Travelling in Denmark: Tips & Destinations for Travelling with Friends

Denmark in the summer … A dream. During the first week of July, my brother and I travel to Roskilde on the occasion of Roskilde Music Festival, one of the largest in the whole of Europe. Despite Denmark sharing the same latitude with countries such as Scotland or Ireland, my packing remains very summerly and optimistic. Long days & lots of sunshine have been published by an equally optimistic weather forecast. It’ll be fine!, as we like to say in Austria. Will it?

Well, dear friends & travellers, after a week spent in the country of the Vikings & Nordic Men, I can tell you this: Denmark has both a bitter and a sweet side to offer. The laughter, the smiles, the hospitality and the nature of speaking several languages makes you feel very welcome among the Danes: Sweet. Things such as the weather as well as the exchange rate can seem a bit bitter in comparison: Summer temperatures for this week decided to linger between 10° to 20°C, and spending money … oh let’s not go there: A coffee for € 6,-. A beer for € 10,-. Lunch for three of us travelling together as friends, starting from € 60,- or € 70,- in average pubs and restaurants … Oh dear. Denmark really is more expensive than I thought. Lucky then we got “our Danes”: Martin & Niels, good friends for a long time, help us steer clear through language, culture & country of the Danes! Together, we have collected quite a handful of experiences and useful tips: Don’t miss the following cities or heading out to one Denmark’s prettiest beaches & countryside hideaways. I promise it really is worth it!

City Hopping in Denmark: From Ribe to Roskilde

Copenhagen & Roskilde, the pearls in the East. A visit of the Hans-Christian-Andersen house in Odense, on the island of Fünen. And finally: Ribe, the oldest city in Denmark, a delightful jewel in the Southwest of the province of Jutand. There is a whole number of (small) cities worth seeing in Denmark, their greatest advantage being that all of them are within only a few hour’s reach of each other: It really is a small country. As a team of three travellers (Martin, our Danish friend & “tour guide”, my brother Julian and I), we have opted for renting a car as the easiest, albeit most expensive option: € 80,- per day with local company “One2Move” is not exactly a bargain, but as we can split the cost it becomes more reasonable for all of us. After visiting the capital city of Copenhagen as well as Martin’s home base, the city of Roskilde, we drive along enjoying his funny local Danish commentary crossing the so-called “speed bump” of Denmark (the central island Fünen 😉 ), in order to visit Western cities in Jutland such as Jelling, Hvide Sande or Ribe. Come on board this photographic trip here.

Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark, invites you to wonderful strolls through the old town and the port city, such as Nyhavn here.

Funny: When we arrive on the first weekend in July, students celebrate their final degrees with trucks, beer & music all over town!

… Today, anything goes – even taking a dip in the city’s public fountains!

Denmark is actually a true bicycle nation …

… and always prepared for the “pitfalls” of “Nordic weather”, such as with this stylish raincoat & boots.

We enjoy the view over Copenhagen from the historic tower in the old city.

Thank you, dear Martin, for a wonderful time & welcome here in Denmark! Your help, advice and friendship made all the difference.

Roskilde, the “royal city”, has dressed to impress for instance with this magnificent old cathedral church on the main square.

We continue our visit in the centre of the island Fünen, where we visit the house of famous Danish author Hans-Christian-Andersen in Odense.

Besides historic information, we also find a lot of contemporary art space such as this Street Art Graffiti right here in the centre of Odense.

Having in arrived in Western Denmark, on the European mainland, we are greeted by the charm of the oldest city in Denmark, Ribe.

Here, every evening during the summer months, guided tours depart at 20.00 and 22.00 hours …

… being free guided tours with the historic night watchmen of Ribe: An event full of stories and information about the city not to be missed!

At the West coast, we finally get to enjoy the wide open space of this beach land near the city of Hvide Sande.

From good stories to good taste: Tracing the “New Nordic Cuisine” as well as the Vikings in Denmark

The term “New Nordic cuisine” has come to summarize culinary endeavours made by Scandinavian chefs on a high level of local and regional Nordic cuisine. Obvious we had to try this out! In the city of “runes”, Jelling in Jutland, as well as at the gourmet restaurant Snekken in Roskilde, we found what we were looking for: Delicious Danish Burgers and “Viking Cold Platters” as well as excellent fish meals. See, smell & taste for yourself …

Gourmet cuisine in Denmark: My “Danish burger” complete with horseradish, local pickles, onions and egg!

My brother is more in for a treat at Snekken gourmet restaurant, trying the “Viking’s Feast” here.

… I rather stay with the local seafood offer, eating my way through beautiful culinary delights.

