Has anyone driven to denmark

[Clearinguptheclutter]

Dh isn’t keen on flying (nor is one DS) and is keen on roadtrips since he got a pretty nice electric car with lots of space

He (and to some extent me) are keen on driving to Copenhagen (and possibly on to Malmo) this summer and we are wondering if we are nuts or not. It would be a bit of a roadtrip - overnight ferry to Rotterdam both ways, stopovers in the Netherlands and Germany (looking at Hamburg and/or Bremen). Kids will be 10/12. We really like Netherlands so i’m wondering if it might be sensible just to go there instead and then fly to Copenhagen separately.
Though I also fancy Hamburg but possibly not enough for a separate trip.

wondering if anyone did similar and enjoyed or is it just a totally silly idea.

I'd do it by ferry and then train, or Eurostar and then train! Way more fun, relaxing with the kids, take one rucksack each as your kids are now old enough to carry their own bags, You don't have to worry about parking or driving though the outskirts of cities and the trains take you into the city centre each time.

We did this with our kids when they were 9 & 11, heading east and south - we did London-Paris-Zurich-Vienna-Venice-Rome and flew home from Rome. Best holiday in a long time. The train tickets in Europe are a fraction of the cost here and if we went first class lunch was often included too.

www.seat61.com/Denmark.htm

I’ve not done this exact road trip but having done lots of other longer routes in Europe with my dc I’d say this is very do-able.

Driving in Europe is a pleasure compared to the UK.

It all depends how long you want to go. 2 weeks may be a bit tight as the travel times eats into it unless you really want a stop every day somewhere else.

If you take the overnight ferry, then drive straight to Hamburg, it's absolutely doable. You could add a couple of days, the town has plenty to offer, you can take a local train to Lübeck as well.

Instead of Denmark you could also stay at the German Baltic coast.

Or drive on to Copenhagen, I wouldn't go over to Malmö unless for the thrill of the bridge itself.

We drove from Germany to UK, and Germany to Denmark (Billund) several times. Its a straight forward drive. Rottadam to Billund would be easy in one day, obviously Copenhagen might be a different story.
(If your kids areLego fans id recommend that diversion though!)
Bit slow at the border.

The overnight ferry is great.

Depends how much your kids tolerate driving really! We did it as we were camping.

We drive regularly to Denmark as my family are there.

We have done the overnight ferry and gone via euro star.

It's a long drive. It's late evening before you get there.

If you fancy Hamburg why not do an overnight there and spend some time in Hamburg?

We get an audio book and listen as we drive. The roads are good so as such it's not a issue but it's almost 1K worth or a drive.

Could you do interrail instead?

My danish pal does this with her kid (7/8yo) each summer.
stopping in Netherlands and Germany. Makes it a multi stop trip rather than a super fast drive through. But she’s not going for a just a week, so it’s part of the fun.

my kids are so car resistant I think we’d only be able to do it by train.
but if your kids don’t mind the car and your husband is up for the drive then what’s stopping you?

We have driven back from Denmark a couple of years ago. We were wimps and didn't want to drive into Hamburg or even go on the ring road. So we found an alternative place to cross the Elbe, a very small ferry, it was fun. We stayed one night near the A1 motorway in Hamburg,not motorway services. There are suburban towns where you could go in to Hamburg for the day on the train. Then for a final day Utrecht is nice to spend some time and arrive back for the ferry without rushing.

I just noticed you said electric car. How far can it drive without a charge? Something to consider.

We’ve already been to Billund! May factor in a diversion to go back.

If you fancy a road trip, go for it. Make it as direct or indirect as you fancy. Both Hamburg and Bremen are interesting stops for a couple of nights.

I’ve done it. Very doable. Not much further than south of France, particularly as you wake up well rested in Rotterdam.

400 miles, we’ve already gone to the south of France and back in it’s so luckily not particularly worried about this. Netherlands and France are great for charging, would appreciate feedback about Germany and Denmark however

It's fine, not too far, I did trips 3x that length with my dc and have a trip planned starting off like yours but all the way to the north of Norway back through Finland across to Estonia then back through Poland etc planned

We’d have just over two weeks btw, could do
2 nights boat
4 nights Netherlands
3 nights Germany
5 nights Denmark
or thereabouts. Or drive through Neth quickly and focus on the other two countries

That takes me back! Did it as a teen with my father and brother, and I am now in my 50s! We stopped off at Waterloo, and various other places. Dad drove into the curb and trashed the wheel in a random German town, and my brother had to try to ask for directions to a garage in his (rather inadequate) GCSE German. I washed my hair with washing up.liquid because I hadn't thought to pack shampoo...

Very happy memories! Go for it 😀and remember the things that go wrong often make the best memories 😂

Charging is fine in both Germany and Denmark (I can't speak for Copenhagen area as I go to top of mainland)
However its 875 miles from Rotterdam.to Copenhagen a 10-11 hour drive assuming clearish roads. So you need at least 1 charge if not 2. How long does a charge take for you? May be better to do an overnight somewhere.

We are looking for a new car and will not go electric due to this issue. We know we do those long drives and adding a few hours of charge is not something we wish to do.

We went up the Waterloo monument on a very foggy day, and couldn't see a thing. There were a bunch of students on a school trip all pointing to the lions very prominent balls and giggling. Happy days 😂

Just seen that it sounds doable. Roads are fine. Especially the Autobahn in Germany

Yes fair point, we’re not planning to do that journey in a day however. Our car can get to 90% in 15 minutes on a decent rapid so stops don’t add on much time

good to hear that Germany and Denmark are good for charging. Both France and Netherlands were far easier than the UK. In France there were plenty of chargers but hardly any EVs- we kept bumping into British folks at the charging stations

Following - this is my plan too for the summer, via friends in northern Germany and a trip to Efteling on the way.

Fab! We’ve been to Efteling and it’s just great. Unfortunately it’s probably a bit too much of a detour for this trip.

Ferry from harwoch to Esbjerg

The stretch between Bremen and Hamburg is a nightmare to drive. Autobahn or not.

It's actually a myth that there is no speed limit, lots of areas have 130km/hr limits and if you are on a 2 lane stretch and lorries are going as well, you are nerver going fast.

stopped 10 years ago. Rotterdam is the closest ferry port to Denmark these days