Aarhus to Copenhagen to Svenborg RT

1) If you haven't factored in the cost of fuel and perhaps tolls, that may somewhat change
the economic evaluation of trains vs cars.

2) The convenience factor of a train is also worth something in my mind.

3) There appears to be a Danish Eurail pass which may make the trains cheaper?

4) Maybe combine the two? Drive to Odense, drop off the car, train to Copenhagen,
then Svendborg, pick up another car, drive back to Aarhus. One way car rental
eliminates parking costs.

Hello,

The alternative that has not been mentioned is to take a coach bus. Your choices are Flixbus (Aarhus-Copenhagen & Copenhagen-Svendborg) and Kombardo Expressen (Aarhus-Copenhagen via the Molslinjen ferry). I don’t think there’s a direct bus Svendborg-Aarhus, so either you’ll have to take a train to Odense and then Flixbus from there, or travel by train/rental car entirely.

There is a toll for crossing the Great Belt Bridge. The toll depends on the size of the vehicle, but most cars fall within the category being charged a 230 DKK toll per crossing. You won’t encounter other tolls on a Aarhus-Copenhagen-Svendborg-Aarhus round trip.

For the Aarhus-Copenhagen leg you may bypass the bridge by taking a Molslinjen ferry service. Then you’ll have to pre-book a ferry ticket, which you can do on Molslinjen's website.

The “best way” to travel is subjective. To me, the train is “best” in most cases, especially with itineraries as yours. I don’t know how many you are, when you will be traveling, etc., but in case you were not aware: You can get significant savings by booking ahead and choosing a so-called Orange or Orange Fri ticket (non-flex tickets). Avoid third party ticket sites, instead book directly with DSB.

How many of you are there? I doubt renting a car is cheaper than taking the train. Especially since parking in Copenhagen is not going to be cheap.

There are four of us on this trip; that's why we thought it would be cheaper to rent a hybrid car. I like the idea of driving from Aarhus to the train station in Odense, taking the train into Copenhagen and back; then picking up the car in Odense and driving the rest of the trip to Svenborg & Aarhus. Hopefully the parking at the Odense train station wouldn't be too costly. Does that make sense?

According to DSB there are 33 free parking spots near Odense Station (you need to get a free DSB parking ticket). That is very few free parking spots, so expect it to be very busy. Read more here: https://www.dsb.dk/trafikinformation/stationer/odense/

For an overview of parking in Odense, you can read here: https://odenserundt.dk/tag/51

To me, that plan sounds cumbersome and expensive. You’ll pay to rent the car, only to have it wait around at a parking lot in Odense (potentially paid parking) while you are in Copenhagen for how many days? Compared to Aarhus-Copenhagen by train, this will at most save you 120 DKK on train tickets per person (and likely less, if you book ahead or have children/youth/seniors in your travel group).

Does that make sense?

In my opinion no, it sounds like way to much faff. Since you're going from city to city, the train is in my opinion the best option. If you're driving to Odense to keep the car there while you're in Copenhagen you still have to pay to rent a car, and you're paying the rental cost even while it's sitting in a parking lot in Odense collecting dust. And a train ticket from Odense to Copenhagen is not that much cheaper than a train ticket from Århus to Copenhagen. And if you're not able to park in one of the free spots in Odense, you will have to pay quite a bit to keep the car there. There are parking garages close to the station, but they cost 15 kr/h or more. You don't mention how long you plan to be in Copenhagen, but that will give you an indication about the cost of having a car in Odense.

And price is not everything, you also have to think about other factors. And taking the train from Århus to Copenhagen is so much easier than driving. You board the train in central Århus and a few hours later you are in central Copenhagen.

Thanks, everyone, for your great advice. Looking forward to our trip to Denmark!

For what it's worth, my suggestion was not to park a car at the train station
in Odense. Drop the car off and rent a new one when you come back from
Copenhagen. Of course, this depends on where the car rental location(s)
are in Odense.

As noted, there is no need to find/pay for parking when you can simply drop
off the car and get a new one a few days later.