Autoimmune encephalitis with antibodies against neuronal surface antigens is diagnosed with increasing frequency in recent years. If treated early and aggressively, these conditions often respond favourably to immunotherapy. We describe the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of the two most common types of autoimmune encephalitis with antibodies against the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor or the leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 protein. Together, these two conditions comprise 80% of the autoimmune encephalitis cases diagnosed in Denmark. Autoimmune encephalitides with rare antibodies are also summarized.