This post contains affiliate links to things like tours and hotels. These help me earn a small commission at no additional charge to you. Every affiliate link is marked with a *.

Overview of what to do in Aarhus

• How to get to Aarhus
• Where to stay in Aarhus
• What to do in Aarhus
• Where to eat and drink in Aarhus
• Map of a long weekend in Aarhus

How to get to Aarhus?

To find out which option works best for you, you can compare them on omio*. Sometimes they have great discounts on tickets you’d otherwise never know existed.

Where to stay in Aarhus

Any accommodation within the city ring or just outside of it is ideal. I stayed at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel*, without breakfast, since at the time of booking it had the best value for money. A bit closer to the city centre and most of the attractions is Radisson RED Aarhus*. Another good option recommended to me by a fellow traveller was the Hotel Oasia Aarhus City*. She really enjoyed the breakfast there and from the pictures I saw… it was probably better AND more affordable than the breakfast I had (or could’ve booked extra at the hotel).

What to do during a long weekend in Aarhus

Museums are top of the list when you’re trying to decide what to do in Aarhus. The city is the location of three well known and renowned museums, as well as a hand full of smaller ones.

Aarhus old town – Open-air Museum

The old town – Danish “Den Gamle By” is an open air museum with city houses through the ages from all over Denmark. When you are interested in how people lived throughout the centuries and how Aarhus evolved from a small settlement to the city it is today, this is the place to visit. As a small village inside of the main city the houses range from 1864 to 2014.

You can also find several mini museums inside this big museum:

• 1200 years history of Aarhus city – Museum
• Jewellery Museum
• Clock Museum
• Silverware and Porcelain Museum
• Placards/poster Museum
• Toy museum
• 1900s local history museum Museum

Since this is the most expensive museum in Aarhus you can go here for a more detailed review: Den Gamle By Museum in Aarhus – Worth it?

Museum Moesgård

This museum is 30 minutes by bus outside of the city and covers the evolution of humans and specifically the evolvement of Denmark, during the stone age, the Viking era, the middle ages and more.

The exhibition design is quite good, albeit very Danish focused and some of the English exhibits didn’t work properly anymore (examples include broken headphones, buttons not working on displays, etc.) . It is also a lot smaller than Den Gamle By, despite costing roughly the same in admission. If you come with children (they can enter for free and there are many explore places for children within the museum) or if you have never been to a museum with these focus topics before it’s definitely worth it, otherwise save your time and money.

The best things about this museum, for me, where two things: the “Warriors” temporary exhibition (2) which compared soldiers from different countries and centuries and asked questions like “warrior = soldier = murderer?” and “what happens once the fighting is over” and the museum café which served a delicious mushroom pastry (last picture).

ARoS Aarhus Art Museum

The ARoS art museum was originally opened in 1849 and has been updated through the years, it got it’s famous rainbow ring bridge in 2011 and has since then attracted visitors to see the city through the stained glass. In a price range like the other two mentioned museums (around 25€) you should look at the other exhibitions before deciding if you want to spend your money on it. I would have, had it been open on Mondays.

Møllestien street

This short and sweet street is a place that transports you back to the Denmark of the 1300s. There is nothing really here, except the colourful houses, but it’s very pretty and it’s free. There were quite a few people, despite the rainy weather and it being April, so if you want to go here just to take pictures: Go to Ringkøbing instead, there almost every street is pretty.

Salling Aarhus Rooftop Terrace

On top of this very normal mall in the middle of the inner city is a nicely designed rooftop terrace you can visit for free. Different heights and platforms invite you to have a look across the city, while some benches and many plants invite you to stay (if the weather permits).

Aarhus Cathedral

The longest church in Denmark, that is what Aarhus Cathedral is known for. At some point in its long history it was remodelled to a more Gothic style. The inside is quite simple, with a lot of white and some wall frescoes which have lost most of their colour. The church is dedicated to St. Clement, the patron saint of sailors and inside you can find the Votive Ship “Unity”, which was built around 1720 and donated to the church by fishermen. “Ships hanging in churches symbolise man’s “navigation” from cradle to grave.” ^[1]

Viking Traffic Lights

The pedestrian traffic lights in Aarhus are special, since instead of the internationally well known minimalistic one they use a standing and walking Viking, complete with shield, axe and helmet.

