Help with Denmark Itinerary - September 2021 Trip

on to Aarhus – I see you did this, but I am not seeing a good route.

Ferry from Ærø to Svendborg, train from Svendborg to Århus (one change in Odense required).

Overall it looks like a good plan, but personally i would remove one day in Århus and add it to Copenhagen.

Thank you. About how long is the trip from Svendborg to Aarhus? I had considered getting a rental car once we leave Copenhagen and then returning it when we get to Aarhus. just to navigate the trip to Aero. But we really would prefer to keep it on publlc transportation if that's possible without eating up too much time. As for days in Aarhus, I was thinking that with the travel we would have just 2 days there. Since Day 9 and 12 are travel days.

Here are a couple of comments.

1. Use https://www.rejseplanen.dk/webapp/?language=en_EN for all planning of public transport.

In Copenhagen:

1. Before or after Kronborg (or instead of Kronborg) be sure to visit
   https://mfs.dk/en/. A museum dedicated to the commercial navy rather
   than the military navy. It's a short walk from Kronborg.

2. Try https://goboat.dk/en/ who will rent you an
   electric boat you can navigate around the inner harbour.

3. See a changing of the guards. The best way is to wait on the corner
   of Gothersgade and Rosenborggade at 11:27, when the guards start
   their walk to Amalienborg. Sometimes with music. Follow them to
   Amalienborg (about 2 km.) and see them do their thing.

I have heard about canal tours

You are probably thinking of one of these:

• https://www.havnerundfart.dk/canaltours/index.php?page=forside.php
• https://www.stromma.com/en-dk/copenhagen/sightseeing/sightseeing-by-boat/grand-tour/
• https://www.steelhousecopenhagen.com/visit-copenhagen/canal-tours

In Odense

1. There is a new Hans Christian Andersen museum opening now.

In Århus

1. "Den gamle by" if you are interested in history
2. "AROS" if you are interested in art or a good view of the city
3. "Salling" for the view from the top. The homepage is in Danish only :-(

You just ask about Denmark, but have you considered including Oslo, Norway in your itinerary? Copenhagen is great but I count 7 nights there, which is more than you need to see that city and surrounding area very thoroughly. And 3 nights in Aarhus sounds like a lot. I haven't been there, but is there really 3 days worth of good things to do? If you trimmed those stays by a few days (perhaps skip Aarhus entirely, at least for overnight), you could easily fit in a couple days in Oslo, especially if you take the overnight ferry which runs (or at least did, pre-Covid; if not that, it's a short flight) between those cities (we flew USA-Copenhagen, then ferry to Oslo, then direct flight Oslo-CPH-USA, making it an "open-jaw" flight didn't cost much more on SAS than the RT just to CPH would have been). We found that trip a few years ago to be very pleasant and time-efficient (leave one city late afternoon, arrive in the other early the next morning) and the travel effectively free, because the price of a nice cabin and dinner on the ship was about the same as what we would have paid for a hotel anyway on land. For the culture, history and especially nautical-lover, Oslo is wonderful (just as good as and perhaps even better than Copenhagen, to say nothing of Aarhus): Viking ships that are different (and better preserved) than the ones in Roskilde, the Kon-Tiki, Amundsen's Fram which explored both Arctic and Antarctic, a maritime museum (all four of these things right next to each other), the excellent Norwegian resistance museum in a castle setting, and Munch paintings for the art-lover.

Hi Virginia,
I just tried to post a reply and I dont think my post went through. If it did, then I am just going to repeat myself here. We are actually planning a trip with friends to Norway next summer. I am desperate to travel (we usually travel out of the US a couple of times each year), and I came up with Denmark after looking at how Covid is going there as well as their restrictions due to covid (or lack of them right now). We are fully vaccinated. As for the itinerary, I can always take away that last day in Copenhagen, but my thought is that we have a lot of day trips out of the city so we would be okay. And as for Aarhus - we will only be there 2 days. Other days we will be traveling. Thanks,
Susan

About how long is the trip from Svendborg to Aarhus?

2.5-3 hours. See www.dsb.dk for more information.

I had considered getting a rental car once we leave Copenhagen and
then returning it when we get to Aarhus.

You mention that you are frequent travellers, so you must realise that doing that trip by rental car is a pretty bad idea.

You just ask about Denmark, but have you considered including Oslo,
Norway in your itinerary?

Due to Covid, I'd not recommend that. Norway has had and still has among the strictest entry rules in Europe. Basically, if you are not a citizen or resident you can't enter Norway (with a few very limited exceptions).

Copenhagen is great but I count 7 nights there, which is more than you
need to see that city and surrounding area very thoroughly.

I don't think there is any risk of boredom with 7 days in Copenhagen. There are many things to see and do an plenty of possible day trips. Apart from the ones mentioned there are several places in southern Sweden that make great day trips from Copenhagen.

Nice side trip is Dragor, so close it’s almost more of a suburb than a separate town. It’s utterly charming. During the Nazi occupation, its inhabitants were very active in smuggling Jews across to Sweden, hidden in their fishing boats. There is a small museum devoted to memorializing that history.

An alternative (half) day trip, or possible add-on to your Helsingor day, could be a visit to the Louisiana art museum in Humlebaek. It is an easy train trip from KBH and is a wonderfully-sited venue overlooking the Oresund, with lovely grounds, varied exhibits, a cafe, and an excellent shop. There also are several places near the station to get a sandwich, etc. for the train or a picnic. You can check to see if current exhibits appeal to you.

Although I haven’t yet been to Aarhus, I doubt you’ll run out of interesting things to do there, and certainly Copenhagen can keep you busy indefinitely!

Edited: See I am too late, nevertheless worth to mention the following:

Last week during my stay in Denmark, someone strongly recommended to visit the Moesgaard museum of human evolution near Aarhus. He was impressed how everything is displayed and regarded it as one of his most favorit museums he has ever seen. His words ofcourse but think worth putting under your attention. There is a bus connection from Aarhus to the museum. www.moesgaardmuseum.dk/en/