Denmark

Rotem Haskia
Apr 18, 2020
8 min read

Updated: Apr 22, 2020

Do you ever get this feeling like "I wish I was on a vacation now"? Well I did and decided to act on it, bought tickets and not even 12 hours later I touched the Danish ground! Spontaneous trips are not for everyone and they have some down sides like playing it risky with hotels availability and you don’t have your materials on the country ready, but on the other side every minute of the trip is a new surprise, and you don’t know what to expect so you can never be disappointed. I personally loved this type of trip, we discovered more and more of this Scandinavian country with every step we took. Before I will give you my whole trip plan, here is a little bit about traveling in Denmark from my own experience: 1. There are about 406 islands in Denmark (about 70 is populated) and during the trip I recommend paying a visit to as much as you can from them since they can be quite different and offer different interesting activities.

2. Denmark is an extremely flat country so more than half of the country citizens transport by bicycles, the country has special bicycles roads just like the car ones so pay attention to it while walking in the street or driving (important!). In this matter, I also recommend on renting your own bicycles and experience the towns like the locals! Will save you a lot of money on pricey public transpiration, also very easy and comfortable and just fun!

3. Denmark was one of more expensive countries I visited so be prepared, in some cases you may buy tickets for attractions online and have a discount and always try shopping at restaurants/ markets that are more distant from the "hot" touristic spots.

4. Denmark is an amazing county to travel but I think this is a location made for families trips, the trip plan I will show you is more for adults but with countless of amusement parks, the home of Lego Land and so many young Danish populations this country is absolutely better if you are traveling with kids.

5. Danish people are one of the nicest people I ever met and they all speak amazing English! Whatever you need don't be shy and ask a local help, they will be happy to assist.

Copenhagen

We landed in Denmark, no specific plan, not a lot of clue what is ahead of us and made our way to the capital and most populous city of Denmark and one of Europe's oldest capitals.

What to do?

Strøget street: walk in one of the longest shopping streets in Europe, in this street you can shop for whatever - delicious street food, clothes, souvenirs and more!
Nyhavn: when we arrived, we felt like inside a postcard- a colorful street where each and every house is in different color and in the middle a water tunnel decorated with big boats. Beside a beautiful walk in the pastoral street I highly recommend taking in Nyhavn the one-hour boat tour that takes you all around Copenhagen and between all the city tunnels. Also in the area you may enter the beautiful Tivoli gardens that includes beautiful gardens, amusement park, restaurants and live shows all in one magical place. Tip: check the prices before choosing a boat every boat takes a completely different price for the same tour.

The little mermaid statue: from the famous story written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen this famous statue is located in Langelinje Pier water and attracts many tourists around the world.

The Round Tower: after an almost 50 meters climb you will reach to a gorgeous viewpoint over Copenhagen and all of its marvelous old buildings. The location of the tower in the middle of the city and the fact that this city is very flat makes this beautiful point of view really unique!

Amalienborg palace: a breathtaking square that is surrounded by four palaces and dominated in the middle with the equestrian statue of King Frederik V. Tip: At 12:00 the square shows a changing of the Guard's shifts ceremony.

Bakken: just 10 minutes outside of Copenhagen you can find the world's oldest amusement park "Bakken" which is located in a beautiful green forest filled with rides and also free deers!
Kronborg castle: located in Helsingør you will find this castle that is considered has one of the most beautiful castles in Europe.

The beach: a lovely beach at the North West part of the island.
Christiania: a lovely neighborhood covered with amazing graffiti art, shopping street, art galleries and music

Jutland

A peninsula that is the only part of Denmark that is connected to the European continent.

Roskilde

A nice town that is famous for its Viking museum but the main attraction for us was the breathtaking Roskilde cathedral. The beautiful and giant city cathedral is a must visit location but I really recommend taking a walk in the pastoral streets that surrounds it and discover some more hidden gems.

Vejile

In Vejile we enjoyed a nice city walk between beautiful, colorful houses and more lovely alleys that has a pretty little river in the middle. The main thing about Vejile is that this town is not a touristic one so the streets are not "packed" and you can enjoy the beautiful streets and river in a quiet, peaceful environment.

Horsens

This town wasn't planned at all but since this trip was so spontaneous, we couldn't find a hotel anywhere else and it turned out to be another wonderful surprise thank to unplanned spontaneous trip! This very small and not touristic town was completely empty, felt like someone had closed the magical streets for our own private tour- so peaceful, quiet and beautiful. What a perfect way to end the day.

