From Copenhagen Airport to island of Aero August 1

Here is the advice of the Man in Seat 61:
The DSB (Danish Railways) website www.dsb.dk will book Danish internal long-distance trains, with cheaper prices if you book ahead.

For English, scroll to the bottom of the home page and click In English bottom left. For Copenhagen, type Copen... and select Kobenhavn H, which is Copenhagen main station.
In Denmark, St. after a place name simply means station.

Seat reservation is optional on most Danish internal trains for a small fee, about 30 krone (€4). If you're happy sitting where you like without a reserved seat you can set Seat reservations to 0 when using www.dsb.dk. Reservation is not possible on regional & suburban trains.

DSB1 means 1st class.

Standard is the regular full-flex price which cannot sell out. It's what you pay at the station on the day, good for any train that day.

Orange is a cheaper limited-availability advance-purchase ticket giving up to 61% off the regular fare, specified train only, no refunds, no changes to travel plans, and you can add up to 2 children under 12 to the booking for free. Book ahead and pick this to save money on longer distance routes in Denmark.

And the source:
https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Copenhagen.htm#Copenhagen-Denmark

Hi,

Some (but not all) of the trains between Copenhagen and Odense (where you'll change for another train to Svendborg) originate at Copenhagen Airport, before they go to Copenhagen Central Station. So if you take on of these, you can eliminate the need for a change at Copenhagen Central Station.

You're a little too early in your planning. Domestic train tickets are released 2 months ahead, so you'll have to come back for the Copenhagen - Svendborg ticket later. When you do, buy your ticket directly from DSB. While the seat reservation is optional, I think it's always worth it to be guaranteed a seat - especially if you travel with a companion and/or with luggage.

Tickets for the international trip Svendborg - Hamburg should already be available for purchase now. Buy it from either DSB or DB.

Source: Years of traveling with DSB ;-)

Thank you both so much! I see a train from Copenhagen Airport that leaves at 8:07 AM and gets to Aeroskobing at 12:15. There seem to be 3 legs to the journey, including the ferry. Do you know if I have to buy tickets for each of the 3 legs? Thank you!

Hi - I'm looking at trips from Aeroskobing to Hamburg on August 5 and all I see is 8:30 pm getting into Hamburg at 5:46 am. I'd like to travel during the day. Do you think there's something I'm not seeing?

You're welcome!

First a general note about the journeys you'll be taking: Note there is no catering on the trains. If you're lucky there's a staff member walking up and down the train with coffee/tea and a chocolate bar for sale, but even that is not guaranteed. It's not an issue though, just be sure to stock up on food/snacks/drinks before getting onboard.

Do you know if I have to buy tickets for each of the 3 legs?

You'll need two tickets. One for the trains (best and cheapest is to buy both legs on one ticket from DSB) and then a ferry ticket from https://www.aeroe-ferry.dk/en/

Do you think there's something I'm not seeing?

Yes, if that is the case there are many things you are not seeing. There are connections like this one (link to Deutsche Bahn: https://int.bahn.de/en/buchung/start?vbid=f28cc71e-2bc9-466f-a3c7-2cbad87dc927) every other hour all throughout the day.

Do you think there's something I'm not seeing?

Yes - but as I don't know where you are looking it is hard to be specific.

One thing I have heard from others, is that when you open the search page, the current day and current time is pre-printed in the search field. So if you look in the evening (Danish time) it will only show you departures at evening and night. Even if you change the date, the time is still wrong (1).

Change the start time to something realistic (e.g. 06:00) and see what shows up.

(1): Speaking as a retired IT specialist this is very poor User Interface Experience; if the date is changed the time should be set to 00:00, but it doesn't.

I thought it would be a good place to unwind from my flight

Absolutely, but you are going to a lot of trouble if that is the only reason for going to Ærø.

Personally I would stop in Odense, take a walk along the stream or a trip on the boat (https://www.aafart.dk/en/), maybe visit the zoo, then continue the next day.

Thanks to you all for your replies to my questions. I'm going to look at these more carefully when I have more time.

I've always wanted to go to Aero, not just to unwind. My reasons are partly aesthetic - the cobblestone streets and multicolored houses, the bathing cabins, and the sea. I do watercolor paintings and I thought I could do that there too. I've also looked at what people who have gone on the Rick Steves Scandinavia tour say are their "wow" moments and many say it's their time in Aero! Maybe I'll go to Odense another time - thank you for the suggestion!

I do appreciate your help with my travel plans. Thank you!