Trip to Denmark and Northern Germany

For RyanAir, pony up a little extra money for whatever extras that will get you, and then follow their instructions explicitly.

Thanks for that advice Kim. We have purchased a ticket that includes priority boarding and 2 pieces of luggage.

We loved Aarhus, the AROs Art Museum is great. I recommend the Occupation Museum. It is small and doesn’t take too long but we thought it was super interesting. We had a good dinner at Den Rustikke, a cosy little restaurant nearby.

Thanks for the update on sights to visit in Aarhus. We will certainly try and visit the occupation museum during our stay.

Tip: Egeskov castle is worth a visit close to Odense.

There are some more interesting places in between Aarhus and Hamburg.
From North to South:

• North Sea beaches at Løkken and Blokhus
• Jelling: viking heritage museum (UNESCO)
• Christiansfeld: an own cultural town (World Heritage Site)
• Ribe: old town
• Flensburger brewery, really a brand on its own
• Haithabu viking village
• Gottorf castle
• Kiel Canal (watching ships at Brückenterrassen Restaurant in Rendsburg)
• Büdelsdorf: bakery Drews, really one of the best for German bread. I lived close to them for some years.
• Laboe: WWII submarine U-995 at Naval Memorial
• Glückstadt: small marine old town
• Jork and Altes Land: the paradise for apple lovers (take ferry across Elbe from Glückstadt)
• Stade: also very beautiful old town from Hanseatic times

For the German part I recommend a rental car from Flensburg or Schleswig on to return in Hamburg.

Heads up for history buffs: the today's border between Germany and Denmark was established in 1920 based on a plebiscite voting of the population. Still today the Danish minority has vast rights in this part of Germany, e. g. at elections their political party does not need to have more than 5% to have a seat in state parliament.

In Odense visit Den Fynske Landsby - an open air museum with buildings from all around Fuen. There are several ways to get there. I prefer the boat.

You can visit the zoo on the way back.

Heard very good things about the archaeology and ethnography MOMU - Moesgaard Museum south of Aarhus. https://www.moesgaardmuseum.dk/en/

Second visiting Egeskov castle and Den Fynske Landsby in Odense. The railway museum Danmarks Jernbanemuseum there is worth visiting too. There was a steam event going on when I stayed near Odense 3 years ago and made it very special. However that was in September. https://www.jernbanemuseet.dk/en/

Further east of Odense the unique Viking ship grave museum Ladby near Kerteminde.
https://vikingemuseetladby.dk/?lang=en

Thanks for your recommendations MarkK. We will certainly try and visit Egeskov Castle while in Odense area. Your other recommendations and insight into the history related to the evolution of governance in border areas between Denmark and Germany are certainly interesting and informative.

Thanks for the recommendation and information related to Den Fynske Landsby open air museum near Odense, I.P. Enersen. It is certainly valuable to obtain insight and recommendation concerning places to visit from a local like yourself. We will certainly include this in our list of places to visit while in Odense.

Thanks for the suggestion and info related to Mosegaard museum near Aarhus which looks interesting Wil. We will certainly try and include it in our list of places to visit while in Aarhus.

Yes to all Odense and Hamburg suggestions. I have not visited Aarhus.

In addition, in Odense consider the Møntergården museum right in historic area. I had not heard of it until we were there, but we spent 90 minutes and I wished for more time. https://montergarden.dk/en/

Read the reviews of the HC Andersen museum - very mixed. We passed it up as I get migraines from some visual exhibits and was afraid of that.

Hamburg has excellent (important!) art and design museums and a Maritime Museum. I thought I’d skip the latter, but I had to be dragged out. Incredible. The Ballinstadt Museum of immigration was interesting for the historical exhibits, but I found the general exhibits on immigration worldwide less so. Hamburg History Museum if back in full operation.

btw: a fun thing for a photo in Aarhus is "Sea Pink".

Yes to all Odense and Hamburg suggestions. I have not visited Aarhus.
In addition, in Odense consider the Møntergården museum right in historic area. I had not heard of it until we were there, but we spent 90 minutes and I wished for more time. https://montergarden.dk/en/

Thanks for the suggestion. We have included Montegarden Museum in the list of places to visit while in Odense.The list of museums that we could visit while in Hamburg also look interesting. Thanks again for all the suggestions.