Arhus

Jutland's unofficial capital, and most populous city. Home of some of the region's best attractions.

What to do?

Den Gamle: I recommend starting the day before the hot hours that besides the sun also brings with them many other tourists in the Den Gamle By or in its other name "The Old Town" museum. The old town museum is must be one of the most interesting, high quality and also fun museums that I ever been to, it's an open-air museum that basically takes you on a journey back in history! The museum consists of 75 historical buildings collected from 20 towns from all over the country, actors that are dressed and act according to the timeline and so many other activities, shops and attractions in every little corner- all just to make your time traveling experience the most realistic one. For me it felt like I'm in an episode of the "Westworld" show (if you watch it, you'll understand).

The city's cathedral: the longest and tallest church in the country (about 96-meter height) and enjoyed the magical streets and allies that surround it.

Fredericia

A peaceful and beautiful small town located in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark and filed with lakes and beautiful buildings to explore. Enjoy Fredericia with a walk to the city center that has some mesmerizing old buildings and a delicious street food courts to the beautiful pier over the sea and to the green lakes field with cute ducks.

Nordby

A small and cozy town with Lot of beautiful old houses surrounded by great nature. we walked between the unique lovely houses, colorful flowers and mesmerizing streets.

Sønderho

Fanø is a small island populated by 3192 people and its main attraction is the family of 800 seals in Sønderho. The trip to the seals is possible only for two or three hours per day due to the ocean movement which covers all the way and makes it impossible to get to them - so be prepare and make you sure you arrive to Sønderho early enough. Beside the seals in this part of the island you can enjoy beautiful views that are perfect for nice nature walks and also amazing lookout points that will be perfect for a picnic with a local food from one of the local restaurants.

Ribe

With 1300 years is the oldest town in Denmark. This town may be the oldest but so far in my opinion it was the most beautiful one, maybe towns are like wine and jest get better with the years. In Ribe you will find old houses some of them can be even from the 16th century, a calm river that run through the town with lovely watermills spinning between the small waterfalls.

What to do?

the town church: the main attraction that completely dominate the area and can be seen from a distance. In the church which in my opinion is the most impressive one in the country, you can pay a small amount of money and climb the many steps all the way to the top - highly recommended. The fact that the country is so flat make the view on the top so easy to see, it is as if the town and all the beautiful green and blue area around it spreads themselves just for you.

Esberg

A seaport town on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark.

Odense

A cultural and historical city that is the third-largest city in Denmark. Odense is mostly known for being the birth town of the famous Hans Christian Andersen.

What to do?

Hindgavl Deer Park: On the way we took a short brake at this park that offers magnificent views and even access to different types of deer such as red deer, fallow deer and roe deer. If you only take a short stop like us you may travel this magical by car or in a short walk but if you have the time you can also explore it in trails, horse riding, bicycles and more- the possibilities are endless.

Hans Christian Andersen's house and statue.
The lake park : Take a magical walk in the city's lake park and enjoy a pizza in one of the many pastoral coffee houses.
Odense's zoo: is one of the city's most known highlight and is also the home to 2000 animals from different species from all around the world! The fact that this zoo is under the trees shade makes it comfortable to enjoy in any hour of the day or season and also makes the the animals very active. The zoo is just beautiful and we even arrived with the birth of the new baby giraffe so the experience was very memorable. I recommend caching up with the zoo activities timeline in order to catch a nice activity like playing with raccoons, feeding a giraffe or watch the lion training!

Egeskov castle: this castle is insanely gorgeous but the main thing is also the huge, award winning gardens that surround it. In this location you will enjoy from absolutely magical, well-kept and high maintained gardens, marvelous castle by the lake side, many fascinating museums, car collections and countless of activities for kids: From tree walking, slides, carting, swings and so much more- absolutely a wonderful place for the whole family.

In conclusion, my Denmark trip involved less nature than my other trips but more beautiful old towns, marvelous castles and breathtaking cathedrals! We also had a lot of Danish hot dogs, even more Lego and even more bicycles. This is a lovely country with incredibly nice citizens and beautiful destinations that in my opinion was specially made for family trips with kids, thank you Denmark for being my first landmark between the Scandinavian countries and you absolutely won't be the last!

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