blixen tours denmark

The Karen Blixen Museum

Visit the site of world famous writer Karen Blixen’s childhood home, and experience the atmosphere of the rooms in which these well-known and beloved tales came into existence.

An author’s childhood home “Babette’s Feast”, Out of Africa, Seven Gothic Tales. Pearls of Danish literature and all composed and written down at the house in Rungstedlund near Rungsted harbour. With the home in which she lived and wrote, and exhibits with books, letters and art, the Karen Blixen Museum presents the story of one of Denmark’s greatest and most famous authors.

A coffee farm in Africa Karen Blixen was born in Denmark in 1885 but travelled to present-day Kenya in 1913 to run a coffee farm with her husband.  After 17 years, she returned home to Denmark, settling once again into the house at Rungstedlund, where she subsequently wrote her world-famous tales.

Old furniture and fresh flowers A stroll across creaking floorboards leads you through the many beautiful rooms, furnished and decorated as they looked when Karen Blixen lived there. Among the things you can see are wood-burning stoves that belonged to Karen Blixen’s relatives and the furniture she brought back from her farm in Africa. There are impressive and beautiful bouquets of fresh flowers displayed on tables, chests and dressers throughout the year. The bouquets are inspired by Karen Blixen’s own sumptuous and untraditional flower arrangements. In addition to the private rooms, the museum has a documentary exhibition about Karen Blixen’s life and works and a gallery with her many drawings and paintings. You may also go exploring in her private book collection, which contains a string of classic works from Homer to Hans Christian Andersen.

Bird songs and Ewald’s Hill Rungstedlund has an idyllic location near the Øresund strait; and, behind the whitewashed buildings, you will find a huge flower garden and grove, which has been designated a bird sanctuary in accordance with Karen Blixen’s wishes.  Here, too, walked the poet Johannes Ewald to find inspiration for his works, and the park’s benches are named after people who once ambled its grounds in their day. At the foot of Ewald’s Hill, you will find Karen Blixen’s grave beneath a large beech tree. The park is always open to visitors, who are invited to take a little walk and enjoy its beautiful natural setting. Nesting boxes are set up in the grove, which has become a breeding ground for many birds.

1 million guests! Since the Karen Blixen Museum first opened its doors in 1991, more than a million people have visited it.  In addition to the museum’s permanent exhibits, the museum offers a number of cultural activities such as film viewings, special exhibitions and readings.

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The Karen Blixen Museum Rungsted Strandvej 111 2960 Rungsted Kyst

 +45 45 57 10 57   [email protected]

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Opening hours Opening hours are indicative. Please visit the museum’s website to be sure.

Prices Adults: 100 DKK Children: Below 14 years: 0 DKK Groups: More than 10 persons: 75 DKK Prices are indicative. Please visit the museum’s website to be sure.

Facilities, etc. Wifi School Services/Learning Resources Guided tours Garden/Park Disabled Access Café

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Karen Blixen Museum, Rungstedlund

In the city of Rungsted, you will find the charming and historic house Rungstedlund. The authentic author home of Karen Blixen is today a museum, Bird Sanctuary and lovely café.

“A hidden gem"

Karen Blixen (also known as Isak Dinesen and Tania Blixen) is one of Denmark’s most celebrated authors. She manifested herself as part of the literary elite, with her debut as an author at the age of 49. Karen Blixen published seven books and won instant recognition with her first books  Seven Gothic Tales  and  Out of Africa. Out of Africa  and the novel  Babettes Feast have both been adapted into Academy Award-winning films.

Rungstedlund, the charming and historic home of the Dinesen family where Karen Blixen was born in 1885 and died in 1962. Today a museum and an authentic author home.

The museum invites guests to visit Karen Blixen’s original rooms, which, with their special atmosphere and decorative furnishings, sparks the imagination. The creativity of Karen Blixen is present throughout the museum - in the fresh flower decorations, her paintings and the interior design. A visit at Rungstedlund forms a deeper understanding of Karen Blixen’s life, philosophy and works.

Nature and Bird Sanctuary

Even Karen Blixen’s great passion for nature and biodiversity is very much present at Rungstedlund, with free access the park is always open for guests to experience and enjoy.

