Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art: Denmark’s Best Day Trip

Despite the name, Louisiana has nothing to do with the American state. It was named after the three wives of its original 19th-century owner, all named Louise. It opened as a museum of modern art in 1958, perched on a cliff above the Øresund strait about 35km north of Copenhagen. The building, the art, and the view work together so well that it’s genuinely difficult to say which part is the main attraction.

Getting There

From Copenhagen Central Station, take the regional train towards Helsingør and get off at Humlebæk. The journey takes about 35 minutes. From the station, it’s a 10-minute walk through a residential neighbourhood to the museum entrance. Return trains run every 20 minutes. This is the easiest approach, and you don’t need a car.

The Collection

Louisiana’s permanent collection covers post-war modernism through contemporary work. It has strong holdings in CoBrA art, Giacometti sculpture, Calder mobiles, and Andy Warhol. The galleries are spread across a sequence of low-slung, glass-and-brick pavilions that connect to one another and to the landscape outside. Standing in one room, you’re looking at a Picasso; looking through the window, you see the sea. It’s not accidental.

The sculpture park wraps around the cliff edge and contains around 60 works, including pieces by Max Ernst, Jean Arp, and Henry Moore. In summer, the park fills with families. It still works.

The Programme

Louisiana runs ambitious special exhibitions, typically four or five major shows per year. Past shows have covered Yoko Ono, David Hockney, and Francis Bacon. Check the website before you go — a major exhibition can be worth planning the trip around, and it can also mean bigger crowds.

The museum also runs a strong children’s wing, which is worth noting if you’re travelling with kids under 12. It’s genuinely good, not the usual afterthought.

Eating

The restaurant is expensive by Danish standards and very good. The café is more casual and has outdoor seating on the terrace overlooking Sweden. Both are overpriced in a way that still feels justified given the location. A coffee and a pastry on the terrace on a clear day is about as pleasant as a museum break gets.

If you want to save money, bring food and eat in the sculpture park.

Practical Notes

Admission is around 175 DKK for adults (around €23). The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11am, and stays open until 10pm on Wednesdays, which is a good option for avoiding weekend crowds. Children under 18 enter free.

Combine it with Kronborg Castle at Helsingør (45 minutes further up the coast) for a full day. The castle is the one Shakespeare put Hamlet in — whether or not that interests you, it’s a genuinely impressive Renaissance fortification.