Denmark's valuable good heritage has made multifaceted contributions to modern culture the world over. The discoveries of astronomer Tycho Brahe, geologist and anatomist Niels Steensen, and contributions of Nobel laureates Niels Bohr to atomic physics and Niels Finsen to medical research suggest the range of Danish scientific achievement. Visitors to Denmark will discover a wealth of cultural activity. The Royal Danish Ballet, specializes in the work of the great Danish choreographer August Bournonville.

International collections of modern art enjoy unusually attractive settings at the Louisiana Museum north of Copenhagen, "Arken" south of Copenhagen, and the North Jutland Art Museum in Aalborg. The State Museum of Art and the Glyptotek, both in Copenhagen, contain masterpieces of Danish and international art. Denmark's National Museum building in central Copenhagen harbors most of the state's anthropological and archeological treasures with particularly fine past history and Viking Age collections; two of its finest satellite collections are the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde west of the metropolis and the Open Air Museum in a near northern suburb where original buildings have been transported from their original locations around the nation and reassembled on plots specially landscaped to evoke the original site.

Denmark has more than its share of impressive castles, many of which have been converted to museums. Frederiksborg Castle, on a manmade island in a lake north of Copenhagen, was restored after a catastrophic fire in the 1800s and now houses valuable collections in awe-inspiring splendor amidst impeccably manicured gardens. In Copenhagen, Rosenborg Castle houses the kingdom's crown jewels and boasts spectacular public gardens in the heart of the city.