Museums and galleries in Aarhus

Museums and galleries in Aarhus

1. See

   ARoS

   Aarhus Art Museum

   One of Denmark’s largest museums. Apart from the art galleries and changing exhibitions, "Your Rainbow Panorama", offers a splendid roof-top view of the city inside a circular walkway with rainbow-coloured windows. It was created by Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson in 2011. "As Seen Below" is a newly opened huge underground permanent art installation from 2026 by James Turell. The museum has a café and restaurant with dining options in the lounge area at entrance level.

   Mon-Fri 09:00-20:00; Sat Sun 10:00-17:00 in the summertime (check the website)·kr 200, kr 150 (under 31 and students), free for those under 18

2. See

   Aarhus University

   Aarhus University Campus

   Designed by famous Danish architects C. F. Møller, Kaj Fisker, and C. Th. Sørensen (the latter of which designed the landscaped garden), this is another noteworthy piece of architecture. The first buildings were finished in 1933, but construction is still going on today, all adhering to a common characteristic design-code in yellow brick. Here you find the Det Kgl. Bibliotek, the library which includes the iconic book tower, a landmark high-rise for the city. In the University Park you also find a cluster of museums (the Museum of Ancient Art, the Natural History Museum, and the Steno Museum) that you can read more about in the "Museums" section above. As well, the park is worth a visit, no matter the time of year.

3. See

   Aarhus Viking Museum

   Small Viking museum located across from the cathedral in the basement of the Nordea Bank. The museum focuses on local history during the Viking Age and most of the displayed items were excavated on site. If you are interested in Viking Age history in general, visit the large Moesgaard Museum (MoMu) south of the city.

   Mon-Wed Fri 10:00-16:00, Thu 10:00-17:00·DKK 30 for adults

4. See

   Den Gamle By

   The Old Town

   Open-air museum village comprising a collection of 75 original Danish buildings from 1597 to 1909, gathered from all corners of the country. There are historical shops and eateries, most true to the period. A few staff members and volunteers dressed up in historic clothes adds to the ambience, and sometimes events are arranged. You can buy a round-trip horse and carriage ride through the museum's cobblestone streets or through the outside park. A new addition to the complex showcase Danish town culture and buildings from the 20th century, including a bakery, several stores, a poster museum, and a jazz club. As well, for the European Capital of Culture celebration in 2017, the museum inaugurated new permanent exhibitions focusing on local history and classic Danish jewellery from the 20th century. You can easily spend a whole day, exploring the town, its life, and the underground exhibitions. After regular opening hours, you can still stroll the streets (free of charge), but there is no access to exhibitions and buildings. Be sure to also spend some time in the large surrounding Botanical Garden and the Greenhouses.

   kr 205 (discount for students), free for children. Botanical Garden and Greenhouses are both free

5. Do

   Helsingør Theatre

   A reconstructed historic theatre building from the town of Helsingør north of Copenhagen, now at The Old Town museum complex and still a working theater with room for an audience of 220. Throughout the year, you can catch summer operas, intimate classical concerts and occasional plays here. Not the most active theater in Aarhus, but certainly an interesting visit especially for aficionados of period architecture.

6. See

   KØN

   Gender Museum Denmark

   Residing in the old, and former, City Hall building from 1857 behind the Aarhus Cathedral, this place focuses on the importance of gender in the past and today. KØN presents changing exhibitions on the cultural history of gender and possess a fair collection of historical stuff related to women specifically. You can look through, or buy, publications on former exhibitions that you missed or general books related to the role of gender. Some titles are in English. KØN has a café serving light lunches, coffee and cakes, and you are allowed to enter without a museum ticket.

   Tue Thu-Sun 10:00-17:00; Wed 10:00-18:00 (closed Sundays and Mondays)·kr 125 (various discounts)

7. Buy

   Latin Quarter

   Another shopping district in the old city centre, in the Latin Quarter you'll find small independent shops as well as some of the city's oldest cafés. There's something for everyone here: unique clothing, furniture and design boutiques, many with an unmistakable Danish flair (check out the Bang & Olufsen Hi-Fi store for a particularly good example), storefront art galleries, record shops, tattoo parlors, hair saloons, not to mention plenty of opportunities for just soaking up the atmosphere and street life. Every year in May or September, the shops and businesses of the neighbourhood celebrate the Latinerfestival for a couple of days, with events and concerts.

8. Do

   Moesgaard Beach

   Moesgaard Strand

   12 km south from the city centre, beyond the Marselisborg Forests, Moesgaard Beach is the cleanest of the beach sites and a popular destination in the summer months. In the peak season it is patrolled by lifeguards. There are large green areas here, a car park, toilet facilities, and a kiosk with fast food, beverages, candy and ice cream for sale in the summer. You can reach the area by road (bicycle, car or bus) through the forests, on foot by the Prehistoric Trail from the Moesgaard Museum or from the beachside. If you go by bus, one option is to take Bus 31 from the Aarhus Bus Station.

9. See

   Moesgaard Museum

   Stupendous architecture: a vast prism of a building half-buried in a grassy hill. The central staircase provides an innovative route into human evolution and prehistory. The museum hosts large changing themed exhibitions from cultures around the world, but is also a fantastic place to study Danish prehistory in particular. The main permanent attractions in this regard are an artificial reconstruction of a large Bronze Age roundbarrow that you can walk inside and two finds from the Nordic Iron Age: Grauballe Man, the only completely preserved bog body, and the impressive sacrifice of weapons from Illerup Ådal. The museum re-opened in the new building in October 2014. Good museum restaurant and café, but a bit expensive. The large historical landscape below the museum is also worth a visit, and is free and accessible year round.