The 15-hectare Bird Sanctuary was established in 1958 by Karen Blixen and the beautiful grounds, attracts researchers and nature lovers from far and wide. Numerous nesting boxes and the rich biodiversity has ensured Rungstedlund as a favored breeding ground for many birds. At the foot of a prehistoric burial mound and beneath a more than 300-year-old imposing beech tree lies the grave of Karen Blixen.

Literature and culture

In addition to the museum’s permanent collections, Rungstedlund presents a rich program of events and is a meeting place for those interested in culture and literature. All year round, writers, artists, researchers, and politicians are invited to talks and lectures related to essential topics - often related to Karen Blixen’s legacy.

Café and shop

Spoil yourself in the cozy café “Madam Carlsen” named after Karen Blixen’s faithful housekeeper, Caroline Carlsen. Enjoy fresh, local and tasty homemade food all day as well as a selection of wine, coffee, tea and cake.

The Museum shop offers a variety of books, art and unique handcrafts.

Getting there

The Karen Blixen Museum is easy to access by train to Rungsted Kyst Station and invites you to take the short walk from the station to the museum via the Bird Sanctuary. There is free parking for visitors by car. Estimate approximately half an hour by train or car. Cycling is of course also an option along the beautiful coastal road “Strandvejen” and you can bring the cycle on the train going back”

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Karen Blixen Tour

Karen blixen (1885-1962) also known as isak dinesen, is considered one of denmark's most significant 20th century writers, born in rungstedlund, where she lived most of her life before and after her years in africa. she was an aristocrat who´s african tale, based on her life story, charmed america her book "out of africa" was published in 1937 and her identity was discovered in the united states as a mysterious european baroness, which inevitably led to more readers and attention. during this tour you'll hear the life story of karen blixen. her time in africa and the return to her native house where she began writing. we'll visit the museum that occupies the rooms where she lived, as well the exhibition gallery here, featuring drawings and paintings..

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Karen Blixen Museum Near Copenhagen Denmark

Out of Africa with Isak Dinesen: Her Museum

“I am not a novelist, really not even a writer; I am a storyteller.” Karen Blixen

By Laurieanne Wysocki

Isak Dinesen, best known for her memoir Out of Africa, also wrote short stories, among others, Seven Gothic Tales and Babette’s Feast, a novel, The Angelic Avengers, several essays and hundreds of letters which have been published in Letters from Africa, 1913-1931.

Born Karen Dinesen, she later married her Swedish cousin Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke and began writing under the name Karen Blixen as well as the pen name Isak Dinesen and the pseudonyms Osceola and Pierre Andrezel.

When I was in Copenhagen recently, I made time to visit the Karen Blixen Museum which is just 15 miles north of the city and easily accessed by car, train, and bus.

The museum, located in Rungstedlund, the house where she was born, is delightful to visit, even if you’re not an avid fan of her work. The cottage-house is the perfect place to spend some time touring the rooms which remain just as she left them when she died in 1962.

Unknown to many, Blixen was a skilled draftsman, filling sketchbooks from the age of 14 with illustrations of places discovered on family vacations to watercolors of Paris, Rome, and Copenhagen where she studied art in the early twenties. Later in life, she mastered techniques in oil painting, creating perfectly rendered portraits of African Kikuyu and Maasai.

Kenya Coffee Plantation

In addition, she owned and operated a farm and coffee plantation in Kenya for 17 years. Unique friendships were made among the local tribes during these tumultuous last years of British colonial rule. She hobnobbed with European aristocrats and American socialites alike was famously photographed by Richard Avedon, and was nominated twice for Nobel Prizes in Literature.

Most impressive was how she hand-scripted all her books on lined paper, first in English which she then translated into Danish between the lines.

Unhappy Marriage

She endured an unhappy marriage to von Blixen riddled with his numerous cases of infidelities and syphilis, something she was treated for with arsenic and mercury. She attributed syphilis to her husband and never forgave him for subjecting her to potential insanity, a stance taken by early 20th-century medical professionals.

(Many years before, her father, Wilhelm Dinesen, also diagnosed with syphilis, hung himself before he could either infect her mother or go crazy).

While in Africa, Karen Blixen had a mysterious relationship – some say love affair with big game hunter and pilot, Denys Fitch Hatton (forever immortalized by the handsome Robert Redford in Sydney Pollock’s 1985 film version of Out of Africa) that ended traumatically when his plane crashed.

