Skagen Odde Naturcenter

Skagen

　　In a beautiful Utzon-designed building on the northern outskirts of town, this centre gives an insight into the natural elements that surround Skagen and make it unique. It's pricey, but worth a visit if you're into architecture. There are also changing art exhibitions, and family activities. ...

Anchers Hus

Skagen

　　Time stands still at the atmospheric former home of renowned Skagen painters Anna and Michael Ancher, its interiors unchanged since Anna Ancher's passing in 1935. You can inspect the family's personal possessions and around 250 works of art from Scandinavian, German, Dutch and British artists. The venue also includes a...

Råbjerg Mile

Skagen

　　Denmark’s largest expanse of drifting sand dunes, Råbjerg Mile is an amazing natural phenomenon. These undulating, 40m-high hills are fun to explore and almost big enough to lose yourself in. The dunes were formed on the west coast during the great sand drift of the 16th century and have purposefully...

Den Tilsandede Kirke

Skagen

　　The 'sand-covered church', built during the late 14th century, was once the region's biggest church. It fell victim to a sand drift that began in the 17th century and became progressively worse – so much so that churchgoers eventually had to dig their way in. In 1795 the relentless sand...

Gammel Skagen

Skagen

　　There’s a touch of Cape Cod in refined Gammel Skagen ('Old Skagen', also known as Højen), renowned for its gorgeous sunsets, upmarket hotels and well-heeled summer residents. 　　It was a fishing hamlet before sandstorms ravaged this windswept area and forced many of its inhabitants to move to Skagen on the...

Skagens Museum

Skagen

　　This wonderful gallery showcases the outstanding art that was produced in Skagen between 1870 and 1930. Artists discovered Skagen's luminous light and its wind-blasted heath-and-dune landscape in the mid-19th century and fixed eagerly on the romantic imagery of the area’s fishing life that had earned the people of Skagen a...

Grenen

Skagen

　　Appropriately enough for such a neat and ordered country, Denmark doesn’t end untidily at its most northerly point, but on a neat finger of sand just a few metres wide. You can actually paddle at its tip, where the waters of the Kattegat (an arm of the Baltic Sea) and...

Langes Gård

Aalborg

　　The neighbourhood around Vor Frue Kirke is worth a wander, particularly the cobbled L-shaped street of Hjelmerstald. Halfway down the street is Langes Gård, a courtyard full of fun sculptures and ceramics, with a showroom and workshop too. ...

Gråbrødrekloster Museet

Aalborg

　　This underground museum allows you to step off one of Aalborg’s busiest shopping streets to explore the life of a Franciscan friary in medieval times. Entry is via an elevator outside Salling department store on Algade; the museum is free to enter, but you pay to ride the elevator (40kr...

Aalborg Zoo

Aalborg

　　Teeming with feathered, furry and four-legged friends, it’s no surprise this zoo is one of Denmark’s most popular. Some 1200 animals call it home, including tigers, zebras, elephants, giraffes, chimpanzees, penguins, and brown and polar bears. It’s southwest of the city and can be reached by bus 11; closing times...

Budolfi Domkirke

Aalborg

　　This 12th-century cathedral marks the centre of the old town and its elegant carillon can be heard every hour, on the hour. Its whitewashed interior creates an almost Mediterranean ambience. 　　As you enter the cathedral from Algade, look up at the foyer ceiling to see colourful frescoes from around 1500....

Kunsten

Aalborg

　　Housed in a stunning white-marble building designed by the great Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, Kunsten is Aalborg's high-quality museum of modern art. The building's light-filled interior complements a fine collection of predominantly Danish works and changing exhibitions. Lovely grounds and a smart cafe make it an easy place to spend...

Utzon Center

Aalborg

　　This impressive 700-sq-metre design and architecture space, with its distinctive silver roofscape, sits pretty on the waterfront. It's the last building designed by celebrated Danish architect, Jørn Utzon (1918–2008), who famously designed the Sydney Opera House. Utzon grew up in Aalborg and died shortly after the eponymous centre was finished....

Waterfront

Aalborg

　　The Aalborg waterfront promenade, extending east from Limfjordsbroen, is a great example of urban regeneration, taking what was a scruffy dockside area and opening it up to locals. Here you’ll find restaurants, a park, playground, basketball courts and moored boats (including an old ice-breaker, now a restaurant-bar). One of the...

Lindholm Høje

Aalborg

　　The Limfjord was a kind of Viking motorway providing easy, speedy access to the Atlantic for longboat raiding parties. It’s not surprising, then, that the most important piece of Aalborg’s historical heritage is a predominantly Viking one. 　　The atmospheric Lindholm Høje is a Viking burial ground where nearly 700 graves...

