4 weeks in Denmark

Not knowing anything about your interests except Ringkøbing (where one of my tip tip grandparents had a tailors shop) and Skagen it is hard to give good advice, but I'll try. We are about 6 years younger than you, so take that into consideration. Do you like city life or nature or the sea? Do you prefer high end hotels or your own apartement / summer house? Do you want to rent a car or do you prefer public transport?

When do you plan to go? IMO it would make sense to go after Easter, when most small hotels open and before October when they close again, but outside the high season from ultimo June to medio August, because that will give you more freedom to wing it.

I think you should plan 9 - 10 days "touristing" and then a week of "vacationing" (aka a vacation in the vacation) and use that time to plan the last 9-10 days. I think a good place for that would be Samsø, But there you would benefit from having a car. Can you rent one? I know some car rental agencies have an age limit, but I don't know the details.

Do you plan to visit Copenhagen, Aarhus, other cities or only small towns?

When you have more specific plans or questions, we can help more. Have a good time planning :-)

It is hard to give advice without knowing more about your interests and what you are looking for. Skagen is a charming place worth a visit and there are many others as well.

As for travel methods, the train is in general a good way to get around in Denmark, and where there are no trains there are often buses. But for rural areas, a car can be useful.

Regarding travel to Denmark, look at what SAS offers. They have direct flights from Chicago to Copenhagen, and starting this year they have flights New York-Aalborg as well.

Thank you for the two responses. We can drive but choose not to where it’s not needed and especially in large cities.

We want to spend time walking beaches and getting to know the locals. We want to stay in places owned by locals not chains. We don’t need luxury accommodations. We like cities rural and water. We love history, art , music and religion.

End of April through June is the time period. We look forward to more thoughtful responses

There are plenty of lovely beaches on northern Jutland, so that will not be a problem. Even if the water might not be warm enough for swimming in April… There are many nice towns on Jutland as well, not just the large cities. So you can probably spend 4 weeks on Jutland, but that is a slow pace of travel. There is a decent train network on Jutland that does a pretty good job of connecting towns and cities, and they are supplemented by buses where there are no railways. But renting a car for a day trip can be useful for some locations.

Regarding flights, SAS starts flying transatlantic to Aalborg in late April, so you might be able to book a round trip to Aalborg via Newark, but the Chicago-Copenhagen flights are year round so an open jaw ticket is possible. Or simply book a round trip to Copenhagen.

Jutland is definitely worth a visit.

For long haul travellers, there are some good connections between Billund and European hub airports, such as London, Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt. That should bring you to Jutland direct. Not a must to land at or fly from Copenhagen.

Because Billund is not crowded at all, passport control and security rarely have queues. I think they have the adequate capacity.

The below episode shed light on how Esbjerg has been revitalised.

For decades, the North Sea’s fierce gales have created a challenge for those extracting the oil and gas buried beneath its swells. But the region’s poor weather is also the key to its future: offshore wind. And the plans are surprisingly ambitious.On this week’s podcast, hosts Tom Lee-Devlin, Alice Fulwood and Mike Bird ask whether the North Sea can turn green. The Economist’s Matthieu Favas says wind farms in the North Sea could power Europe’s 200m homes. Jesper Frost Rasmussen, mayor of Esbjer

• Published: 12/01/2023 19:36:09

• Episode Download link (80 MB): https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/theeconomistmoneytalks/e/63c04831ed26ab0011c88317/media.mp3

• Show Notes: https://shows.acast.com/theeconomistmoneytalks/episodes/money-talks-the-new-power-in-the-north-sea

• Episode feed: The Economist Money talks - http://feeds.feedburner.com/economst/audiovideo/moneytalks

Billund also houses Lego headquarters. Lego house is a great attraction which features Danish designs.