Yet through it all, Karen Blixen wanted to be known, quite simply, as a storyteller.

A Good Story

It was this facility for telling a good story that makes her a good travel writer and subsequently spawns my fascination with her. To read her travelogue of experience, written in a time when foreign women were not readily managing African farms by themselves, let alone publishing accounts of it, is inspiring.

Her prose beautifully evokes the sights, sounds, and smells of a landscape I’ve yet to visit. Through her powerful narrative, I’m halfway there.

Karen Blixen never returned to Africa. She would spend the next quarter-century in Rungstedlund reliving her African experience by writing about it, doing radio talk shows, giving dozens of interviews, or painting the Africa of her memory.

The walls of Ewald’s Room (named after one of the original residents of the house, the 18th-century poet, Johannes Ewalds), where she did her writing in the warmer months of the year, is covered with original African art brought back from Kenya. Animal skin drums sit on the floor beneath the bookcases.

Carved masks and wooden boxes inlaid with shells and animal bone cover tabletops. Hand-finished wooden shields hang on the wall behind her writing desk. In the middle of this display are twelve long spears forming an eerie ‘X’. Just above her head are two hunting rifles said to have belonged to Denys Fitch Hatton. His picture remains on a side table near the desk.

After a guided tour, I took a stroll out among the meadows and groves on the 40-acre estate. The property has been designated a bird sanctuary hosting 35 different species among the 100 nesting boxes and various tree holes.

I was happy to recognize nuthatches and tufted tits, robins, and wrens — the same birds I see in my own back yard in western Massachusetts.

A winding footpath leads to her modest gravestone beneath a sprawling beech tree at the foot of Ewald’s Hill. The poet also liked to walk among the gardens and groves and actually mentioned this particular spot in one of his poems.

Karen, inspired by his work and perhaps even by his ghost, named the hill after him and asked to be buried there. Alone, I stopped to pay my respects and felt a tingling chill in the breeze as I read her name on the stone.

Through the gardens on my way back to the cottage, I passed a few of the benches that Karen Blixen (in the habit of naming things), named after the people in her life to whom she was closest. One is for her mother, “The Lady’s Bench” the other, “Madam Carlsen’s Bench” is named after Caroline Carlsen who was for many years the housekeeper at Rungstedlund and allowed to remain in the house until her death.

Getting There

A great day trip out of Copenhagen might include stops at the Karen Blixen Museum, the Kronborg Castle of Hamlet fame in Helsingør, lunch or a swim in the seaside resorts and fishing villages of Hornbbæk and Humlebæk, a ferry ride or across the Sound to Helsingborg in Sweden, and then a stop in for the excellent collection of art and yummy buffet at the Louisiana.

Not in a hurry to head back to Copenhagen? Stay in a holiday rental cottage by the sea or a youth hostel on the beach. There are plenty of hotels and motels to choose from in the area like Helsingør, the medieval town of Hamlet fame, now gaining a new party town reputation by the constant flow of Swedes who take the 20-minute ferry across to Denmark for a cheaper night of drinking.

A great choice for lunch in Helsingborg on the Swedish side is a place called Restaurang Terrassen, located beneath the 13th century Kärnan Tower on a hillside terrace above the old city walls. From the restaurant there are beautiful views across the Sound to Denmark.

The smoked salmon gravlax and grilled pork loin were delicious, although it was difficult for us females of the group to keep our eyes on our plates. The meal was delivered by a host of Swedish boys so handsome they could easily have been plucked from the pages of Calvin Klein magazine ads.

Trains run hourly and through the night from Copenhagen Central Station to Helsingør making stops near all of the above. For the Karen Blixen Museum get off at Rungsted Kyst Station; for the Louisiana Museum get off at Humlebæk Station. It is a 10-minute walk to the museums.

Gorgeous Scenery

By car the fastest route through Zealand from Copenhagen to Helsingøris the motorway E47/E55. For a more scenic drive take the serpentine coastal road 152N which meanders through ‘I could live here’ residential areas and woodland parks.

Østerbro is the posh neighborhood on the northern edge of the city where the who’s who of Copenhagen resides. As the road winds out of the city, you’ll notice how all the homes have been built to face the Sound.

