2 Best Sights in Zealand, Denmark

Construction began on Roskilde Cathedral around 1170 on the site of a church erected 200 years earlier by the Viking hero Harald Bluetooth. It was made possible by the introduction of brickmaking to Denmark—it is made up of more than 3 million bricks—and a commission by the powerful Bishop Absalon, who's also considered one of the founders of Copenhagen. The cathedral made the city one of the spiritual capitals of northern Europe. These days, its best known as the mausoleum of the royals: 38 Danish monarchs are entombed here, including the first Queen Margrethe (1353–1412), and there's reason to believe that Queen Margrethe II will ultimately find her resting place in or near the cathedral, like her father, Frederik IX. Don't miss the 16th-century clock depicting St. George charging a dragon, whose hisses and howls throughout the church cause Peter Døver, "the Deafener," to sound the hour. A squeamish Kirsten Kiemer, "the Chimer," shakes her head in fright but manages to strike the quarter hours.

On the corner of Stengade and Sankt Annægade near the harbor is Sankt Olai Kirke, worth a peek for its elaborately carved wooden altar. Also in downtown are whole streets of medieval-era merchants' and ferrymen's houses—they're now modern shops.