Streetart in Aarhus

Several buildings in the city are decorated with street art, giant portraits, landscapes and other artful motives add colour and curiosity to explore your surroundings. Below I included my favourite.

Aarhus Docklands

The Docklands (officially called Aarhus Ø) are the newest neighbourhood in Aarhus. There you can find such buildings as the Isbjerget (1), an apartment complex modelled after an iceberg, the Lighthouse (1), not really a lighthouse, but a very tall tower at the edge of the water (it does light up at night though), Domen Aarhus (2), a community projects and café inside a glass dome on a harbour area between the new Docklands and the industrial harbour, Dokk1 (3), the public library of Aarhus, located inside a building that is supposed to look like a ship and last but not least the old tollhouse from the harbours older days Toldboden (4).

The only buildings you can enter are the library and the Dome, but the others are worth a visit as well. Especially when the weather is good it’s a nice walk along the water promenade of Aarhus. On your way from Dokk 1 to the Isbjerget you will also come across the Havnebadet – the harbour bath in Aarhus. It’s an open air swimming pool, open in the summer months, directly in the harbour basin.

Where to eat and drink in Aarhus

Denmark is not necessarily known for their cuisine around the world. Three things in Aarhus were still on my list to try while I was there: Flæskesteg, Kardemommesnurre and Hancock Sport Cola. I linked them to where I found them and there I explained what it is as well. Smørrebrød did not make that list, since it is literally buttered (rye)-bread with different toppings. Or = what we Germans eat almost every day for dinner.

Aarhus Street Food

Very close to the main train station you can find “Aarhus Streetfood”, an old industrial building converted into an indoor street food market with many Pølsevogne or street food carts (literally “sausage wagons”). I chose a Falafel Box at Zaatar and a Pork Banh Mi at Banh Mi Bandits. The falafel were great, with the addition of feta, hummus and chickpea salad, the tabouleh salad was not for me. The Banh Mi had a good taste, but I am spoiled by the real thing , I’ll still recommend it thought.

Dokk1

Once more, but this time for the Café. We had the best Latte in Aarhus at the library café. They also had some delicious (albeit not traditional) Chai and a great selection of loose teas.

La Cabra

In nearly every blog and video I watched before going to Aarhus people praised La Cabra, their coffee and the Kardemommesnurre, a baked good similar to a cinnamon roll, but no cinnamon, instead with cardamom. When I went there it was extremely underwhelming. Not only was it (expectedly) packed with people, the coffee was both incredibly bitter (in the “they aren’t cleaning properly in between pours so the coffee grounds burn” way) and incredibly sour and the baked good tasted like milk bread that had been stored next to cardamom. The only good thing was the yoghurt with jam an granola, but not for the price. (1)

If you want to try the famous and delicious scandinavian Kardemommesnurre in Aarhus, go to DavidBreadHead.

Cafe Krone

I really don’t know where to begin. Cafe Krone is on many lists as one of THE places to have breakfast in Aarhus. The food was disappointing, pricey for both amount and quality, near tasteless, too. The lighting in the cafe is atrocious, combined with the stuffy air it makes you feel sleepy. I didn’t bother editing the picture either, there was no hope (2) But what topped it all off was the ordering process: You scan a QR code, order in an (only Danish) online shop and have to give them your full government name, e-mail adress AND phone number to be able to order any food at all (3). Then you go to the counter to pay. They pretend to be a sophisticated café, but eating there leaves a very bitter taste in the mouth – a lá “how do we make the most money in the cheapest way possible”.

S’vinbar

Next to an extensive selection of vines S’vinbar convinces with their location outside of the main city and engaging, warm owners. We shared a tasting flight with three different wines and got a short and sweet explanation with each one. Even when all the seats outside are taken you can take chairs outside to enjoy the sun.

