In another of my travel guides I had to write an opinion about this wonderful (but small!) country. I would never have even considered taking a trip to Denmark had it not been for a conference I was required to attend for work. I had heard it was expensive and the weather was very similar to that of the UK...so really no great appeal to a twenty something female - how wrong was I! This opinion is not meant to be a complete run down of Denmark, more of an account of the areas that I visited in the week I was there.
Denmark - General ----------------- Believe it or not, Denmark is made up of 450 islands, most quite tiny and uninhabited. It is divided up into 3 regions; Sjaelland, Fyn and the peninsula of Jylland. The two cities I stayed in; Aalborg and Aarhus were situated to the west of Jylland so this is where I will concentrate my opinion. Denmark is probably the least expensive of the Scandinavian countries (I found this out by talking to a Swedish guy while I was there, who thought Denmark comparatively cheap to Sweden!). Their VAT is a hefty 25% so whilst a VISA card is essential, you will still be left with some change!
Prices ------ This is one of the areas that I wanted to know about before I visited, horrified that I might have to take out a loan just to eat! Here are some typical prices:
Petrol: Just a little more expensive than the UK at around 9 Kroner for a Litre of Unleaded (£0.82p)
Alcohol: This is more expensive in restaurants, expect to pay up to £2.50 for a small beer in a restaurant, £4 for a pint. In bars the prices seem to change, and whilst it can be expensive during the day, it goes down to as little as £1 for a large beer at night! Spirits and wine are expensive; £5 for a vodka & coke, £4 for a glass of wine.
Soft drinks are also quite expensive £2 for a small coke and £1 for a glass of tap water (quite happily most of my alcohol consumption was free due to the conference!!).
Eating Out: This is quite reasonable (but they seem to make up for it in the prices of drinks). You can get a salad or sandwich at a cafe bar for around £5. Many of the restaurants offer set meals for around £10 for 2 courses which is excellent value, although your choice is quite limited.
Denmark - Aalborg ----------------- This is the first city I stayed in, travelling from Aarhus airport (although Aalborg has its own airport, flights are usually more expensive and you generally have to change at Copenhagen), its about 80 miles north. I paid just £45 for a return flight to Aarhus with Ryanair - an absolute bargain, so I could justify the £210 I paid for car hire (with Holiday Autos!). I would thoroughly recommend hiring a car in Denmark - it is the most civilised country I have visited in terms of driving and once you get over the right hand side of the road thing (and the left handed car!), it is relatively easy to get around. Just remember to take your driving licence with you everywhere, police frequently stop and fine foreign drivers £100 for driving without one!.
Anyway, Aalborg is Denmark's fourth largest city. It is split by a large bridge which divides the old and new town (I walked over to the new town but didn't find much there - although there is a fascinating statue on a bench!). I stayed at a very central hotel; The Radisson Limfjord Hotel - this is located opposite the infamous 'Jomfru Ane Gade' in the old town. This is quite a street! Pubs, bars, cafes, nightclubs and restaurants are crammed together, side by side in this smallish street - it is really quite buzzing! Saturday nights are the best when many locals and people from Navy boats (the port is located just a street away!) 'hit' this street. Don't expect it to warm up until at least 10pm though! It can attract quite a crowd during the afternoon as well as it is quite a sun trap, and makes the ideal location for a (slightly expensive, £4) beer. The local beer is very good! (an expert talking here!).
The city seems to stretch quite a way - the shopping area is quite good, although there is suppose to be a major shopping centre with 60 shops located nearby, we couldn't find it! There were many other shops besides this which took up quite a great deal of our time! Located in the middle is also a McDonalds and Burger King if you want some familiar food! There is quite a few squares to sit around, complete with small fountains that make ideal sunning spots on good days. This is another myth - the weather. We had 4 days of absolute gorgeous sunshine and combined with the fact that it doesn't start getting dark until about 10pm in the summer, it makes an ideal location for a short break (although I have heard that it is quite dark and rainy in the winter months!).
Eating in Denmark is quite relaxed and if you want something that isn't on the menu, I found that they will only be too happy to try and accommodate your needs! Being vegetarian is quite limiting when it comes to eating out - but don't just look at the menu (which rarely has anything veggie on it!), go into the restaurant and ask. I had to do this all the time and it proved to be no problem (in fact, comparing Denmark to the UK, they were positively falling over themselves to cook a veggie meal for me!). One restaurant I would particularly recommend is 'Spisehuset Kniv & Gaffel'. A quaint little affair situated on Maren Turisgad 10. This offers a candle lit setting away from the hustle of Jomfru Ane Gade.