Of course, after all this food there has to be a balance with exercising: Enjoy playing Beach Ball at the beach of Hvide Sande at the West Coast of Denmark.

Do you also enjoy hunting for traces of long-gone cultures, imagine the everyday life of people living in the past and like to explore mysterious stories about a country or place? Then, the chapter of the Vikings & Nordic Men of Scandinavia, above all Denmark, will be just perfect for you. Everywhere around Denmark, you can find remains & stories concerning this warrior people: Besides terrorizing other tribes or countries, the Vikings actually were also skillful sailors & tradesmen able to reunite parts of Sweden, Norway and Denmark that had never found peace before. Viking king “Harald Bluetooth“, one of the most famous Vikings of all times, continues to be known all over the world with “bluetooth” technology being named in his honour: Like him, bluetooth enables a connection with previously incompatible systems allowing a transfer of data and resources. Interesting!

The Viking museum in Roskilde is clearly worth the visit, being one of the largest and modernest in the whole of Denmark. Here, a Viking ship is being rebuilt according to old plans in the open air part of the museum district.

Is Julian going to be successful? For sure, the Vikings must have been tough, strong guys … 😀

Another replica of a former Viking settlement in Trelleborg, which is clearly worth the visit when interested by the Vikings and their history and legacy in Denmark.

In the Western parts of Denmark, the city of Jelling is home to mysterious stone carvings called “Runes” which is seen as the Viking language. These carvings are probably over 1.000 years old!

Check out the tomb hills of the former Viking King & Queen in modern-day Jelling.

Popular tips for destinations around the country: Our experiences and highlights for your trip to Denmark

Last but not least, Martin Julian and I would still like to share the following insider tips & recommendations for your trip to Denmark. These destinations and excursion targets are all worth the visit and can easily be reached and connected as part of a round trip within two to three days, like we did it. Here, I am telling you about what impressed us most: The famous chalk cliffs at the Danish island Mon as well as our day trip to the highest point of Denmark. Before you carry on reading, take a guess: What is the maximum altitude of the country of Denmark?

a.   100 metres above sea level

b.   170 metres above sea level

c.   270 metres above sea level

…

1. Travel to the highest point of Denmark: Close to the small town of Ejer, the highest “peak” of Denmark “towers” in the Western Danish area of Jutland, at just above 170 metres above sea level. Did you guess right? This is lower than where we live by the Danube in Lower Austria (about 220 metres above sea level): It comes as no surprise that Danes like to trade in seashores for mountains and holidays in Austria, whereas we as sea-deprived Austrians delight in their endless Nordic beaches and long summer daylight hours!
2. Hvide Sande: Tose in the sand & western-most point of Denmark. Here, we enjoy long hours at the beach offering wakeboarding, Windsurfing, fishing and a whole lot of other activities. The North Sea is cool by nature, my brother still is up for some skinny dipping: “After all, it’s summer!” Of course, I had to take this picture … 😉
3. Mon Klint: Large, towering chalk cliffs rising in the south of Zealand. Here, nature has dealt the area with all its cards: Picturesque white chalk cliffs rising from a turquoise sea and being fringed by dense beech tree forests. Wow! A paradise for hikers and nature fans as well as a must-see is this trip into the very south-Eastern corner of Denmark.

Dear friends, dear travellers, “this is it”: View upon the highest point of Denmark!

The highest point of Denmark can be reached after crossing this impressive 20 kilometre swing bridge between the islands of Zealand and Fünen.

Having arrived in Western Denmark later that day, we enjoy the view from the sand dunes overlooking the sea at Hvide Sande …

… toes in the sand .. oh how I love the feeling …

… my brave brother going for a swim!

The landscape out here in these Western parts of Denmark is just too beautiful …

Hahaha! The best announcement of opening hours I have ever seen – in Hvide Sande, Western Denmark.

Last but not least, the cliffs of “Mont Klint” in South-Eastern Denmark cast their spell on us …

… descending down densely clad beech tree forests and all the way to the sea …

The views opening up every now and then from the forest trail are just magnificent.

Mon Klint is a real highlight of our trip and we would recommend it to anybody visiting Denmark with a bit of time for excursions on their hands. Up to 128 metres, the chalk cliffs rise from the sea here: A stark contrast in an otherwise very flat country.

A special word of thank you goes to both Martin, our wonderful guide and host in Denmark without whom the trip would have been nowhere close to as happy, fulfilled and relaxed as it was, as well as my brother Julian who is the best, easy-going and relaxed travel partner one could wish for. Hope we team up soon again guys for more travelling: In Denmark or Austria!