Mediemuseum

Odense

　　Tracing the role of the media in our lives from X Factor to the monastic scriptorium, most of this excellent museum is in Danish and has a Denmark-specific approach. Nonetheless the themes are universal, there's a fine collection of printing presses and loads that's interactive. 　　Making selfies into magazine covers,...

Brandts

Odense

　　This sprawling arts centre occupies a beautifully converted 1887 textile mill. Most of the gallery space is used for well-curated, frequently changing modern-art exhibitions, but at least two rooms display highlights of the Brandts Samling permanent collection, tracing 250 years of Danish art. 　　Highlights from the classical period include HA...

Odense Zoo

Odense

　　Denmark’s showpiece zoo, 2km south of the city centre, is an active supporter of conservation and education programs. There's an ‘oceanium’ with penguins and manatees, and a 'Kiwara' open space that aims to mimic the African savannah. Its residents include tigers, lions, zebras and chimpanzees. Book online if you want...

Odense Domkirke

Odense

　　A feast of whitewashed Gothic arches and vaulting, Odense’s imposing cathedral took 200 years to build (1300–1499) with the tower added in the 1580s. 　　Its most intriguing attraction lies in the chilly crypt, down an inconspicuous staircase to the right of the altar. Here you’ll find a glass case containing...

Møntergården

Odense

　　The new, stylishly designed main section of this city-history museum takes visitors on a thematic walk through humorously named 'Funen – Centre of the Universe', looking at world events and cultural currents through a Funen lens. Different areas cover pre-Viking gods, the Industrial Revolution's effect on villages, WWII occupation, the...

HC Andersens Hus

Odense

　　Lying amid the seemingly miniaturised streets of the former poor quarter is the sparse little cottage where Hans Christian Andersen was born. Visiting it is a small part of a much bigger, modern museum experience that gives a thorough, lively account of Andersen’s extraordinary life. His achievements are put into...

Den Fynske Landsby

Odense

　　Wind back the clock to the 1850s at this delightful open-air museum, a landscaped 'village' of over two dozen furnished old buildings transplanted from around Funen. The scene comes complete with farmyard animals, a duck pond and a windmill, while daily in summer (plus on some other weekends) costumed ‘peasants’...

Jernbanemuseet

Odense

　　For train buffs, this fabulous video-rich museum is almost reason enough to come to Denmark. The core collection of over 30 engines and wagons, ranging from 1868 to 1981, includes an 1869 snow plough, a double-decker carriage and Christian IX's plush 1900 royal saloon car. There are also model trains...

Tivoli Friheden

Aarhus

　　Neither as big nor as fabulous as Copenhagen’s major drawcard, Aarhus’ Tivoli is still a fun, wholesome family attraction, full of childhood favourites (dodgem cars and a Ferris wheel) as well as newer, faster rides. You can buy a multi-ride pass (245kr, including admission) and go hard, or pay for...

Vor Frue Kirke

Aarhus

　　Set back from Vestergade, the Church of Our Lady is like a Russian matryoshka (nesting doll), opening to reveal multiple layers. It was here that the original Aarhus cathedral was erected shortly after 1060. That cathedral stood until about 1240, when it was replaced by the current red-brick church, whose...

Møllestien

Aarhus

　　While you’re exploring the old part of town, be sure to wander along idyllic Møllestien, easily Aarhus’ prettiest street – all cobblestones, pastel-coloured cottages and climbing roses. ...

Aarhus Domkirke

Aarhus

　　With a lofty nave spanning nearly 100m in length, Aarhus Domkirke is Denmark’s longest church. The original Romanesque chapel at the eastern end dates from the 12th century, while most of the rest of the church is 15th-century Gothic. 　　Like other Danish churches, the cathedral was once richly decorated with...

Dokk1

Aarhus

　　Opened in 2015 as part of Aarhus' large-scale waterfront regeneration, Dokk1 is the kind of public space Danes excel at, and houses Scandinavia's largest library. It's a great building, home to countless reading nooks, a cafe, kids' play area and an information desk for visitors to the city. ...

Moesgaard Museum

Aarhus

　　Don't miss the reinvented Moesgaard Museum, 10km south of the city, housed in a spectacularly designed, award-winning modern space. The star attraction is the 2000-year-old Grauballe Man, whose astonishingly well-preserved body was found in 1952 in the village of Grauballe, 35km west of Aarhus. Aside from the Grauballe Man, the...

Den Gamle By

Aarhus

　　The Danes’ seemingly limitless enthusiasm for dressing up and re-creating history reaches its zenith at Den Gamle By. It’s an engaging, picturesque open-air museum of over 70 half-timbered houses brought here from all corners of Denmark and reconstructed as a provincial market town from the era of Hans Christian Andersen....

ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum

Aarhus

　　Inside the cubist, red-brick walls of Aarhus’ showpiece art museum are nine floors of sweeping curves, soaring spaces and white walls showcasing a wonderful selection of Golden Age works, Danish modernism and an abundance of arresting and vivid contemporary art. The museum's cherry-on-top is the spectacular Your Rainbow Panorama, a...

