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Denmark in late September/early October

Posted by (Massachusetts) on

We are considering traveling to Denmark for the last week of September and early October, for 10 days and 9 nights. I've read about the weather there, but I am more interested in learning about your experiences there at this time. Does Copenhagen really shut down? Or does this not kick in until later in the autumn?

Also, for those who have been there, would you recommend staying in Copenhagen for the entire trip with lots of day trips (Malmo, Mons Klint, Roskilde, Hillerod, Helsingor, etc.) or moving around the country? There are things on Jutland I'd like to see/do (Jelling, Ribe, Legoland, to name a few), but I'm also hesitant to try to cram too much in. We are experienced travelers in our early thirties, so a busy schedule with lots of moving around isn't a problem for us.

Finally, would you do Odense as a day trip (looks to be about 75-90 minutes by train each way), or recommend staying a night there?

I very much appreciate any advice.

Posted by
971 posts

You are right that the weather is not the best at that time, but Copenhagen does not shut down at any time of the year. Its a capital city and we are people living here after all. Some of the more touristy stuff closes down, Tivoli gardens close for the season on sep. 20th, but opens for Halloween on oct. 9th to nov. 1sth. The harbour boats might also be a bit misserable if the weather is bad and the parks will be less crowded, but you can still find plenty to do.

10 days is probably too much for Copenhagen, 3 days should do it and a day for each of the daytrips to Roskilde, Malmø, Helsingør and Hillerød. Møns Klint is 3 hours by public transport from Copenhagen, so not suited for a day trip and preferably visited by car.

Odense is propably also a bit too far for a daytrip, but on the way to Jutland, so if you are keen on visiting Jutland, you could spend the night in Odense. Jelling and Ribe are very nice places and some of the most historically significant in Denmark, but maybe there is not enough to see there to keep you occupied for a whole day. To make the most of your time in this area you could rent a car, so you can see more places in a day.

For all public transport in Denmark ude www.rejseplanen.dk as your travel planner.

Posted by
404 posts

Morten or anyone else familiar with the area: this is my tentative itinerary. My flights in and out of CPH are booked, but nothing else. Any comments/suggestions/proposed changes would be most welcome. First two nights are in Odense, last seven are in Copenhagen. If you think I am missing anything significant also, please feel free to opine. Thank you all in advance.

Saturday - land at CPH around 2:00 p.m. - take train straight from airport to Odense. Walk around city, get dinner.

Sunday - Hans Christian Andersen museum and house in the morning, Funen Village in the afternoon, anything else we want to do that evening.

Monday - spend morning in Odense, knowing that many sites/museums are closed - perhaps just walk around the town, maybe go to the zoo. lunch time train back to Copenhagen. spend rest of day there.

Tuesday - purchase five day Copenhagen card. day in Copenhagen.

Wednesday - Hillerod - Fredericksborg Castle, catch some of the other museums and sites, walk around and explore

Thursday - Elsinore - Kronborg Castle in the morning, walk around and explore, Louisiana Museum of Contemporary Art in afternoon, maybe Karen Blixen museum.

Friday - Roskilde - cathedral, viking ship museum, spend day in town.

Saturday - Copenhagen

Sunday - Malmo

Monday - fly home (departing mid-morning), so no time to do anything this day.

Do you think devoting only 2.5 to 3 days to Copenhagen exclusively is insufficient? Should I drop Malmo? Or would you recommend a different day trip other than Malmo?

Posted by
971 posts

Hi Steve

I think you itinerary looks quite good!
I think you have got the most interesting sights covered and the Copenhagen Card is definetely going to pay itself in just on puplic transport alone.
2.5-3 days in Copenhagen is probably a minimum, but it depends on how much time you like to spend in museums and what you want to see. Keep in mind that daylight is a bit limited that time of year.
An option for Helsingør could be the award winning maritime museeum http://mfs.dk/en/ right next to Kronborg Castle, but of course it depends on your interests and if you also have to see Kronborg, Helsingør town and Louisiana that day, you are pressed for time.
The day trips to Hillerød and Roskilde looks fine to me.
If you are not keen on Malmø and maybe want to have more time in Copenhagen I would skip Malmø, it's a nice town with a scenic old town square, but it is also quite similar to Helsingør and to a degree Odense and Roskilde. Another option for a different type of experience could be the old fishing village of Dragør. It's quite scenic and could fill up a few hours, then you will have a half day more in Copenhagen itself. It's 45 minutes by bus from Nørreport st in Copenhagen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag%C3%B8r
However this is of course all up to you I am only making suggestions :-)

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