Nyboder

Christian IV began Nyboder in 1631 to house the crews of the navy and their families, and it is generally reckoned the oldest surviving purpose-built social housing in Denmark. The plan is a grid of long low terraces in ochre yellow with red tile roofs and white-painted doors and window frames, originally single-storey with a second added to many rows in the nineteenth century, laid out along straight streets with small gardens. Sankt Pauls Gade holds the oldest surviving row, largely unaltered. The houses are still lived in, mostly by defence personnel, so this is a residential quarter and not a museum, though one house is kept as a museum showing how a naval family lived in a two-room dwelling.

What you actually see

• Ochre terraces in a grid - long low rows with red tiles and white frames.
• Sankt Pauls Gade - the oldest surviving row, largely unaltered.
• The museum house - one dwelling kept as a naval family lived in it.
• A quarter still occupied - housing rather than a preserved set piece.

When to go

Year round. One hour to walk the streets. The museum house keeps limited hours, generally a few afternoons a week, so check before relying on it. Morning light down the straight streets is best for photographs.

Honest expectations

People live here and the quarter is not an attraction; keep to the streets and do not photograph into windows. There is very little to do beyond walking and looking. The museum house is small and often closed. No facilities.

Nearby

Kastellet is east; Rosenborg and the King's Garden lie south-west.