When planning a city break, the checklist often includes the best restaurant, best tour, and best museum. The latter offers a perfect way to immerse in a country's culture and history. Europe is full of such treasures. The European Museum of the Year Awards took place in Bilbao last weekend, celebrating the continent's most inspiring galleries, exhibitions, and collections. Among many contenders, one emerged victorious: Den Gamle By in Aarhus, Denmark's quirky second city.
Den Gamle By: A Living History Museum
Den Gamle By, Danish for 'The Old Town,' features four distinct exhibitions and ranks among the world's oldest open-air museums. With 75 historic buildings, period actors, and volunteers, it offers an immersive journey from the 1600s to the present day. The European Museum Forum (EMF) recognized Den Gamle By for 'redefining the genre' of open-air museums through its 'deeply socially engaged and participatory approach.'
A Time-Travel Experience
Metro's Chris Buswell recently visited Aarhus and described Den Gamle By as a 'sprawling living historic village' that recreates Danish town life across centuries. Located in the city center, the museum has four spaces dedicated to distinct eras: 1864, 1927, 1974, and the early 2000s and 2010s. The 1864 area transports visitors to a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, with timber-framed houses, cobbled streets, horse-drawn carriages, and actors recreating village life. Visitors can chat with the baker's wife, farmhand, or kitchen maid, and taste vanilla biscuits and cakes with recipes dating back to before the 1880s.
Transitioning to the 20th century, Aarhus becomes a modern city with gable advertisements, pavements, and telephone cables. Visitors can explore the ironmonger, bookshop, or 'purchase' their first vehicle at the car dealership. The 1970s area features jazz bars, grocery shops, and vintage stores, described as the 'heyday of the welfare society,' where one can meet the gynaecologist, nuclear family, commune, retired couple, hippie couple, and Greenlandic student. Finally, nostalgia for the contemporary 2000s includes a Blockbuster store, and in 2014, a pedestrian street home to single woman Rikke and the Isager 'rainbow family,' a lesbian couple with three children.
Previous European Museum of the 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
Ticket Prices and Accessibility
Adult tickets cost 205 DKK (approximately £23), and children go free but must obtain a ticket. Online ticket purchases allow queue skipping. Students can get discounted tickets with ID. Given the museum's size and immersive experience, it offers excellent value.
What Has Been Said About the Museum
After Den Gamle By's win, the EMF praised it as 'a dynamic agent of social change rather than merely a site of nostalgia.' Through hands-on interactions, joyful reenactments, and community-driven storytelling, 400 years of city history are brought into dialogue with the present, addressing contemporary societal questions. The carefully researched narratives tackle themes such as migration, identity, and social justice, ensuring authenticity while challenging simplified or romanticized representations of the past.
On TripAdvisor, previous visitors have nothing but praise. One called it a 'fantastic living museum and storytelling in one,' while another said it was a 'must-see' in Aarhus.
Getting There
Aarhus is just a stone's throw from the UK. For example, on Tuesday, June 30, Ryanair offers flights from London Stansted for £17. With such affordability, there's no excuse not to visit this fascinating space described as 'by ordinary people, for ordinary people.'
