000. The statue of Holger Danske sleeps in its casemates.

Torn between the two castles? Kronborg vs Frederiksborg compares them side by side.

The same day by train

The three sites sit on different lines out of Copenhagen, so a train day usually covers one or two of them:

Children go free at all three. The three adult entries come to DKK 405 in winter and DKK 440 in summer, before any train fares, against the tour’s US$208 with entries, pickup and a guide. The train costs less and lets you stay as long as you like; the tour covers all four sites in one day and needs no planning.

Quick answers

Is the Grand Day Trip around Copenhagen on Viator? Yes. Hamlet Tours sells it there under that name, from US$199 in our October 2026 check and rated 4.9 from 2,431 reviews. It is the same day as the tour on this page: Roskilde Cathedral, the Viking Ship Museum, Frederiksborg and Kronborg, at most 16 people.

Does the full day Castle, Palace, Cathedral & Viking Ships tour run in winter? Yes, without the Viking Ships. From October to March Ophelia Tours runs it as Kronborg, Frederiksborg and Roskilde Cathedral only, on fewer days of the week; the Viking Ship Museum returns in April.

What does the Copenhagen Kronborg, Frederiksborg Castle and Roskilde tour include? Hotel pickup and drop-off in Copenhagen, guided visits to Roskilde Cathedral, the Viking Ship Museum and Kronborg, time on your own at Frederiksborg, and all the entrance fees. Lunch is not included.

How far is Frederiksborg Castle from Copenhagen? About 40 minutes by S-train from Copenhagen Central to Hillerød, then about 15 minutes on foot. Going on your own, you can buy the Frederiksborg Castle entry ticket ahead, from US$19 (October 2026).

How do I get to Frederiksborg Castle from Copenhagen? Take S-train line A to Hillerød, the end of the line. The castle says it is about a 15-minute walk from the station; buses 301 and 302 stop close by. The castle’s entry ticket includes the Baroque Garden and an audio guide app.

What is the Kronborg Castle entrance fee? DKK 150 for an adult at the gate, DKK 135 online, and free for children (October 2026). The ticket is valid for a year after purchase.

How far is Roskilde from Copenhagen? About 22 minutes by InterCity train from Copenhagen Central, and just over 25 minutes by regional train.

Prices, ratings and review counts from our October 2026 data check of GetYourGuide and Viator; itineraries, winter days and DKK prices from Hamlet Tours and Ophelia Tours; entry prices and opening hours from the castles’, the cathedral’s and the museum’s own pages, October 2026. Operators use seasonal pricing, so treat them as the shape of the market, not a quote.