Help with Denmark in January
 

My wife and I will be going to Vejle in January and are planning on spending 7 days on our trip. Can anyone suggest other places to see while we are there. We have never been to Denmark, Germany, Amsterdam, Sweden, or Norway and are open to suggestions.

Thanks,

David

I can't help you but I will be in Copenhagen from the 28th of Dec. til Jan. 4 and then in Stockholm from the 4th til the 10th. Have you tried googeling Denmark? I've messed around with it and come up with a bunch of stuff to check out. I also got some stuff off Rick Steves site and am trying to get things organized before asking questions. I'll be interested in the responses you get. Have a nice trip.

I guess no one has been to Denmark in January. I think we are going to take our two children 11 and 13 with us now and a leaning to flying into Copenhagen and renting a car to drive to Vejle. Is the weather going to allow us to drive between the two cities and will we have enough to do for a 7 day trip?

David

Denmark in January is going to be, most likely, overcast and cold. Probably not snow or ice, so your driving should be fine between the two destinations. You can no doubt spend a day at Vejle (Legoland I presume). And the rest? Depends on your interests ... a google search as suggested is a great place to start.

B/

You should try to stay at or near a place with a badland. Its an indoor pool with waters slides and palm trees and sun lamp rooms. The are very poplar in Damark. Also think about flying to Billand instead if you are connecting in the Europe anyways since its closer. Otherswise the Copyhagen airport is good and the drive shoud be no problems. The bridge from Copyhagen land (i think called Sealand) to the middle part called Funlan to the 3rd part called Juttlan and then to Leggoland. If you drive fast like my DH you can probly be there in 5 hours. Oh the bridge has a high troll on it about $40 if I remember right.

I was in Copehagen in January two years ago. It was cold and grey; Tivoli was closed. I still thoroughly enjoyed myself and really liked Copenhagen, but being there in January does pose some limitations on the things you'd ordinarily want to do.
From Copenhagen, you could go by ferry/train (the train goes on the ferry) to see some of northern Germany...Lubeck, for example (home of the most famous German marzipan). However, these would be overnight trips, not day trips.

Is there a particular reason you are heading to Vejle? There is not much there except two small museums and a church. Billund, home of Legoland, is nearby, but Legoland is not open in January, and there is not much else in Billund. The hostel there is nice, and actually has en suite bathrooms in the family rooms. Travelling from Vejle to Copenhagen, you will go through Odense, which is HC Andersen's hometown and has two little museums dedicated to him. There is also an interesting train museum there, which is mostly indoors. My kids were most fascinated by St. Knud's Church, where you will find two "900-year-old dead guys" (King Canute II and his brother, who were killed by peasants in a tax revolt) in the basement under the altar. Unfortunately, Egeskov Castle, near Odense, is not open in January as far as I know. In Copenhagen, there are several things your kids would enjoy. The National Museum has a Children's Museum inside, and a media room with free internet access (admission to the museum used to be free on Wednesday, I think). Our Savior's Church is very pretty inside, and the kids enjoyed climbing the staircase that spirals up the outside of the steeple to the very top. The Danish Resistance Museum is interesting (and free, last time we were there). Rosenborg Palace has the Crown Jewels. Not as beautiful as the ones in London, but impressive. The throne room on the top floor is pretty, with giant silver lions. There is a Ripley's Museum, a Tussaud's Wax Museum, and a Guinness World Record Museum. All three are free with a Copenhagen card (do a google search and read about it). You have to go see the Little Mermaid, though she's a bit of a disappointment. Near Copenhagen are Fredricksbørg Palace in Hillerød and Kronborg Castle in Helsingør. Both very interesting for kids. The first is very ornate and contains a lot of history (King Christian IV nearly bankrupted the country building it). Kronborg is more of a fortress and has a dungeon of sorts, though it was mostly used to lock up misbehaving soldiers of the garrison. You can climb the ramparts and see Sweden from there, or take a 5-minute ferry ride from town and maybe get another stamp on your passports. A good place to stay in Copenhagen if you have kids is the Cab-Inn. Very reasonable and fun for kids. My kids loved it. There are three in town and they have a website. Search Google for Cab-Inn.
Can't help you much with anything other than Denmark. Motorways in Denmark are very easy to drive on and well-marked. Consider doing Copenhagen at the end of the trip and ditch the car. Driving in Copenhagen is difficult, parking is complicated, and walking and public transportation are easy. All forms of public transportation are free with a Copenhagen card, which eliminates all the confusion about zones and clipcards, etc.