You’ll see refurbished 17th century thatched cottages with manicured window boxes as well as the more modern three-story brick and limestone villa, flamingo-pink hydrangeas bursting through hedgerows.

Throughout the drive, the Sound, known as Sundet in Danish or Øresund in Swedish is on your right as you make your way north to tip of Zealand.

At the mouth of the Sound is Helsingør with The Kronborg Castle , an impressive Renaissance castle and fortress built in the 15th century by Danish King, Eric of Pomerania.

He imposed a toll or dues payable to the Danish Crown on all traffic using the Sound to enter the Baltic Sea, making a deal that couldn’t be refused. Either pay or get shot at by cannons on both sides of the strait. As an economist, the wise king was ahead of his time. Instead of creating one set tax for all ships, he calculated a tax on the value of the cargo.

Many captains would claim that their cargos were of little value before learning that the king also had the power to purchase whatever he wanted. For over 400 years these tolls were collected providing Denmark with its largest source of income and thereby making it one of the wealthiest nations of the time.

For lots of really good information on Helsingør, read Jennifer Wattam Klit’s GoNomad article Helsingor, Denmark: Hamlet’s Home Town.

Karen Blixen Museum Rungsted Strandvej 111, DK-2960 Rungsted Kyst +45 45 57 10 57, email: [email protected] Admission: 60 Kr, children under 14, free

Since the Karen Blixen Museum opened in 1991 almost 1,000,000 people have visited the museum. In addition to touring the rooms of the private home, the museum has a photo-documentary exhibition, a gallery with Karen Blixen’s drawings and paintings, and a short film.

The Gift Shop offers books in several languages, CDs, posters, postcards, and films. There is also a simple café serving light lunches and beverages year-round whether or not you purchase a ticket to the museum.

Lousiana Museum of Art Gl. Strandvej 13, 3050 Hours: Tuesday – Friday 11-22 Saturday and Sunday 11-18, closed Mondays Admission: 95 Kr, with student ID 85 Kr. Children 18 and younger, free. The permanent collection contains over 3000 items including pieces by Picasso, Giacometti, Dubuffet, Yves Klein, Andy Warhol, Rauschenberg, Henry Moore, and more!

In addition, there are special exhibitions, films, lectures, and artist talks. Guided tours available. There is a Children’s Wing that includes free activities for children and adults to explore together.

Places to stay

Vacation Rentals in Hornbæk : holiday home Hornbæk, villa Hornbæk, apartment HornbækBook in advance over the internet. Prices quoted are in Euros.

Danhostel Helsingør Vandrehjem, Kr. Ndr. Strandvej 24? +45 49 21 16 40. This is a good youth hostel right on the beach with kitchen and laundry facilities. Rooms in the dorm at 175 Kr. A double room with/without bath at 475/350. Bike rentals and free wifi offered.

Hotel Skandia, Bramstræde 1, ? + 45 49 21 09 02. A family run hotel in the center of Helsingør. Dbls at 750 Kr.

Elite Hotel Marina Plaza, Kungstorget 6, Helsingborg is on the harbor, beside the ferry terminal. Rooms have great sea and city views in addition to a popular breakfast buffet. Dbls start at 450 SEK.

Best Western Hotel, Stortorget 20, Helsingborg is a grand 19th-century building near the Kärnan Tower. It is a 10-minute walk to the train and ferry terminals. Dbls start at 850 SEK.

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Denmark’s Karen Blixen Museum

• May 1, 2000
• No comments
• 5 minute read

As you walk through her peaceful gardens and adjoining forest land, the tourist tape plays a piece of her favourite music: Max Bruch’s hauntingly beautiful Violin Concerto. You can take your time; pause and watch the birds for whom this area is a sanctuary, or ponder the mysteries of life and death beside her grave. Here a simple stone bears a large but informal flower arrangement. The flowers have been taken from the gardens. It is the sort of arrangement she might have composed.

You are in the Danish home, turned museum, of Karen Blixen (a.k.a. Isak Dinesen), a woman who was well-known and much-loved in literary circles around the world long before a period of her life was immortalized in the film Out of Africa . Life came full circle for this daughter of Denmark here at Rungstedlund, just 25 km north of Copenhagen, when, after her sojourn in Kenya, she returned to the home that had been owned by her family since 1879.

