Copenhagen

Copenhagen has been Denmark’s capital for 600 years. It’s an appealing and largely low-rise city comprised of block after block of period six-storey buildings. Church steeples punctuate the skyline, with only a couple of modern hotels marring the view.

The city’s seemingly interminable pedestrian mall, Strøget, has great shopping and entertainment, from street theatre to the parade of passersby. The famous Tivoli funfair serves up fun in more traditional forms while the cosmopolitan Latin Quarter will tempt you with its coffee aromas.

Egeskov Slot

Egeskov Castle, complete with moat and drawbridge, is a Renaissance gem. Built in 1554, in the middle of a small lake, Egeskov rests on a foundation of thousands of upright oak trunks. The expansive park includes century-old privet hedges, free-roaming peacocks, a topiary and manicured English gardens.

The interior has antique furnishings, grand period paintings and an abundance of hunting trophies. For those who enjoy labyrinths, there’s a 200-year-old bamboo maze. Also on the grounds is an antique car museum, which displays about 300 period cars.

Legoland

Legoland is a 10-hectare theme park built from plastic Lego blocks, and is not recommended to anyone who fears having their childhood writ both large and Lilliputian in 42 million pieces. The most elaborate reconstruction here is the three-million-block Port of Copenhagen exhibit

Despite being Denmark’s most visited attraction outside of Copenhagen, after any nostalgia wares off Legoland can be Bleckobland unless you’ve got a preteen entourage or have always wanted to resolve the structural problems of building the Statue of Liberty out of plastic.

Møns Klint

These spectacular white chalk cliffs rise 128m above sea level, presenting one of the most striking landscapes in Denmark. Created 5000 years ago, the cliffs were formed when calcareous deposits were lifted from the ocean floor. You can walk down the cliffs to the beach and directly back up again in about 30 minutes, or walk along the shoreline in either direction and then loop back up through a thick forest of wind-gnarled beech trees for a hardier walk of about one and a half hours.

Møns Klint is located on the island of Møn, south of Zealand, to which it is connected by bridge and serviced daily by bus.

Ribe

Ribe is the oldest town in Scandinavia; recent excavations have unearthed a number of silver coins, indicating that a market town once existed here as far back as AD 700. Incessant wars with Sweden strangled regional commerce, resulting in Ribe’s decline as an important medieval trading centre.

The town’s economic decline has, nevertheless, spared it from modernisation. With its crooked, cobbled streets and half-timbered 16th-century houses, visiting Ribe is like stepping into a living museum. Its dominant landmark, Ribe Cathedral, stands as a fine testament to Ribe’s prominent past.

Århus

The commercial and cultural centre of Jutland, Århus is a lively university city with one of Denmark’s best music and entertainment scenes. It has the added attraction of an open-air museum with 75 restored buildings brought here from around Denmark and reconstructed as a provincial town.

Off the Beaten Track
Christiansø

Christiansø is a beautifully preserved 17th-century island fortress, an hour’s sail north-east of Bornholm. The entire island is an unspoiled reserve - no cars or modern buildings and no cats or dogs. Christiansø (population 100), is connected to its sister island, Frederiksø, by a footbridge.

Christiansø’s Store Tårn (Great Tower), built in 1684, is an impressive structure with a 25 metre diameter. The tower’s century-old lighthouse offers a splendid 360 degree view of the island. The Lille Tårn (Little Tower) on Frederiksø dates from 1685, and is the site of the local-history museum.

Skagen

A fishing port for centuries, Skagen’s luminous heath-and-dune landscape was discovered in the mid-1800s by artists, and in more recent times by summering urbanites. The peninsula is lined with fine beaches, including a sandy stretch just a 15-minute walk from the town centre.

Sagens Museum has paintings of PS Krøyer, Michael & Anna Ancher and other Skagen artists who came to ‘paint the light’. Denmark’s northernmost point is the long curving sweep of sand at Grenen. The path to the beach crosses rose-covered dunes, passing the grave of the poet Holger Drachmann.

Ærø

Ærø is an idyllic island with small villages, rolling hills and patchwork farms. Great for cycling, the country roads are dotted with thatched houses, old windmills and ancient passage graves and dolmens. Ærøskøbing - a prosperous merchant town in the late 1600s -is a wonderful place for a flaneur.

Its narrow, cobbled streets are lined with close-standing 17th- and 18th-century houses, many of them gently listing half-timbered affairs with handblown glass windows, decorative doorways and street-side hollyhocks. In keeping with the town’s character, sights are low-key.