Denmark essentials

[OttersMayHaveShiftedInTransit]

Has anyone got any recent travel experience in Denmark? I would love to hear your top tips.
We are going with DS (aged 12) this summer. We will have 9 days there. We flying in/out of Copenhagen. Planning a couple of days in Copenhagen, a day trip across to Sweden on the ferry back via the bridge (or vice versa) and driving over to Billund for the obligatory couple of days at Legoland/Lego House. What else are the must do/ should avoids? We are all history buffs so would like to take in some Viking history etc. Any recommendations for reasonably priced accommodation/restaurants would also be hugely appreciated. I had a couple of fantastic family holidays there as a child but it was 30+ years ago.

I think you ought to spend more than 2 days in Copenhagen as there’s so much to do and you don’t want to rush it all. Id recommend an afternoon and evening at Tivoli, another evening soaking up the atmosphere at Nyhavn, lunch at Torvehallerne, a canal cruise, climbing Our Saviour’s church and Rosenberg Castle. On the same day that you do Tivoli, you I’d also recommend Ny Carlsberg Glypotek and Christiansborg Slot.

The children's museum at the National Museum was good
I wouldn't bother with the ferry to Sweden - the whole check in process will waste time etc
At Billund we always stay at Lalandia and use the water park
Hotel wise we usually stay at the Scandic chain as kids stay free

We did Billund and Copenhagen last summer. Stayed at Lalandia, which is walking distance to Legoland & Lego House and has a great waterpark that's free if you're staying there. Not sure how much time you will have there but there's also a good forest adventure park nearby - Wow Park - which we loved. We stayed at Hotel Tivoli in Copenhagen. Enjoyed Tivoli Gardens and the food court there too. There are some seaside towns half an hour or so north of Copenhagen by train - we would probably stay if we went back for a mix of beach and city. Enjoy!

We went to Copenhagen a couple of months ago and were happy staying in NordHotel Apartments in Nyrnberggade. Easy transport to airport and city centre. Washing machine etc. We got a Copenhagen card. Loved Tivoli, canal tours, Round Tower, zoo, experimentarium, trip up the coast to the maritime museum, crown jewels at Rosenborg. Wouldn't bother with natural history museum or planetarium again. Stay away from the Ripleys type stuff. Our activities were geared towards a 4 yo or would have done a lot of architecture stuff.

My feeling is things like planetariums, zoos and aquariums can (and indeed have been done) in the UK. It will only be DS's third trip abroad so we would prefer to focus on things that are uniquely Danish but those they are useful backups if the weather is awful. DH has a burning desire to see Malmö (thanks to a computer game 🙄) and I want to go back to 'Hamlets castle' so it seems like a good way to do both and for Ds to add another's country to the very short list that he has visited. DS still eager to do kid things (Lego, Tivoli etc) but is old enough and interested enough in history to enjoy some museums, living history etc. As there are three of us and we will be there for 9 days the vague plan is we get a couple of days each to choose the main activity/destination and the remaining days to get from a to b via any other must do locations.

Malmo is lovely and definitely worth the trip. Don't bother with a ferry, go there and back on the train. If you can, try to stay for the evening to watch the sun set from there, it sets over the bridge and is beautiful to watch! Trains come back to Copenhagen quite late.

Hamlet's castle is in Denmark not Sweden, unless there is another I don't know of. It's in Helsingor up the coast from Copenhagen, definitely worth visiting there. It's easily done as a trip from the city, about an hour by train. Louisiana for art is in the same direction, you could combine the two.

Roskilde for Vikings, definitely!

Odense is a beautiful little town I absolutely recommend. Lots about Hans Christian Andersen. Old architecture, really pretty.

I had a lovely time on the island of Fano off the west coast, if you feel you want a break from town/city sightseeing this is a nice place to relax.

Aarhus in the north has a lot of culture. It's great to visit but perhaps time won't allow.

