road trip in denmark :: recommendations?
 

We are visiting Denmark later this summer, after a brief stay in Copenhagen, we'd like to adventure out. Can anyone provide thoughts on where to go to get to know Denmark better, where to visit (outside of Copenhagen)? Should we rent a car or take a train? Also, we'll have our 4 year old daughter with us, so any thoughts about adventures that will delight a little person would be much appreciated. Thank you.

bluebabs, saw your other post about Copenhagen too. Legoland is actually a couple of hours from Copenhagen in Billund and yes, a 4 year old would love it. There is a very nice hotel connected to the park and it makes an easy place to stay -- early entrance to the park, very kid-friendly restaurant etc.

If you are interested in art the Louisiana Museum, just north of Copenhagen is a lovely trip outside the city and surprisingly good for a kid. The art is very accessible and there is a good hands-on room (the most yellow legos we've ever seen), lots of outside sculpture and a really neat forest path with treehouse features for exploration. It is also a beautiful setting on the water.

The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, also just a short distance outside Copenhagen also has a very good hands-on room and my boys enjoyed it a lot.

Odense on the Island of Fyn makes for a nice stop, too. The city is home to Danish fairtale author Hans Christian Andersen (but then, it seems almost every town of significance in Denmark claims to have some kind of connection to him ;-) ). There is a really nice train museum, which I adored when I was a kid.

I also love outings to the small islands in the "Danish South Sea", i.e. the Southern Danish Islands in the Baltic Sea.
From Fyn, ships depart from the charming towns of Faaborg and Svendborg and will take you to Aeroe, one of the bigger islands, where Aeroeskobing is a scene of very well preserved old and charming homes.
My favorite, though, is Lyoe. There is hardly anything on the island apart from a few homes and some fields, but the boat trip is scenic (and often can be done on an ancient boat, MS Helge, I believe), and the island made me feel like a step back in time for decades.

Hi blue,

Frederiksborg Castle is a short train ride from Copenhagen.

http://wictor.dk/wictor/frederiksborg/frbslotGB.html

Roskilde,home of the Viking Ship Museum and the Cathedral, is a pretty town on a fiord.

See www.bahn.de for train schedules.

((I))

We took our then 3-year-old to DK a few years ago. We stayed on Jutland and mostly took the train, but had access to a car for a few trips, like Legoland. There are trains and buses that can get you to legoland, but not very easily. So, of course she LOVED Legoland. That was the highlight for her. Embarrassing, but the play room at IKEA ranked a close second : ) We spent most of our travel time in Aarhus. We were there in early September, so caught the end of Fest-week. We went to a park that was full of air-filled climbers and bouncers. Outside of that, we happened to catch an agriculture display with ride-on tractors for the kids. There are usually fun things going on in Aarhus. She also liked the Gammel By (Old Town), especially the bakery and display of toys. Outside the museum, there is a park with some little playhouses and such. She had a lot of fun there. If you take the train, try tofind the family car, with kids play area. My daughter enjoyed that, too.

A 4-yr-old will LOVE Legoland. If you want to save a few bucks on lodging, the HI Hostel in Billund was VERY nice, with en suite bath in our 4-person family room. It is connected to a campground with activities for kids (pony ride, moon bounce). Good breakfast. The only negative to the hostel was we had to clean our own room before we left. The train museum in Odense was a big hit with our kids too, but the biggest hit with my kids (ages 14. 11, and 9) was St. Knud's Church, with two 900-year-old dead guys (St. Knud and his brother)under glass in the basement. Probably not for a 4-year-old though. There's an amusement park called Sommerland outside of Odense that my kids liked too.

Thank you all for your detailed and helpful responses. We're definitely hitting Lego land (even I'm excited now!).