The house itself has a much longer history. It was well known in North Zealand around 400 years ago when it served as an inn conveniently situated on the Shore Road, the shortest route from the capital to Elsinore, an important trading town and port. Over the years the Inn housed the famous and infamous, who were offered “ale and food of good quality, hay, oats, straw, beds and chambers” as a respite from the rough, muddy road and the winter winds that blow down the Swedish Sound. Late in the 17th century it was granted a license to establish a brewery and distillery on the property and a French Ambassador, en route from Copenhagen to Elsinore, was prompted to record in his 1702 diary, “It is the finest inn in the district … with a very beautiful garden at the rear, filled with fruit trees and innumerable flowers. There is a hill on the far side of the garden, and a little further off there is a forest which extends two-thirds of the way from Copenhagen to Elsinore.”

Today the road is paved, the railway passes through the nearby village and a marina full of sail boats lies just outside the entrance. But the gardens and grounds are just as the ambassador described them nearly three hundred years ago and today’s visitors are just as welcome to enjoy them.

As Karen Blixen approached the end of her life she became very concerned over what was to become of Rungstedlund after her death. She discussed the matter with her close friend Knud Jensen (who was to become founder of the nearby Louisiana Museum of Modern Art) and together they decided to establish a Foundation to preserve the property. In collaboration with the Danish Association of Ornithology, the grounds were to be a bird reserve, while the house was to be maintained for cultural purposes. “In this way it will remain true to its tradition of uniting nature and literature,” wrote Blixen. The Foundation was to be financed by monies from the posthumous sale of her books and by the Danish public, to whom Blixen appealed for donations that raised 80,000 kroner. But by the time Blixen died in 1962, the foundation was deeply in debt and for nearly 25 years it was a struggle to maintain the property for the purposes it was intended. Suddenly, however, everything changed.

The 1985 Oscar-winning movie, Out of Africa, created a far wider readership for Blixen’s works than had ever been enjoyed before and soon the Foundation had acquired enough money to restore the buildings. In May 1991, the Danish Minister of Culture declared The Karen Blixen Museum open.

The west wing, which had been stables and granary, is now a small museum housing manuscripts, photographs and memorabilia from Blixen’s life. Yet it is the house itself that is more evocative of her life, combining as it does so much that is typically Danish and European with artifacts – and memories – of Africa. Here is furniture from all over Europe: an English mahogany dining room table surrounded by Danish Christian VIII chairs, Louis-Seize furniture in the drawing room, a collection of old Danish and Norwegian stoves and the desk at which Blixen used to write. In Blixen’s childhood playroom hang some of her own pictures, including some of the African portraits she painted in Kenya.

In the drawing room is Denys Finch Hatton’s favourite chair from the Kenyan farm and the famous gramophone that was his gift to Blixen. Elsewhere in the house is the grandfather clock that played its part in the movie, the French screen with oriental figures that she sometimes used to illustrate her fireside stories and the African brass-bound chest that was given to her by her faithful Somali butler, Farah Aden. Today, and every day, a flower arrangement in Blixen’s style sits atop this chest. The house is not large, but every corner holds something of interest. All is as she left it.

Visitors leave by the south-facing door in the east wing. It is at this door, atop the six entry steps, where Karen Blixen used to stand every night after her return from Africa. From here she would look from her Scandinavian home towards Kenya, a place that had also been her home and which held for her so many sweet but fleeting memories.

Ann Wallace is a Toronto writer, and editor of TravelScoop. If you go… Runstedlund can be reached by frequent train service from Copenhagen Station. The journey takes about 40 minutes and signs outside the station direct visitors to the museum which is a 10 minute walk away. The train fare and entry to the museum are covered by the Copenhagen card, which can be purchased for up to three days and which covers museum admissions and transportation in Copenhagen and environs. The museum contains a pretty coffee shop with a terrace overlooking the gardens. Tapes are available in many languages to guide visitors around the property. Busses pass the property on the coast road, which will take travelers on the few miles to the Louisiana Modern Art Gallery and then on even further to Elinsore and ‘Hamlet’s Castle’. All this makes a wonderful day trip out of Copenhagen (and the Copenhagen card can be used for all the admissions and transportation).