Don't sell yourself short in Copenhagen though by not allowing enough time here, it's a wonderful city.

The Helsingor/ Helsingborg ferry, which I assume is the one you mean, is really quick and easy! Do the hamlet castle, cross over and eat in Helsingborg (cheaper than denmark!) and climb the Karnan steps, then get the train to Malmo, stay overnight and train over "the" bridge back to cph the next day!

I know it was quick and easy 30 odd years ago because we popped across for about an hour! But this was before the bridge was built and I have no idea what sort of impact it has had on the ferrys between the countries.
No sure yet if we would be in a hire car or on public transport and what difference that would make to the ease of crossing.

We went at Easter - if you are history buffs the National Museum is incredible and when we were there had a great Viking exhibition going on.

Easiest way to Malmo is definitely the train - it's practically like commuting these days!

There’s no ferry between Copenhagen and Malmø - only between Helsingør (Hamlet!) and Helsingborg (Sweden).

If you want a boat experience, you could do a canal trip? (leaves from Nyhavn). There’s also a water bus which is quite fun and much cheaper but no guided tour of course.

I meant the Helsinor/Helsingborg ferry then drive down to Malmö stay there for the night and cross back to Denmark via the bridge the next day. This of course is dependent on it being a car ferry and it being easy to take a hire car out of country but these are the kind of thing I need to investigate so I can work out how long we need a car for etc.

Ahh ok! We’ve previously taken hire cars out of Denmark and driven to Germany and Sweden in them so I think that should definitely be do-able 😊

The ferry is a car ferry so that should also be fine.

I have ordered a couple of guide books so I can check this kind of info! I want to be able to rough out a day 1-2 Copenhagen, day 3 Sweden, day 4 drive to Jutland, days 5-6 all the Lego, day 7 drive back to Zealand, day 8 more Copenhagen type itinerary making sure we can actually cover all we want to do and work out what we can fit in alongside everyone's two choices. That way I can nail down car hire dates and accommodation. We can nail down more detail as to what we do with X amount of time in Copenhagen or where to see when traveling from A to B nearer the time but I'd like to get an outline in place for hotel bookings.
Thanks for all the great suggestions - I think we need to go 6 weeks but alas time is as ever tight.

The ferry is cheap as a foot passenger but dear in a car- I would definitely do train, ferry, train- you can drink on the ferry then too, which is cheaper than drinking in Sweden!!

I have already warned DH that it won't be a boozy holiday - not at Scandi prices!
I will have to look into the ease doing the castle/ ferry/ trip to Malmö/ bridge back to Denmark via the train - as we would like to over night in Malmö we will have all the luggage with us and I would rather pay more and drive than have to lug bags on and off buses/ in and out of cabs. It is highly likely that we would get back to Denmark and discover that either DH or DS (who are both dyspraxic and world bloody champions at losing stuff) have left a bag or a bit of tech to go on a bus tour of Sweden. I want a relaxing break and not to have to check that everyone has everything every 5 minutes.
I'm not yet over the trauma of DH's 'lost passport' in Prague and that was over 20 year ago.

Following as taking my sons there in august!

I apologise in advance if you are going mid/late August and you spend half of your trip listening to me saying 'for God sake small Otters where have you done with it?' and 'Mr Otters, it's your bloody charging cable, it doesn't have legs it will be where you left it'. If you are going in early August do let me know any hidden gems you discover.

Following as going in March!

Please let me know what your highlights are. It's been 8 years since I set foot outside of the UK so I want this to be a good trip.

For the benefit of others reading the thread, rather than just the OP's suggested itinerary, here are some more of our Denmark essentials:

Copenhagen Area - has been covered upthread, but museums, harbour boats, Tivoli, Bakken, beaches, art at Louisiana, Experimentarium, "Fields" for shopping (Strøget is in danger of becoming a centre for tourist tat)... Plus Malmø or Lund in Sweden. And Roskilde for the Viking longboats. See the Visit Copenhagen website for more ideas and events. Bornholm in the Baltic (very sunny island well worth a visit for a few days or a week).