Thanks for all your replies. We are going to Vejle for a conference so our whole trip revolves around my wife giving a talk there. We are thinking about picking a different city in Europe that may be warmer and flying into Billund so she may give a talk. I'm a little worried we may not have enough to do in Copenhagen for 5 days but I'm sure once we were there we would find things to see.

Thanks,

David

I was in Copenhagen in late March and it was cold - no snow etc but in January I expect lots of snow .You will need to gear up for freezing weather .It is a lovely city .

"in January I expect lots of snow"

No. Denmark is way too south/west/low to have lots of snow. There is snow sometimes but never lots of it. And it never lasts long. Denmark has maritime climate, just like UK.

My experience in Denmark in January was fairly cold, lightly snowy and very DARK! The sun will rise around 8:30am and set around 4pm. Most tourist destinations will be closed, but I would recommend a small trip to Aarhus, which you can reach by train from Vejle. If possible, take a tour of the city. You can explore Aros, an art museum. Your kids may like it as there are some interactive/more pop art displays downstairs. You can walk through the Gammel By (Old City) and see the old Danish buildings. It looks like it will be open 11-3 in january (www.dengamleby.dk). Your kids might be too old, but there is a nice park outside, if they want to play a little. For food, I would recommend Italia. They have a buffet and really good pepperoni pizza : ) Also, you can do some shopping on the gågade, or walking street. There is also a beautiful old church filled with murals and Danish traditions, such as a ship hanging from the ceiling, and the Moesgard Museum, which features a bogman (we didn't make it to this, though). Do a web search on Aarhus and you'll find plenty to fill a day or two.

I used to live in Denmark, and I love the country, especially Copenhagen. If it were just you and your wife travelling, I think you could enjoy yourself thoroughly in January. However, there may not be a lot there to interest your children. Could you possibly stay in London, and travel to Denmark for your conference? There are tons of inside things for kids to do in London in January...

I was in Copenhagen this past January, early in the month. True, Tivoli was closed but the palaces and museums were open. We loved walking around the city and there weren't too many tourists.

It didn't seem cold to us, but we were there before and after going to Greenland! We were definitely too hot in our winter jackets; it was a little drizzly and gray.

We did take the train to Malmo Sweden one day. It's about a half hour ride and you can walk around the downtown, to museums, the old town, etc. easily from the train station.

Have a good trip.

If you decide to go to London, there is a ferry that goes from Harwich (just north of London, a short train ride) to Esbjerg, on the west coast of Denmark. It's an overnight ferry and my kids enjoyed the trip. It's transportation and a hotel room all rolled into one. I'm not sure of the schedule in January and the North Sea may be rough at that time of the year, but it's something to consider. There's a nice indoor swimming complex in Esbjerg. My kids liked that too. 4-hour train ride from there to Copenhagen. The ferry was called the Dana Anglia and I believe the ferry company was Scandinavian Seaways.

Ooops, the Dana Anglia has apparently been retired, and the Harwich-Esbjerg route is now served by the Dana Sirena, a brand new ship. The ferry line is DFDS Seaways

Thank you for all of your replies. We haven't committed yet to our itinerary. We are still trying to decide between Copenhagen or visiting Paris or another large city before Vejle. We were just in London and loved it and we are going to Madrid and Barcelona in March. We also were recently in Rome with the Kids and they loved it there also. We have not been to Paris yet so that's one option but I'm caught up in the baseball playoffs so my travel plans have been on a temporary hold. I'm sure once in Copenhagen we would find much to do so we may use this as a chance to get to know Denmark.
Thanks,

David
Go Cardinals

The Old Town in Aarhus is worth a visit.