I enjoyed staying in Aalborg although much of the life centred around the Jomfru Ane Gade. I stayed there for 5 days and wouldn't recommend staying much longer as there is only so much to do. It really is a short break location. I then drove 80 miles south and stayed for 2 days in Aarhus.
Denmark - Aarhus ---------------- This is Denmark's 2nd largest city, after Copenhagen. It is huge! The city has a real young persons feel to it - the centre, next to the canal (Clemensstraede) has a great cosmopolitan cafe atmosphere. A great place to sit and have a drink during the day, or at night when the place is littered with white lights and oil heaters. It really is the social point of the whole city and it starts getting really busy around 5pm when people who work in the city stop off for a social drink on their way home. Again the drinks are quite expensive but the food is very reasonable, but has more of a cafe bar menu. For restaurants head down one of the nearby side streets where you will find sushi bars, Chinese and Greek restaurants.
I have to admit to spending 6 hours shopping on my last day! It is a shoppers paradise! The clothes shops are divided; you have the high street names (the only one I recognised being H&M, of which there are about 4, and here they also sell a great range of toiletries - very recommended!), and down the back streets you have the designer brands. Word of warning though....do not venture into this city with heels on – there are cobble stones EVERYWHERE, even wearing flat shoes is a nightmare!
One of my favourite stores was the massive 'Magasin'. A huge, kind of House of Fraser department store located in the centre of the city. They have some great clothes - look out for 'inwear' and 'Mexx'. Clothes are a little more expensive than the UK, but there seems to be so much more choice. Most of the stores will (willingly!) accept VISA and Switch although they seem to have some kind of machines to take them that require a pin code (don't worry if you haven't a clue, I didn't - they will also take them using the old manual credit card system!). Look out for the shoes shops as well - they have some great designs that you won't find in the UK. I was in shoe heaven!! (My VISA card was in shoe hell!!).
One word of warning though! Make sure that you book accommodation before you arrive in Aarhus as hotels are few and far between. We stupidly didn't, and found that there was a small conference being held in the city and it took us 4 hours to find somewhere to stay! There doesn't seem to be many B&Bs or smaller hotels in the city centre, just the bigger names like Comfort Inn, Best Western and Radisson. We ended up staying just outside the centre, at the Hotel Mercur (which only had one room left!). Expect to pay around £70 a night for a 3 star hotel room and £100 for a 4 star. I also found that the hotels in Denmark aren't of the same standard of those in the UK. I stayed at a 4 star which was more like a 3 star in the UK, and the 3 star seemed to be more on a par with a UK 2 star.
One place to visit to gain a sense of culture whilst in Aarhus (I couldn't shop ALL day could I?!), is the Moesgard Museum. This is located about 5 miles from the city centre and can be reached easily by bus or car. The main building houses some pieces from archaeological digs, such as pottery, weaponry and bones (!). There is also some outer buildings, replicas of Viking and Thai houses. By far the 'centre' piece is the rather gruesome 'Grauballe Man'. The only bog body to be discovered complete from the Early Iron Age (250 A.D.). He is crudely 'draped' over a pile of peat in a glass case. I have never seen anything quite so amazing! Even his hair is complete and facial features. They know exactly what he ate and how he died - this is a real 'must see' and I really do recommend a visit (see www.moesmus.dk). It is open from 10am - 5pm and costs around £3.50 (although if you have a student/OAP card you get a discounted rate). Most of the displays have a English translation although you also get to borrow a guide book.
Conclusion ---------- Sorry to have written such a lengthy review (as you can see, even though I stayed just one week there is so much to see and do). My trip to Denmark has really opened my eyes. I loved the place, the people are friendly, EVERYONE speaks English (it really does put our language skills to shame) and it is very easy to get around. Its not as expensive as I first imagined - in fact, with such a cheap flight it makes up for quite a bargain short break. I really would recommend hiring a car whilst over there as the countryside is well worth a drive (there are picnic areas everywhere!). It looks a little like the Dairylea advert when the sun is out - dairy cows grace the grassy fields! I would thoroughly recommend using the internet to find somewhere to stay before you arrive otherwise you could be faced with the problem that I had with the lack of hotels. I will certainly be returning, probably for a weekend break. Great country, great scenery and great people....simply put, I love Denmark!!
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Advantages: Location - easily reached by car and public transport Disadvantages: Cleanliness leaves a lot to be desired, expensive rooms and substandard service
May 18th, 2001
(Jul 31st, 2002)
exceptional by (1%):
very helpful by (99%):
