First of all, it was a 19-day, 7-hotel, 3,399-km/2,112-mi trip (in our own car!) from June 4-22. So, if this seems like a long post, it IS! It was a long trip and covered a lot of territory!
And, as I always say, it's for the record!
[credit: Wikipedia]
Denmark is composed of over 1400 islands but these are the big ones, 6 of which we visited.
This is the route Astrid calculated from hotel to hotel (white dots) without side trips.
We drove from Gorinchem to the Xenia hotel (in Flensburg, Germany) going,
and from the Røbyhavn ferry to Celle, Germany, back to Gorinchem.
The rest now is from what Astrid and I both shared on Facebook throughout the trip. Best to fasten your seatbelts!
Day 1, June 4: From Gorinchem to Flensburg, from the Xenia Hotel in Germany (630 km/392 mi)
Our first hotel, just one mile from the Denmark border!
Astrid's take.
And, yes, we visited the cathedral but have posted no inside photos on FB yet.
(And, yes, she...not I...climbed to the top of the tower.)
It's 9 meters/30 feet tall!
Day 3, June 6: Legoland, from the Refborg Hotel in Billund (0 km/0 mi):
And what we posted on FB was only a smattering!
Can you believe we saw the Men by the Sea sculpture there in Miniland!
If you didn't look up, you'd miss them.
The Mini Boats section with world-wide landmarks.
Several hands-on places for creativity.
And btw, we walked a total of 7 km that day!
Day 4, June 7: Ringkøbing Fjord, from the Refborg Hotel in Billund (216 km/134 mi):
Because of all the walking at Legoland, we took a leisurely day driving the back roads,
counterclockwise, around the Ringkøbing bay/lagoon that really isn't a fjord.
We even stopped at the Stauning Whisky distillery, but that's another story, another day.
Day 5, June 8: Vejle, from the Hørhavegården B&B in Århus (110 km/68 mi):
Did you know Denmark had windmills? And what about its architecture?
This was definitely the place to see both.
Astrid's take on the windmill.
We love museums like this!
Astrid's take.
We first drove to Ålborg to find as many of their 65+ murals in one hour, of which these are the best.
Ålborg happens to be the 4th largest urban settlement in Denmark, which is why we didn't
find that many in an hour. They were spread out all over the city!
Our goal for the day was to visit Sæby, the farthest north of all our Denmark stops.
The monastery Church of Saint Mary from 1470 was our goal for the day.
And, yes, it was windy!
Astrid's take.
Astrid's take of the inside.
[I plan to do a later post on just the inside of important churches we saw.]
and get our fill, again, of half-timbered houses.
This was the day we drove from Jutland to Funen island,
crossing the Little Belt bridge, and then driving the back roads to our next hotel,
visiting the church in Assens and the windmill in Aarup.
Harbor towns and half-timbered houses!
That's why we stopped in Fåborg on our way to the castle.
Besides, it was my 78th birthday and this was my kind of gift to start the day.
Astrid's take on both.
Odense is one of Denmark's oldest cities and the 3rd largest behind Copenhagen and Århus.
It's also the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen, their famous author of fairy tales.
We spent the morning there before moving on to our next island and hotel.
Astrid's take.
The Great Belt Bridge connecting Funen to Zealand island is 18 km/11 mi long.
On our way to Køge, we stopped in Nyborg and continued on the back roads.
The windmill is just outside of Køge and is from 1887.
Roskilde was Denmark's first capital city from the 11th century to 1443.
It's main attraction is the cathedral, dubbed "the mausoleum of the Danish Royal family," a UNESCO
World Heritage Site. [Only the pulpit and organ for now, for Preacher Dad and musician Mom!]
Roskilde also has Denmark's oldest train station, from 1847 (top-center).
Can you believe that originally we were NOT going to visit Copenhagen!
I was there in my past life and we both don't really like big cities.
But Astrid figured out a route to pop in and out, just to see the Little Mermaid
and the colorful houses of Nyhavn...and then a surprise canal tour.
It ended up being a 15,000-step, 6.5-hour day!
Astrid's take.
By now, we needed a vacation!
So we stayed in Køge, visiting city center (3 km away), eating on our balcony,
and playing Five Crowns on the hotel's terrace (with cows grazing nearby).
Just what the doctor ordered!
On the last leg of our trip, from Køge to Borre, it was a "must" to see the chalk cliffs on Møn island.
We started at Stevns Klint with this Højerup church, another UNESCO site,
with a path leading down to the shoreline.
Astrid's take.
I stopped at the top of the bottom stairs and waved to Astrid at the beach.
I did not want to mess up my left "fake" knee ahead of the bigger cliffs the next day.
We drove 6.5 hours on the back roads to our new hotel, seeing what makes Denmark tick.
The white Fanefjord church (left-center) was one of the best we saw inside.
Besides Legoland, the chalk cliffs on Møns island were our main "destinations" for Denmark.
They became the bookends that held the rest of our trip together.
In this case, it was 500 steps each way and doable.
It probably helped that I had had so much exercise the rest of the trip!
Astrid's take.
On our last full day in Denmark, and after 8 hours on the back roads, visiting 2 churches, a
lighthouse, and one harbor, THIS is what stood out: 2 of the long-barrow/tombs from the Stone Age.
Top row: the King Asgers Høj long barrow that's 10 meters long on the inside.
Bottom row: a tomb (without the mound) that is like a circle inside, 150 meters away.
There are 120 such tombs all over the Møns island, from 5-6,000 years ago!
Day 18, June 21: Half-Timbered Houses, from our hotel in Celle, Germany (365 km/227 mi):
Leaving Denmark on the Rødby ferry to Puttgarden, Germany, we continued on to Celle,
just to the east of Hannover (where I had lived off-n-on for 2 years in my past life).
I so wanted Astrid to see this incredible city, with over 500 such structures in the city center alone.
"Celle has the most densely packed, largest assembly of half-timbered buildings in the world."
What a way to end our trip, full of half-timbered gluttony!
Astrid's take.
Day 19, June 22: from our hotel in Celle, Germany, to Gorinchem/home (431 km/268 mi):
We arrived Home-Sweet-Home at 2 p.m. that Thursday,
3,399 km/2,112 miles from when we had left on Sunday, June 4.
And, yes, Astrid drove them all!
Are we glad we did it??? Are you kidding me!!!