Vejle seems to put together some solid outdoor routes.

https://www.kystlandet.com/coastalland/experiences/vejle-fjord

Get a Rejsekort before you arrive. That'll save you much on public transport.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/books-movies/1864-highly-recommend

Follow the above discussion about the battlefields near Sonderborg.

Near the border, you can find a few good destinations such as Flensburg and Sylt island.

We (59 and 72) really enjoyed Aarhus in September 2022. It has an excellent modern art gallery AROS and an outstanding outdoor museum Den Gamle By which has buildings from three centuries. The museum consists of more than 75 historic houses relocated from all over Denmark.

My husband (72) especially liked the 1974 section at Den Gamle By as the student apartment was very similar to the one he lived in in Australia in the early 1970s.

We traveled by train and bus in Denmark. In Copenhagen we stayed in an apartment in the recently redeveloped Nordhavn area which was well connected to the centre by metro or water bus.

We are loving all your replies we have officially book a delta flight to Copenhagen April 24 and a return flight on May 22. We have 9 night at the Jorgensen Hotel booked upon arrival. Now we are considering whether to take a train to Aros, Aarhus or some other place to visit next and then picking up a car for the rest of our time until the last night in a hotel next to the airport. ( our outbound flight is a 1:40 pm.).

Our grandfather (Morris Anderson) was born in Tarm and left there in 1912. We would want to spend a couple of nights in Tarm to explore any heritage we can.

We also watch Seaside Hotel (fictionally located on the beach not far from Skagen). We definitely envision walking the Sandy beaches in this region.

All our 5 grandchildren build with Legos so we probably should report to them on visiting that location.

Our question now is where to pick up a car and from what company? We also would enjoy any places to stay or eat throughout the country. Please make any recommendations you would like. We love planning and hearing from those with experience and wisdom.

We are loving all your replies we have officially book a delta flight
to Copenhagen April 24 and a return flight on May 22.

An open jaw flight with SAS would have been better, as there would be no need to return to Copenhagen. But, what's done is done.

Our question now is where to pick up a car and from what company?

As I usually say, first decide where you want to go, then decide what mode of transport is the best option. It's impossible to tell you where you should rent a car without knowing where you are going. Maybe you don't need to rent a car at all?

I think your plan to take a train to Aarhus and then rent a car is excellent. That will give you an other kind of travelling experience and enable you to visit less-city-like areas for a few hours without without having to adapt to bus schedules. Be careful to check extra cost when/if returning the car at another office than you picked it up.

In my opinion it would make sense to return the car as soon as you are going back to Copenhagen and the airport, and take the last part by train.

Our grandfather (Morris Anderson) was born in Tarm and left there in
1912. We would want to spend a couple of nights in Tarm to explore any heritage we can.

Sounds like you might be interested in your Danish genealogy.

A good website is https://www.danishfamilysearch.com/

They have the Danish census and church records. They also have forums where you can get help transcribing and translating the records.

My grandmother emigrated from Denmark in 1911 and my grandfather's parents sometime between 1870 and 1883.

Enjoy your trip!

It will be enough time to reach Bornholm - firstly Rønne (by ferry from Ystad in Sweden with train connection from Copenhagen), than Nexø (by car or bike) and even Kołobrzeg (by ferry; ferry in Polish is "prom"). Bornholm is a province of calm and holiday mood.

I recently visited Denmark. Some suggestions for places to visit:

• Copenhagen: Lots to see and do in the city. There are also some options for day trips. I went to Roskilde for a day to visit the Viking Ship Museum and I highly recommend it.
• Odense: I spent part of two different days here. The first day I visited the Hans Christian Andersen sight and the second day I went to the Danish Railway Museum. There are other things to see and do.
• Aarhus: Lovely city and you can easily spend a few days there.

return flight on May 22

I just want to recommend to spend May 17 in Norway which is their constitution day and well celebrated. It is really worth being in Bergen or Oslo at this date (from the morning) if you like folklore. Some details on constitution day in Bergen. There are direct flights between Copenhagen and Bergen.