More on the Web Karen Blixen Museum in Denmark Karen Blixen Museum in Africa KarenBlixen.com %banner300%

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Visiting the Karen Blixen museum near Copenhagen

Why did I want to visit the Karen Blixen Museum near Copenhagen? Karen Blixen returned from Kenya to her family home to write her book, Out of Africa . Well now, let me tell you the story.

I spent a month in Kenya as a student and took with me as holiday reading, Karen Blixen’s memoir Out of Africa . I was enchanted by her tales of daily life on the coffee plantation near Nairobi.

The story of ‘her’ Kikuyu and the flights she took over the rift valley with her lover Denys Finch Hatton were absorbing.

‘I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong hills’ the story begins. It goes on to describe the colours, the scents, the shapes, the essence of Africa.

This article may contain affiliate links that provide commission on purchases you make at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Table of Contents

Falling in love with Kenya

Like Karen Blixen, I was taken flying by a pilot friend in a light aircraft. I looked down on those same Ngong hills and that same Rift valley. How could I not fall in love with Kenya as seen through Karen Blixen’s eyes?

So when I came to Copenhagen, it was high on my list to see the house at Rungstedlund overlooking the Sound. This had been Karen Blixen’s family home.

Her coffee plantation in Kenya had failed and she had to sell everything in the 1930s. This was where she returned and devoted herself to writing, becoming a celebrated and respected author by the end of her life.

This was the house where she entertained guests and collected a devoted following of writers and artists around her. She turned the woodland at the back of her house into a bird sanctuary.

A cut flower garden existed to create beautiful arrangements in all her elegant rooms. This is where she is buried under a big tree in the woodland bird sanctuary.

Karen Blixen’s family home

Although the house at Rungstedlund is a little way out of Copenhagen, it’s easy enough to get to on the train from the city centre. When you reach the station at Rungsted it’s a 30 minute walk or a short bus ride to the house. Better still wander along the woodland path, following the clearly marked signs for the Karen Blixen museum.

We chose to hire bikes for the day which we took on the train with us. Then we cycled back part of the way along the coast road towards Copenhagen, before returning by train from Klampenborg station.

The house is a traditional Danish farmhouse, that was originally made up of four buildings set around a courtyard. Two were destroyed by fire in the past and what remains is an L-shape house of two wings.

The outside is softened by greenery and the courtyard in front and gardens behind. You enter at the front to find a small shop and a cafe that extends to the terrace at the back.

There’s an exhibition room upstairs with photographs and information about Karen Blixen and her life. You can see the the old fashioned typewriter on which she would type her stories. There are couple of small library rooms to the side, where you can sit down and read all the books written about her and by her.

Taking a guided tour

Although this was an interesting start to our visit, the highlight was to see the rooms where Karen Blixen lived. The decor and furniture are just as they were in her lifetime, as if she had stepped out for a moment to cut a few flowers in the garden.

This part of the house is open for a guided tour of small groups at regular intervals which seemed to be about every hour when we were there. At the appointed time the door is unlocked and you are allowed to enter.

You’ll hear a short introduction from the guide who was happy to give it in English as well as Danish. We looked around an exhibition room showing a timeline of Karen Blixen’s life. There’s a documentary film continually running on a loop about her life and achievements.

Have you ever flicked through one of those interior design books about Danish country houses? All pared down classical elegance, washed out colours to reflect the sea and sky and lovely antique furniture.

It was all recreated here – the chandeliers and decorative cast iron stoves. Lace curtains at the window making pools on the polished wood floor and framing the view to the garden.

Karen Blixen’s African collectibles

In one room are displayed the pictures that Karen Blixen painted, of her African staff, the warrior and the Kikuyu ndito (which you’ll often see on the cover of her books). Throughout the house are the arrangements of cut flowers that she loved to make, taking cultivated and wild flowers from the garden in the woodland behind the house.

Many of these pictures, ornaments and furniture had been to Kenya and back again. From the screen by the fire she took motifs to inspire the stories she told to Denys Finch Hatton.

You can see the dark wood Swahili chest studded with brass decoration that was a gift from her loyal Somali servant Farah. The chest returned with her to Denmark and is normally topped with a flower arrangement from the garden.

When I chatted to the Danish chef of Kiin Kiin , Henrik Yde Andersen, he was also enchanted by the house. He told me that for his graduation meal he had recreated a menu and table setting, complete with the lovely wild flower arrangements. All this would have been eaten by a guest in Karen Blixen’s house when she was still alive.