Thorvaldsens Museum

Copenhagen

　　What looks like a colourful Greco-Roman mausoleum is in fact a museum dedicated to the works of illustrious Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844). Heavily influenced by mythology after four decades in Rome, Thorvaldsen returned to Copenhagen and donated his private collection to the Danish public. In return the royal family...

De Kongelige Stalde

Copenhagen

　　Completed in 1740, the two curved, symmetrical wings behind Christiansborg belonged to the original baroque palace, destroyed by fire in 1794. The wings still house the royal stables and its museum of antique coaches, uniforms and riding paraphernalia, some of which are still used for royal receptions. Among these is...

Rådhus

Copenhagen

　　Completed in 1905, Copenhagen's national Romantic-style city hall is the work of architect Martin Nyrop. Inside is the curious Jens Olsen's World Clock, designed by astro mechanic Jens Olsen (1872–1945) and built at a cost of one million kroner. It displays not only local time, but also solar time, sidereal...

Rådhuspladsen

Copenhagen

　　The square outside Copenhagen's Rådhus (City Hall) unites the busy thoroughfare of Vestrobrogade and the bustling Strøget pedestrian street. While the current hoardings (metro station under construction) mar its beauty somewhat, it remains home to a number of city icons. Among these is the Italian-inspired Rådhus itself, built in 1905,...

Vor Frelsers Kirke

Copenhagen

　　It's hard to miss this 17th-century church and its 95m-high spiral tower. For a soul-stirring city view, make the head-spinning 400-step ascent to the top – the last 150 steps run along the outside rim of the tower, narrowing to the point where they literally disappear at the top. Inspired...

Palmehus

Copenhagen

　　Forget Thailand: to escape the Nordic cold, simply slip inside the Botanic Garden's Palm House. A large, elegant glasshouse dating from the 19th century, its dense collection of plants from continents as far flung as Australia make for a quick, steamy escape. The main circular section features wrought-iron spiral staircases...

Reffen

Copenhagen

　　This harbourside street-food market is a veritable village of converted shipping containers, peddling sustainable bites from across the globe. Multiculti options include organic polenta and pasta, dosas, burgers, sushi, satay skewers and Filipino BBQ. You'll also find a number of bars (open until 10pm or later Friday and Saturday). These...

Nikolaj Kunsthal

Copenhagen

　　Built in the 13th century, the church of Sankt Nikolaj is now home to the Copenhagen Contemporary Art Centre, which hosts around half-a-dozen exhibitions annually. Exhibitions tend to focus on modern-day cultural, political and social issues, explored in mediums as diverse as photography and performance art. The centre also houses...

Jens Olsen's World Clock

Copenhagen

　　The most famous resident at Copenhagen's Rådhus (City Hall) is the curious Jens Olsen's World Clock, designed by astromechanic Jens Olsen (1872–1945) and built at a cost of one million kroner. Not only does it display local time, but also solar time, sidereal time, sunrises and sunsets, firmament and celestial...

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

Copenhagen

　　Fin de siècle architecture meets with an eclectic mix of art at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. The collection is divided into two parts: Northern Europe's largest booty of antiquities, and an elegant collection of 19th-century Danish and French art. The latter includes the largest collection of Rodin sculptures outside of France...

Vor Frue Kirke

Copenhagen

　　Founded in 1191 and rebuilt three times after devastating fires, Copenhagen's neoclassical cathedral dates from 1829. Designed by CF Hansen, its lofty, vaulted interior houses Bertel Thorvaldsen's statues of Christ and the apostles, completed in 1839 and considered his most acclaimed works. In fact, the sculptor's depiction of Christ, with...

Botanisk Have

Copenhagen

　　Restorative and romantic, Copenhagen's Botanic Garden lays claim to around 13,000 species of plant life – the largest collection in Denmark. You can amble along tranquil trails, escape to warmer climes in the 19th-century Palmehus glasshouse and even pick up honey made using the garden's own bees at the gorgeous...

Christiansborg Slotskirke

Copenhagen

　　Tragedy struck CF Hansen’s austere, 19th-century neoclassical church on the day of the 1992 Copenhagen Carnival. A stray firework hit the scaffolding that had surrounded the church during a lengthy restoration and set the roof ablaze, destroying the dome. With no surviving architectural plans of the dome and roof construction...

Coffee Collective

Copenhagen

　　Copenhagen's most prolific microroastery, Coffee Collective has helped revolutionise the city's coffee culture. Head in for rich, complex cups of caffeinated magic. The baristas are passionate about their single-origin beans and the venue itself sits at one end of creative Jægersborggade in Nørrebro. There are several other outlets, including at...