When planning a city break, the checklist often includes the best restaurant, best tour, and best museum. The latter offers a perfect gateway into a country's culture and history. Europe boasts many such institutions, but one has just been crowned the best.
The European Museum of the Year Awards took place in Bilbao last weekend, celebrating the continent's most inspiring galleries, exhibitions, and collections. Among fierce competition, the top prize went to Den Gamle By in Aarhus, Denmark's quirky second city.
What is Den Gamle By?
Den Gamle By, Danish for 'The Old Town,' comprises four distinct exhibitions and is one of the world's oldest open-air museums. With around 75 historic buildings, period actors, and volunteers, it offers an immersive journey from the 1600s to the present day.
The European Museum Forum (EMF), which runs the award, praised Den Gamle By for 'redefining the genre' of open-air museums through its 'deeply socially engaged and participatory approach.'
Aarhus is conveniently close to the UK, and affordable travel options make it accessible. For instance, on Tuesday, June 30, Ryanair offers flights from London Stansted for just £17.
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 centre, the museum features four areas dedicated to specific eras: 1864, 1927, 1974, and the early 2000s and 2010s.
The 1864 section transports visitors back to a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, with timber-framed houses, cobbled streets, horse-drawn carriages, and actors portraying village life. Guests can chat with the baker's wife, farmhand, or kitchen maid, and taste vanilla biscuits and cakes using recipes from before the 1880s.
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
Moving into the 20th century, visitors see Aarhus as a modern city with gable advertisements, pavements, and telephone cables. This era includes visits to the ironmonger, bookshop, and a car dealership to 'purchase' a first vehicle.
The 1970s area showcases dramatic changes in local life, with jazz bars, grocery shops, and vintage stores. Described as the 'heyday of the welfare society,' it features characters such as a gynaecologist, nuclear family, commune, retired couple, hippie couple, and a Greenlandic student.
Finally, the contemporary section offers nostalgia for the early 2000s with a Blockbuster store, and a 2014 pedestrian street home to single woman Rikke and the Isager 'rainbow family,' a lesbian couple with three children.
Ticket Prices and Visitor Information
Adult tickets cost 205 DKK (approximately £23), while children enter free but must obtain a ticket. Online ticket purchases allow visitors to skip queues. Students can get discounted tickets with a student ID at the entrance.
Recognition and Reviews
After the award, the EMF praised Den Gamle By as 'a dynamic agent of social change rather than merely a site of nostalgia.' The museum uses hands-on interactions, joyful reenactments, and community-driven storytelling to bring 400 years of history into dialogue with the present, addressing themes like migration, identity, and social justice.
On TripAdvisor, visitors consistently praise the museum, with one calling it a 'fantastic living museum and storytelling in one,' and another deeming it a 'must-see' in Aarhus.