Toast It

Described as serving comfort food Toast it has several variations of toasted sandwiches. We had the ham and cheese one, as well as the fried chicken coleslaw one and both were good, but what really stood out were the crispy and well seasoned fries and their in-house mayo dip. To accompany the food we got a Hancock Sport Cola, a Danish soda that tastes more fruity and more caramell-y than the most famous cola.

Mantü

At Mantü you will find Afghan Dumplings with international influences. You can pick between beef, chicken and vegetarian dumpling with different sauces. Try the spicy beef! They were my favourites and not too spicy.

Mammis Gelato

If you like very sweet and very creamy ice cream Mammis Gelato is for you. They have some creative varieties like strawberry cheesecake or lemon tarte with meringue topping, but also chocolate and blueberry.

Just make sure to look at the price before you pay, we got 4 scoops in total, but got charged for two and two (88 kr instead of 64 kr = 3,5€ difference), which I noticed too late.

Brødrenes Original

To eat the famous Flæskesteg (Danish Roast Pork), go to Brødrenes Original. There are some spots in the city, the most recommended one being the Raadhuus Kafeen, one of the oldest restaurants in the city, but the reviews are mixed and the locals we asked were hesitant as well.

At Brødrenes Original you can also get delicious sandwiches as well. I got a porkbelly-slaw one and it was delicious. But my hands were already fatty from the Flæskesteg, so I did not take a picture.

DavidBreadHead Bakery

With two locations in Aarhus you should go to DavidBreadHead Bakery or their Cafe to eat a Kardemommesnurre. Theirs is light, fluffy, has a strong cardamom taste and some sugar sprinkled on top. They also have other baked goods, their rhubarb pastry is out of this world as well.

Juliette

By far my favourite breakfast in Aarhus was the Brunch at Juliette. It was also the most expensive one, but worth it. We shared the vegetarian Brunch (to get that delicious honey glazed goat cheese) and the standard breakfast. Their coffee was also really good.

Inside this French inspired restaurant many fresh flowers brought a spring vibe and the decoration is very whimsical and country inspired, paired with sleek modern lines and metals.

Important Questions answered about what to do in Aarhus

Map of a what to do in Aarhus

How to read the map: the grey icons are where I recommend staying in Aarhus, the light blue are museums, the dark blue places to visit and purple landmarks. For restaurants and cafes I marked the ones I recommend in light green, the ice cream parlour in yellow and the rest I mentioned in dark green.

You can also download the map to your own Google Maps here.

Der Beitrag What to do in Aarhus – Denmark erschien zuerst auf Kaya Wanderlust.

You walk around the museum almost in a circle, going through the ages, starting in the modern era, going back through the centuries until 1600 and ending back up in the 1970s.

Is Den Gamle By Museum in Aarhus worth the high admission ticket price? TLDR here

What is the open-air museum all about?

Of course it’s not just the outside of the houses that is shown, but insides as well. You can see how different a tailor family (1-2) and a merchant family (4-6) lived around 1864, a myriad of people and families in a row-house in the city in 1972 (next gallery) and compare it to a 2014 rainbow family home (3).

Within the row-house from the 1970s six apartements and a amateur radio station are displayed:

• A pensioner couple (1-2)
• A single mother and her teenage son (3-4)
• 6 Turkish migrant workers (5-6)
• A teacher couple (7-8)
• A hippie couple with their infant daughter (9-10)
• A student from Greenland (11)
• An amateur radio station next to the attic used to dry clothes (12)

There are also many shops in the museum. Some of them are interior-only, like the brewery, the spinning factory, the tailor, the hatter, etc. Some others, like the old pharmacy have life sized video projections of people from that time who tell you about different topics at the push of a button.

But some others are brought to life by people dressed up and acting in character. Here you have a merchant store and an iron monger from 1864, a bakery where they still sell baked good made from recipes from the 1880s (1-3), a general goods mini-market (4), a paint store, an embroidery store and a radio store from the 1970 (5).

We bought two baked goods from the old timey bakery (3), a coffee bread (old bread slathered in butter and baked with cinnamon and sugar) and a vanilla cookie ring.

