3 Best Sights in Centrum, Copenhagen

This museum chronicles the working class from 1870 to the present, with evocative life-size "day in the life of" exhibits, among them reconstructions of a city street and re-creations of apartments, including the home of a brewery worker, his wife, and eight children. Changing exhibits focusing on Danish and international social issues are often excellent. The exhibitions have explanatory texts in English. The museum also has a 19th-century-style café and beer hall serving old-fashioned Danish specialties and a 1950s-style coffee shop.

In a wing of Det Kongelige Bibliotek (Royal Library), this national center of Jewish culture, art, and history holds objects of both secular and religious interest, including paintings, prints, jewelry, scrapbooks, and films. The site was designed by the famed architect Daniel Libeskind. The museum also gives extensive coverage to the Danish resistance movement, whose work during World War II helped bring nearly all of Denmark's 7,000 Jews to safety in Sweden. The museum has information in English.

This Renaissance structure—built by King Christian IV and one of central Copenhagen's oldest—contains impressive displays of uniforms, weapons, and armor in a 600-foot-long arched hall, exploring Denmark's military history. Children usually like this museum, but it's very much a look-but-don't-touch place. Each artifact has a label in English.