Suggestions for week 3 of our trip

First question: Are you sure you need to rent cars? Sjælland is a densely populated part of Denmark so traffic will be bad and there are plenty of trains and buses.

As for places to visit, Helsingør is worth a visit. Don't miss the castle, made famous by Shakespeare. On the Swedish side Malmö is not the first place I'd suggest, Ystad, Lund and Helsingborg are more interesting. A bit further away Simrishamn also has its charm. A few days on Bornholm is a bad idea. If you are willing to travel even a bit further, there are several towns in Sweden a bit further away that are worth a few days, consider Gothenburg, Varberg, Halmstad, Kalmar or Karlskrona.

Thank you for your suggestions for Sweden. I will do some more research on these options - we have never been to Sweden so all of these would be of interest to us. We already plan to visit Helsingør in week 2 of our trip.

I am concerned that too many small towns may be boring for the young ones. We are from a fairly small Canadian city, so city trips are always enjoyable to us. It seems we are in the minority in that respect, as most of the recommendations I see are for smaller towns and quaint villages.

In regards to needing a car hire, while there are definitely times when we will leave the cars parked and use public transit, many of the stops on our journey are not well serviced by public transit. For example, the outskirts of Nærum, Møn, and the west coast. Additionally, once we factored in the cost of public transit for 7 people it really does not save much money vs the convenience of being able to visit places that are a little off the beaten track and being able to stop at any passing sight that is of interest to us. We have years of experience driving in Europe so are not concerned in that respect, though I acknowledge it is not for everyone nor is it for every trip. If this was only a city trip then I certainly would not rent a vehicle.

MIght there be enough of interest in northern Germany not too far from the Danish border? One advantage I think you'd find there is that it would be cheaper than Sweden. (I do realize that Sweden isn't Norway.)

Yes, we are willing to do Germany as well just not sure what is worth seeing that far north. Hamburg is a little farther than I’d like to drive with kids, but I’ll have a look at Kiel perhaps.

Here is my suggestion:

After Aarhus, take the ferry to Samsø for a couple of days and visit the worlds largest maze. Then take the other ferry to Sjælland.

Question: Do you really all need to be Copenhagen for the rest of your party to catch their flight. Couldn't you put them on a train to Copenhagen and let them find their own way to the airport. Check https://www.rejseplanen.dk/webapp/?language=en_EN to find out how. Or perhaps your family in Nærum could help you.

When you are in Helsingør/Elsinore to see Kronborg, don't forget to visit The Maritime Museum (https://mfs.dk/en/). In my opinion it is much more interesting than Kronborg - but each to his own.

Another place to visit is https://www.campadventure.dk/en/skovtaarnet/

In Copenhagen:

• https://www.havnerundfart.dk/canaltours/ (if it is in Danish, there is a very small UK flag on the page to change language)
• https://goboat.dk/en/

Route: Personally I think it would make more sense to do:

1. Nærum
2. Samsø
3. Aarhus
4. West Coast
5. Billund (4 and 5 could be swapped depending on exactly where on the West Coast)
6. Copenhagen

Hamburg is an easy train ride from Copenhagen. If you're looking for city trips I think Hamburg or Gothenburg are the obvious choices from Denmark, there are direct trains to both from Copenhagen.

Additionally, once we factored in the cost of public transit for 7
people it really does not save much money vs the convenience of being
able to visit places that are a little off the beaten track and being
able to stop at any passing sight that is of interest to us.

Just remember to factor in the cost of fuel, parking (and bridge tolls). Sometimes a car is the best option, but sometimes other options are better.

Thanks for these suggestions. The Maritime museum looks excellent. And Samsø looks very good as well so I will look into this option. It is quite difficult to manage the expectations of 7 people, as I'm sure you can imagine! Some of the things on our itinerary are not to my personal taste, but each person on the trip got to choose some "must haves" and the rest of us either compromise or we split up for that day.

It is a 3,5 hour drive from Billund to Hamburg. I've driven it many, many times. Once you are on the A7 it's a straight shot. Hamburg is easily worth several days, while Kiel isn't really. And as soon as you are off the highway to visit other sites in Northern Germany or Denmark, you are adding tons of driving time for things that are great, but individual places rather than lots to see over several days. I highly, highly recommend Hamburg, and it has tons to see and do for all ages.

That said, there's lots to see in that region, so if driving back roads is your thing, this is a good place for it. You can go to places like Schleswig and visit Haithabu or Sankt Peter-Ording or Plön or any number of obscure villages or strange sites like Arche Warder, a refuge and petting zoo/farm for super endangered livestock breeds. Who knew that was a thing? Another option is Heligoland. It's not well-known to non-Europeans, but it's a neat island, and staying more than just for a day trip is actually really cool.

It's also worth looking into what festivals or events are taking place.