I'm always facinated with people who have not yet decided on an itinerary and say they can't decide between, say, Paris or London or Copenhagen. Eyeball, don't get me wrong, I don't mean anything mean spirited by that. I just think that the only reason you'd want to go to Copenhagen instead of London or Paris is because you WANT to go to Copenhagen.

Like most of the others have said, it will be cold and maybe damp and there may be an occassional snow flurry, but it's doubtful that you will see standing snow in Copenhagen in Janauary. I've spent several January's there and only once saw a 3 inch snow fall that was actually gone the next day.

5 Days in / near Copenhagen: Rosenburg Castle, Little Mermaid, Grey Friars Square, the Stroget, Nyhaven, a couple of museums if you enjoy that sort of thing, Vor Frelsors Kirke, Gefion Fountain, Ameilenborg Palace (I don't know if they do a "changing of the guard" in January or not, I've only seen it in the summer), OUTSIDE OF COPENHAGEN -- Roskilde, Kronborg Castle, Fredriksberg Castle, Fredensborg Castle, ferry or drive to Malmo, Sweden . . .

Is there more to do in London or Paris? Of course, but London and Paris aren't Copenhagen.

You can plan a wonderful trip to Danmark in January. You just need to realize that you are going to a high latitude country in winter and to dress very warmly. I could easy spend a week in Copenhagen or anywhere else regardless of what time of year it is. The main thing is to realize that this is a totally different culture, much more so than going to Paris. Priorities are so very different. People are very important. They are Danmark's primary resource. Take pictures of the babies sleeping in baby buggies outside of stores while their mother's shop. You will never see that anywhere else! But don't approach the buggy. You may be arrested. Denmark came in #1 on a long study of the world's happiest people. Find out why. A trip to Denmark is not just another country, it is a totally different culture, even though they are blond and blue eyed. Your children are old enough to investigate why one of the countries with the poorest resources (only 3) in the world have one of the highest standards of living in the world and are considered the happiest. Now there is a mystery. They are a totally free people but not structured like USA. This is a country with a state church (Lutheran) but also the biggest mosque outside a Muslim country. State church but religious freedom? Yes. This is a country where government funds support a Jewish kosher grocery store because it was going bankrupt in order to continue to serve the remaining Jewish kosher citizens. Look closer. This would never happen in USA. You will find a zillion things to observe in Denmark for a few days. Enjoy your trip but don't brag about America and never mention Bush. Bragging is not Danish and neither Bush is held in high regard. And the worst 4 letter work is millionaire. This is a country where "no one gets a window until every one has a window" and they believe in it and it is not a political concept. It is also a country where ",most everyone has obtained a window". Danes were called more a tribe than a country by someone famous. Twain? Go to the Rundtarn built by C4 (King Christian the 4th). See if the Art Gallery on the Mezzanine is still showing the photographs of a Dane who came to America and documented poverty in the Black ghettos and lived with them. Go to Denmark to learn about freedom and have a great time. And don't forget the Resistance Museum in CPH. Your children are old enough to learn about these horrors and the courage to stop them. Show them that one place in the world, the Jews came home to a ticker tape parade and were given back their homes and businesses. Take your children to Denmark and show them that there is a working alternative to what they see every day and it is successful and it is also called democracy.
Second generation Danish-American

Thanks for all your replies. I think we are going to do copenhagen. Does anyone know the best way to get to Vejle from Copenhagen. Should we take the train or rent a car for the weekend. We need to get to Vejle on Thursday and then leave Saturday in the morning to catch our flight home from Copenhagen. Is it possible to drive to Vejle and if so do we need to take a ferry or is there a bridge.

Thanks
David