Museums inside Den Gamle By

Inside the open-air-museum are several more, smaller, museums. The most extensive is the history of Aarhus as a city. All of these smaller museums and exhibitions are included in the cost of the ticket.

History of Aarhus Museum – 1200 years of city history

An elevator in one of the 1970s houses takes you into the basement, where 800 square meters of exhibition cover the history of the city Aarhus. From the first settlement to the modern day. The museum education is done with great love to detail, with many interactive displays and opportunities to immerse yourself into the different millennia.

Jewellery Museum

The Jewellery Museum shows off 100 years of Danish jewellery design and crafting. Alongside the displayed pieces is a look, presented on a female model, with the most trendy hair, outfit and jewellery from the mentioned times.

Clock Museum

Behind the city history museum is the clock museum, where you can see historical clocks, pocket– and wristwatches, grandfather clocks and other timepieces from all over Denmark. In the middle is a round table where many pocket watches are displayed, on top of the table are two magnifying glasses in the shape of clock arms you can move around to see the small details.

Silverware and Porcelain Museum

Primarily the exhibition of mostly everyday objects mainly covers Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein (the most northern province of Germany), but also includes several artifacts from other northern European countries – and explains how a lot of the porcelain actually came from the Far East. These exhibits give a good overview of everyday life of the middle classes through the centuries.

Placards/poster Museum

The poster museum has changing exhibitions, when I was there the topic was travel and tourism, both Danish and international.

On the top floor some of the most popular Danish posters from 1900 to 2008 are on display.

Another one is the toy museum, with 5.000+ from over the centuries. But it was so dark inside that I did not take any pictures.

And a 1900s local history museum Museum. Literally a Museum of how a typical local history museum used to look like around 1900.

Events at Den Gamle By Museum in Aarhus

We were there the weekend before Easter, when the Easter events at Den Gamle By Museum in Aarhus had already started. At the entrance everyone got a map of the premises, with many special showings of Danish Easter traditions (like decorating eggs or colouring them) by people dressed up in century appropriate attire and interactive stations for children and kids-at-heart. At certain places you could get your map stamped, get a sticker, a wax seal or draw on it with an old ink pen.

They have an overview of all events on their website here.

Facts, prices and opening times of Den Gamle By Museum Aarhus

Address: Viborgvej 2, 8000 Aarhus C

Opening Times: 365 days a year. From January to the start of April from 10 AM to 4 PM, from April to December from 10 AM to 5 PM (on the weekends to 5 PM already from February).

Ticket prices: Adult 195 DKK (~26€), Student 95 DKK (~12,5€), children free.

When you buy your ticket online you save 10 DKK per person and you can skip the line.

Is the ticket to the Den Gamble By Museum in Aarhus worth the money?

Yes! To properly see everything within the museum grounds you will need 4-5 hours. And you get the open-air museum (including the insides of the houses) and 7 special exhibitions, as big as some smaller museums, all in one ticket.

The museum is incredibly interactive and well designed, from the outside to the smaller exhibits. And even with all the pictures in the post you have barely seen anything of the museum!

In my opinion the old town / den Gamle By is the best museum in Aarhus by a wide margin.

Der Beitrag Den Gamle By Museum in Aarhus – Worth it? erschien zuerst auf Kaya Wanderlust.

This post contains affiliate links to things like tours and hotels. These help me earn a small commission at no additional charge to you. Every affiliate link is marked with a *.

• Søndervig
• Ringkøbing
• Abelines Gaard
• Hvide Sande
• Stauning Whisky

Søndervig

Our base for one week in Denmark with a dog

Søndervig* has been a tourist destination since the 1900s and has undergone many changes since then, most recently when the roads in the city centre were torn up and replaced by new ones in 2022, giving more space to pedestrians and cyclists.

Since its popularity with tourists, there are several hotels, camping opportunities and rental agencies for holiday homes in the town. When you are planning a week in Denmark with a dog your options to book a place to stay are limited. We rented our accommodation from Esmark, which has a “dogs allowed” policy that doesn’t discriminate against larger dogs (and ours is a 72cm shoulder height and 45kg German shepherd mix). In most of their houses, they don’t charge extra for bringing your dog either.