Billund area - All things Lego at Legoland and the brilliant Lego House. WOW Park. Givskud Zoo and Dinosaur Park. Jelling for Vikings. Silkeborg for AQUA, Tollund Man and the lake district.

Day trips from Billund (or alternative bases for Jutland):
Silkeborg (as above). East towards Vejle (Økolariet environmental centre) and beaches, Kolding (Koldinghus Castle and Kolding Storcentre for shopping), Aarhus (the Old Town, Tivoli Friheden, AROS, beaches and more), Randers (Randers Regnskov - tropical biodomes).

Djursland - 2 hours from Billund, but with an airport (Aarhus Airport) that has regular, cheap flights from the UK:
Ebeltoft (charming old fishing town with a harbour and old sailing ships, beaches, glass museum), Djurs Sommerland amusement park (at least as good as Legoland, but obviously not Lego-themed), Grenaa (beaches, great Aquarium).

Jutland West Coast and Southern Jutland (all within 90 mins of Billund):
Miles of sandy beaches stretching north from Esbjerg (e.g. Henne Strand, Vejers Strand). Reasonably-priced summerhouse accommodation in the sand dunes.
Esbjerg (Fishery and Maritime museum is good). Tirpitz WW2 bunker. Several lighthouses that can be climbed. Tønder and Ribe (old Danish towns with cobbled streets). Rømø and Fanø (unique islands that have their own pace and atmosphere, and great beaches).

And then there are the southern islands, Fyn/Odense, the rest of Sjaelland, Aalborg/Skagen in the north of Jutland .... Denmark is much more than just Copenhagen and Legoland!

anyone with kids in copenhagen should plan to have a full day at Experimentarium. It is a fabulous science museum and there is nothing like it in the UK. my kids insist on going every time we are there (every 1-2 years to visit family)

copenhagen zoo is also pretty incredible, especially the polar bears who swim over your head as you walk in a glass tunnel. don't dismiss it as just another zoo.

Also, Danish kids go back to school in mid-august so from 15-30 August, holiday rentals are cheaper and museums and attractions are all uncrowded and nice.

The aquarium is Copenhagen is wonderful and worth a trip. I would definitely go back. It's open until quite late so we had dinner there (fish, I think) and spent ages lying down watching the fish and turtles in a huge tank. It was brilliant. We used the Metro and it's out of the way (nearer the airport) but worth it.

The Zoo has elephants which we don't have in London so that was also worth a visit for us as my daughter had never seen an elephant before.

The train to Malmo takes no time at all and is worth a a trip.

We travelled around Denmark by train. We spent a few days in cph and a a few days in Lalandia (not the Billund one).

@Havanananana I'm not sure why you think I am giving anyone a 'suggested itinerary'. I'm asking for recommendations to fill in the couple of days spare that I have when using my limited time to accommodate what Ds, DH and myself have already decided that we would like to do. It is precisely because I know I could happily fill a month in Denmark and not see everything that I am asking what others have enjoyed, what the historical sites/museums etc are the best out the the multitude of options. My knowledge of Denmark is 30 years out of date so I want ideas beyond the obvious that will help us maximize our time.
@parietal I will certainly check out Experimentarium sounds right up DS street.
We are going late August partly for that reason and partly because it's when DH can get leave (in the school hols for the first time since DS started school yay!).

@OttersMayHaveShiftedInTransit

I think you've misunderstood my post.

Your stated itinerary is Copenhagen/Sweden/Billund - an excellent itinerary for a family and for the length of time that you have available and I hope you have a great holiday.

My post, as the very first sentence states, is for the benefit of others reading the thread and who are looking for ideas for Denmark that go beyond CPH/Billund.

@Havanananana sorry I shouldn't read things before coffee! Wrong end of wrong stick located by me there.