Karen’s tragic life

Karen Blixen endured great tragedy in her life, the suicide of her father and the breakdown of her marriage. The death in a plane crash of her lover Denys Finch Hatton and the failure of her coffee farm. It must have been very difficult to return with no money to Denmark.

She left her beloved Africa behind, to return to the family estate of Runstedlund with nothing. Yet by the end of her life her strength of character had prevailed and she had become a literary celebrity. She visited America and broadcasted on Danish and American radio.

After her death in 1962 the house at Rungstedlund was maintained through the trust that she established to receive all the royalties from her books. The success of the film Out of Africa in 1986, with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in the starring roles, also brought in funding.

Both the house at Rundstelund and the farm house in Kenya were restored, and interest was renewed in Karen Blixen. She was above all a storyteller and if you enjoy both her stories and the story of her life, then you’ll find the Karen Blixen museum at Rungstedlund near Copenhagen a fascinating place to connect with her.

Directions to reach the Karen Blixen Museum at Rungstedlund, near Copenhagen

To reach the Karen Blixen Museum at Rungstedlund, take the S train line to Klampenborg and change for the Coastal line to Runsted station. Or, take the Coastal train direct to Rungsted, depending on your starting point.

You can take bikes on the train as we did and there are normally at least 3 trains per hour to Rungsted. Once you get to Rungsted station you can follow the well marked signs to the Karen Blixen Museum. It is a 30 minute walk or 15 minute cycle ride.

Alternatively you can get off at Klampenborg and take the No 388 bus up the coast, admiring the views of the sea and the sound on the way. The bus will take you close to the museum which is on the coast road.

Resources for visiting the Karen Blixen House and Museum

• Visit the website of the Karen Blixen Museum at Runstedlund near Copenhagen
• Visit the website of the Karen Blixen Museum at Karen, Nairobi, Kenya
• The Visit Copenhagen website has plenty of information about places to visit in Copenhagen
• We visited the Karen Blixen Museum and travelled there with the Copenhagen Card that gives free entry to 65 museums and attractions as well as free public transport around the city

Thanks to Wonderful Copenhagen for sponsoring* our weekend in Copenhagen.

* More info on my policies page

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com

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Stella Arosteguy

Monday 11th of February 2013

I really liked your web site about Karen Blixen! Congratulations!!! I saw once more the movie "Out of Africa" and I was looking for more information about her, her lover and Farah. I read the book many years ago. I became happy knowing Farah also went to meet her in Denmark... I went to Denmark one year ago and I did not remember to visit her museum... I would love it! My husband and I are planning to go next Sept to the Basque Country. Would you have some info about this? Thank you, anyway for everything that I found in your site. Stella Arosteguy

Review of Ibsens Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark | Heather on her travels

Tuesday 29th of November 2011

[...] the nearest station of Norregard and jump on the train to head out along the coast route to see the Karen Blixen House at Rungsted and then we cycled back along the coast road with glimpses of the sea between the lovely holiday [...]

Friday 5th of August 2011

Fantastic blog. I just wanted to say thank you for your work!

Heather on her Travels: Get on your bike for a Danish adventure | Bristol Classifieds – Bristol and South West Free Classified Ads!

Friday 29th of July 2011

[...] Our adventure began when we hired bikes at the Ibsens Hotel where we were staying, got on the train at the nearest station of Nørreport and took the train to Klampenborg where we could just glimpse the sea between the houses. We could have stopped here, as many families were doing, and taken a turn around the deerpark of Dyrehaven where you can take a carriage ride, or hire ponies for the kids. Instead we changed platforms for the coast train and continued a few more stops along the coast to Runsted Kyst where we got off and cycled along the cycle path following the signs to the Karen Blixen House and Museum. [...]

Bike + train = adventure in Copenhagen | Heather on her travels

Wednesday 27th of July 2011

[...] coast to Runsted Kyst where we got off and cycled along the cycle path following the signs to the Karen Blixen House and Museum. Bike at Klambenborg station, [...]

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ULTRA MARATHON FULL BOARD OFFER

Valid for both residents and non-residents validity: 22nd – 24th november.

