‘Europe’s finest museum’ has just been named and it’s only 2 hours from UK
Step back in time at ‘Europe’s best museum’ (Picture: Shutterstock)
When you’re planning a city break itinerary, the checklist goes something like this: best restaurant, best tour, and best museum.
The final matter is the perfect way to get to grips with a country, diving into its culture and history. And luckily, Europe is full of ’em.
Coincidentally, the European Museum of the Year Awards took place in Bilbao last weekend, a celebration of the continent’s most inspiring galleries, exhibitions, and collections.
And while there were plenty of fantastic names competing for the top spot, there could only be one winner: Den Gamle By in Aarhus, Denmark’s quirky second city.
Den Gamle By, which is Danish for ‘The Old Town,’ comprises four different exhibitions and is one of the world’s oldest open-air museums.
Complete with some 75 historic buildings, period actors, and volunteers, the museum offers an immersive experience from the 1600s to present day.
The European Museum Forum (EMF), which runs the award, recognised Den Gamle By for ‘redefining the genre’ of open-air museums through its ‘deeply socially engaged and participatory approach.’
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Plus, with Aarhus being a stone’s throw from the UK, not to mention a steal — on Tuesday, June 30, Ryanair is flying from London Stansted for £17 — there’s no excuse not to visit.
Let’s take a deep dive into this fascinating space, described as somewhere ‘by ordinary people, for ordinary people.’
A time-travel experience
Metro’s Chris Buswell recently went to Aarhus, and he says if you want to understand Denmark, a trip to Den Gamle By is non-negotiable.
Chris visited the museum back in May and called it a ‘sprawling living historic village’ that recreates Danish town life across the centuries.
Located in the centre of the city, there are four spaces dedicated to distinct eras: 1864, 1927, 1974 and the early 2000s and 2010s.
The first transports you back into a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale.
The Danish author, known for The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and The Princess and the Pea, lived during the 1800s.
This area features traditional timber-framed houses, cobbled streets, horse-drawn carriages and actors recreating village life.
The museum encourages you to have a chat with the baker’s wife, the farmhand or the kitchen maid. Or, taste the vanilla biscuits and cakes with recipes that date back to before the 1880s.
Visitors can time travel from the 1800s to present day (Picture: imageBROKER/Shutterstock)
Previous European Museum of Year winners
2025: Manchester Museum, Manchester
2024: Sámi Museum Siida, Finland
2023: L’Etno, Valencian Museum of Ethnology, Spain
2022 : Museum of the Mind, The Netherlands
2021: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, The Netherlands
2020: Stapferhaus, Switzerland
Transition into the 20th century, when Aarhus became a modern city with gable advertisements, pavements and telephone cables.
In this era, visit the ironmonger and the bookshop, or ‘purchase’ your first vehicle at the car dealership.
Local life changes dramatically in the 70s. Expect jazz bars, grocery shops and vintage stores.
Described as the ‘heyday of the welfare society,’ and famous for the women’s movement, here you’ll ‘meet the gynaecologist, nuclear family, the commune, the retired couple, the hippie couple and the Greenlandic student.’
Finally, experience nostalgia for the contemporary 2000s society by visiting a Blockbuster store.
Then, in 2014, walk through a pedestrian street home to single woman Rikke and the Isager ‘rainbow family,’ a lesbian couple with three children.
Flower power in 1970s Denmark (Picture: imageBROKER/Shutterstock)
How much is the museum?
Adult tickets cost 205 DKK (£23). Kids go free. However, children still need to obtain a ticket before entering.
If you purchase your ticket online, you can skip the queue on arrival.
Students can get discounted tickets at the entrance when presenting their student ID.
Considering the size of the museum and the continuous immersive experience, it’s a steal if you ask us.
What has been said about the museum?
After Den Gamle By’s win, the EMF praised the museum for being ‘a dynamic agent of social change rather than merely a site of nostalgia.’
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‘Through a variety of hands-on interactions, joyful reenactments, and community-driven storytelling, 400 years of the city’s history are brought into dialogue with the present, where important contemporary societal questions take centre stage.’
Plus, the carefully researched narratives address themes such as migration, identity, and social justice, and ensure authenticity while ‘actively challenging simplified or romanticised representations of the past.’
Over on TripAdvisor, previous visitors have nothing but good things to say about the museum — some even said they ran out of time because there was so much to see.
One person called it a ‘fantastic living museum and storytelling in one,’ as another said it was a ‘must-see’ in Aarhus.
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