   Tue-Fri 09:00-17:00; Wed 09:00-21:00; Sat Sun 09:00-19:00·kr 180 (adults), kr 110 (students and over-65), free for children 17 and under

10. Do

    Moesgaard Viking Days

    formerly Moesgaard Viking Moot

    A large Viking event held every summer in July at Moesgård beach, with reenactments, markets, workshops, and living-history presentations. Interesting activities for all age groups. The event has drawn about 12,000 attendees, both Vikings and audience. A ticket also gives you access to the Moesgaard Museum (MOMU) close by. Because of the event's popularity, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to find a place to park a car nearby. Take a bus, bike or hike through the Marselisborg Forests to get there. Biking from the centre of Aarhus should take you less than an hour.

    Daily 10:00-17:00·160 kr, children (3-17 years) 50 kr

11. See

    Moesgaard landscape

    The Moesgaard landscape in the southern part of the Marselisborg Forests contains a marked history trail, The Prehistoric Trail, running from the Moesgaard Museum (q.v.) right down to the beach, with reconstructed Stone, Iron, and Viking Age houses and tombs, runestones, etc. If history isn't your thing, just enjoy the beautiful and varied nature of this place; in the spring and summer, it is worth a visit just for that. If you want to eat or drink, start your tour with a meal at the museum, at the nearby Aarhus Golf Club restaurant, or drop in later at the old watermill of Skovmøllen in the woods. You can also bring your own supplies and have a picnic lunch at any spot of your choice; the grassy fields at the Moesgaard Beach is popular for that.

    Free

12. See

    Museum Aarhus

    A permanent exhibition within the Old Town Museum opened in spring 2017. The museum displays Aarhus' history with a focus on the last 150 years, the period when it expanded from a small provincial port town to its current status of second-largest city.

13. See

    Museum Ovartaci

    An arts museum, displaying art created by psychiatric patients specifically. The museum has a special focus on its namesake artist Ovartaci, a transgender mental patient who lived at the city's former mental hospital in Risskov for 56 years until his/her death in 1985. Guided tours can be pre ordered and arranged.

    Mon-Wed Fri 10:00-17:00, Thu 10:00-20:00, Sat Sun 12:00-17:00·kr 95, free for those under 18

14. See

    Museum of Ancient Art

    Antikmuseet

    Operated by Aarhus University, the focus of the Museum of Ancient Art's collection falls on Classical-era artworks and artifacts from Ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, the Near East, and elsewhere in the Mediterranean area. Their collection of Ancient Greek coins is one of the largest in Europe.

    Sun-Thu 12:00-16:00·Free

15. See

    Natural History Museum

    Naturhistorisk Museum

    Another museum brought to you by Aarhus University, the Natural History Museum's four fully wheelchair-accessible exhibition halls educate visitors on over 5,000 different animal species hailing from all over the world, displayed in reproductions of their natural habitats.

    Daily 10:00-16:00; closed Dec 25-26 and Dec 31-Jan 1·kr 100, students kr 60, free for children (17 and under)

16. See

    Occupation Museum

    Besættelsesmuseet

    Engaging permanent exhibition about life in Aarhus during the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. It was a period of rationing, black outs, bombs in the night and for some, resistance or collaboration. The museum resides in Aarhus' old former police station, which, in the later years of the war, served as Gestapo's headquarters; the dreaded security police of Nazi Germany. Book your time online, most guests spend about an hour at the exhibitions. Not accessible to wheelchairs..

    Tue-Sun 11:00-17:00 (last admittance is 16:00)·75 kr (free for people under 18)

17. See

    Steno Museum

    Steno Museet

    A science museum with a focus on medicine and astronomy, with a diversity of exhibits including (among many others) a planetarium, a medicinal herb garden, a Foucault's pendulum, and historic artifacts such as old X-ray machines and surgical equipment. Lots of engaging and interactive exhibits here for both young and old. There's an onsite café serving light lunches, and a gift shop with cool educational toys for kids: chemistry sets, crystal-growing kits, star charts, etc.

    Tue-Fri 09:00-16:00 (opens at 10:00 Jun-Aug), Sat Sun & public holidays 11:00-16:00·kr 50, free for those under 18

18. See

    Varna Palace

    Varna Palæet

    Another well-known architectural landmark of Aarhus, and a bit of a change of pace from the modern style that predominates over larger parts of the city, Varna Palace is a palatial Neoclassical resort pavilion. It was designed for the Danish National Exhibition of 1909 by native Eggert Achen and is found in the outskirts of the Marselisborg Forests, south of the inner city. The Varna Palace now serves as the headquarters of the local Odd Fellows Society, but with a public onsite restaurant.

19. Do Not mapped

    ARoS Triennial

    A continuation of the former and hugely popular biannual Sculpture by the Sea — Aarhus event, the ARoS Triennial is a citywide art and sculpture exhibition held every three years. The exhibition for 2020 was cancelled, and there does not appear to be an event for 2023. The outdoor installations can usually be experienced in June and July while the museum exhibition runs from April through September. Several pieces from former sculpture festivals are on permanent display around the city, including the kinetic sculpture Snake in Mølleparken close to the ARoS Art Museum.

    Outdoor exhibitions are free

Listings from the Wikivoyage guide to Aarhus (CC BY-SA 4.0).