Karen Blixen Museum, Rungstedlund

The Home Of Karen Blixen, Author Of Out Of Africa, Kept As She Left It, With Her Grave And A Bird Sanctuary Garden By The Sea · Rungsted Kyst, Capital Region of Denmark

The Karen Blixen Museum is Rungstedlund, the white-plastered country house on the Oresund coast at Rungsted Kyst, roughly 25 km north of Copenhagen, where the Danish writer Karen Blixen (1885-1962) was born, returned in 1931 after 17 years running a coffee farm in Kenya, and wrote the books that made her famous, among them Out of Africa and Babette's Feast, published in English as Isak Dinesen. The house was once a coaching inn where the 18th-century poet Johannes Ewald lodged. It opened as a museum in 1991: her rooms are kept much as she left them, with her furniture, portraits, African objects and fresh flower arrangements in her style, and a newer wing holds an exhibition on her life, her own drawings and paintings, and a small cinema. Behind the house a large wooded park is kept as a bird sanctuary, and she is buried there under a great beech tree at the foot of Ewald's Hill. People come for the writer, the film and a calm hour by the sea. The honest caveat: it is a small literary house museum, best for readers and film fans, and off season it opens only a few days a week.

Rungstedlund, Rungsted Strandvej, Rungsted Kyst, on the Oresund coast north of Copenhagen, Rungsted Kyst, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark

Open all year but on two patterns: in the summer season (roughly May to September) usually Tuesday to Sunday with daytime hours and closed Mondays; in the off season (roughly October to April) shorter afternoon hours on fewer days, usually closed Mondays and Tuesdays, with closures around Christmas and New Year - confirm the current schedule before travelling, since the off-season pattern is the one most likely to catch visitors out. The park and the grave are usually open on the same days as the house. Getting there: Kystbanen coastal train from Copenhagen Central or Norreport to Rungsted Kyst station (roughly 25-30 minutes), then about 1.5 km on foot or a short local bus ride; by car about 30 minutes up Strandvejen or the motorway. No booking is needed for individual visitors; groups and guided tours must book ahead.

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