Kshs. 19,838 per person per night No Single Room Supplement (Maximum 3 rooms). Children under 14 years and above 2 years are to pay 50% of the adult rate. Children 2 years and below stay free of charge. Residents to pay Kshs. 1,500 per adult per night Conservancy fees for Mara North. Non-residents are to pay USD 116 per adult per night Conservancy fees for Mara North.

*The above prices include meals and accommodation only.

Only Green, Beige, or Earth colored safari-converted landcruisers or landrovers are allowed in the conservancy.

Offer applies to new bookings made from 1st Sept 2024

About The Ultra MARAthon

Started in 2020, the Ultra MARAthon is a 50km single-day foot race through the conservancies of the northern Maasai Mara ecosystem in Kenya. The race, run either as an individual or as part of a relay team, takes participants through the northern Mara conservancies giving them a unique sporting experience within one of Africa’s jewels.

A continuation of storytelling and building of history around Karen Blixen, the famous author of Out of Africa. A one-stop safari house that owns and manages a collection of unique accommodations and safari experiences, to some of the most historical boutique city places and wild destinations. We are strongly visible and are lead advocates and champions in community and environmental conservation. Karen Blixen Group is the property of Karsten Ree Holdings Denmark. We want travelers all over the globe to experience Kenya in a new light with luxury and a unique experience at the heart of it. Karen Blixen Group is an expanding chain of some of the finest travel trade and hospitality in East Africa. From the best bars, restaurants, unique game drives, and exquisite spas to breathtaking balloon safaris, Karen Blixen Group gives you the best mix of holiday experiences you’ll ever encounter.

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Karen blixen group properties.

Explore the exquisite properties of the Karen Blixen Group, each offering a unique blend of luxury, history, and natural beauty. From the enchanting Karen Blixen Coffee Garden and Cottages to the serene Karen Blixen Camp, our properties provide exceptional experiences and unparalleled hospitality. Enjoy world-class amenities, elegant accommodations, and breathtaking surroundings. Discover the perfect destination for relaxation, adventure, and cultural immersion with the Karen Blixen Group.

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Karen blixen group experiences.

Discover the unique experiences offered by the Karen Blixen Group. Whether you’re seeking a luxurious stay at the Karen Blixen Coffee Garden and Cottages or Karen Blixen Camp, a cultural journey through historical landmarks, or a culinary delight at one of our esteemed restaurants, our diverse offerings promise to create unforgettable memories. Indulge in the elegance, history, and charm of the Karen Blixen Group and make your visit truly exceptional

Karen Blixen Camp, Mara North Conservancy, Masai Mara

Karen Blixen Coffee Garden and Cottages, Nairobi, Kenya

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DESTINATION

Rejser til Maldiverne

Rejsetiden til Maldiverne er ca. 11-16 timer afhængig af flyselskab og endelig destination

Rejser til Maldiverne byder på et fantastisk ferieparadis med svajende palmer, eksotiske laguner og de smukkeste kridhvide bountystrande.

Atmosphere kanifushi, six senses kanuhura, park hyatt maldives hadahaa, amilla maldives, ozen life maadhoo, gili lankanfushi, sirru fen fushi, soneva fushi, når du nærmer dig maldiverne fra luften, fornemmer du tydeligt, at du nu er på vej til noget ganske særligt, rejsetid til maldiverne - hvor lang tid tager det at flyve til maldiverne.

• Emirates  (via Dubai — flyrejse på 6 + 4 timer)
• Qatar Airways  (via Doha — flyrejse på 6 + 5 timer)
• Turkish Airlines  (via Istanbul — flyrejse på 3,5 + 8 timer)
• Lufthansa  (via Frankfurt — flyrejse på 1,5 + 10 timer)
• Swiss/Edelweiss  (via Zürich — flyrejse på 2 + 9 timer) 
• Austrian  (via Wien — flyrejse på 2 + 9 timer) 

Maldiverne består af cirka 1.200 øer

Den største attraktion på maldiverne er uden tvivl de kridhvide koralstrande og det krystalklare vand med fisk i alle regnbuens farver..

• Snorkling og dykning
• Dybhavsfiskeri
• Mange former for vandsportsaktiviteter
• Svømme med hvalhajer
• Strandture 
• Spa & wellness
• Gode restauranter

Maldiverne har et tropisk klima og kan besøges året rundt. Det bedste tidspunkt at rejse Maldiverne vil derfor være individuelt.

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