Dragør Old Town

About this place

Dragør is a town on the southeastern coast of the island of Amager, about 11 km in a straight line from central Copenhagen. It keeps many well-preserved historic buildings. Dragør was founded in the 12th century and grew quickly as a fishing port, and the Hanseatic League was granted trading privileges there in 1370. It became home to one of the country's largest fishing fleets and later prospered as a seafaring town in the second half of the 19th century. Its name refers to dragging boats ashore, and the area has a clear Dutch heritage, as King Christian II invited farmers from the Netherlands to settle here in the early 16th century. The old town is a compact maze of cobbled alleys lined with yellow-painted houses under red roofs, with green windows and doors, many of them hundreds of years old. Fishing boats and yachts moor in the still-working harbour, and geese wander the grass by the water. It is easy to reach by bus from Copenhagen. It makes a calm half-day outing, with a fish meal at the harbour.