In 1941, during WWII, the German Wehrmacht started building bunkers along the west coast of Denmark as part of the Atlantic wall defence against the Allied Forces. Many of those bunkers can still be seen today in various stages of decay. Most of them had been built in the dunes, to hide them from enemy planes. Today they are found on the beach or in the water, a testament to how much land the sea has eroded in just 80 years.

The closest cafe to our accommodation in Søndervig was Café Badevej, which coincidentally also had the best soft serve we tried in all of Søndervig!

Ringkøbing

The only thing I remember Ringkøbing from the last time I was there is: there wasn’t a lot to do or see. Now, 10 years later it has had a “glow up” as one of the oldest towns in the country, a lot of the houses are reminiscent of the time it was a highly frequented seafaring trading town in the middle ages, where goods from all over the world arrived in its harbour and were distributed through the Rinkøbing Fjord.

A lot of the newer red brick houses in the city were designed by Ulrick Plesner, a Danish architect who was born close by. Today a house carrying the essence of his architectural style is named after him. It would be a good place for a museum, but it only has offices.

For coffee, we went to Baking Sins by Lea and had a Latte Macchiato, a Cappuccino and two cheesecakes. I found her on Instagram via the location tag, which is a great way to find local and small businesses on your travels!

After exploring the pedestrian zone of the town and window-shopping in the many stores there we stopped at Kjærstrup for hot chocolate and a waffle with the famous Danish vanilla soft serve and strawberry sauce.

Abelines Gaard – a dog-friendly museum

We spent one afternoon at Abelines Gaard, one of the Ringkøbing museums of living history. This old farmstead is a window into the late 1800s where the residents (most notably a woman named Abeline) lived, farmed, housed guests from the bigger cities and helped the coast guard rescue stranded ships and their crew.

A lot of the furniture in the house is original, some exhibits were gifts from local families.

This museum is child and dog friendly and very extensive, with explanations of the farms’ layout and the many exhibits in various different languages.

In the dunes near the farm, you can find the lifeboat station Haurvig. Every so often they show what a rescue mission for a ship in distress was like in the 1900s. You can find the timetable on the museum’s website.

When we planned our one week in Denmark with a dog I didn’t think we could take him inside of museums with us, although I was certain that most places are prepared for dogs, since it’s a popular holiday destination.

Hvide Sande

If you are looking for a good coffee in Hvide Sande*, look no further than omhu: While their coffee is amazing, their main focus is not the coffee, but rather cleaning up the surrounding beaches and recycling all the trash they find into new and useful things. I have a reel on my Instagram with more information about them and their mission to clean the beaches.

On the Troldbjerg (a high dune in the middle of the city) you can explore a former German observation bunker. During WWII two bunkers were built on the dune, one for observations and one for the crew. Today the observation bunker is open for visitors and has several explanation plaques inside. When I was there the light inside was not functional so I used my phone’s flashlight and it made everything feel very small and cramped.

After exploring Hvide Sande we stopped at Kjærstrup again on the way back home.

Stauning Whisky

From the first bottles, opened in 2011, Stauning Whisky has become a known name among whisky lovers. Sadly this was the only place on our trip where we couldn’t take the dog inside with us. Thankfully my parent’s dog is the calmest dog you’ll ever meet and the only thing he will do when left alone is napping while he waits for my mom to come back.

A tour at Stauning Whisky, with a whisky tasting, takes about two hours. During the tour they cover the history of the brand and the distillery, which was founded by nine friends in 2005, followed by the production methods and the specifics of what makes their whisky special. After the introduction, you are taken on a tour of the production facilities. Our guide Niklas was very knowledgeable and humorous and gave life to the story of this place. If you like Whisky or are just interested in the production of it I can recommend this tour.

Map of one week in Denmark with a dog

I marked the three cities I used as headings in this article in red and put the markers in or close to the cities underneath them. The three markers which couldn’t be attributed to one city are up top.

You can save the map to your google maps by clicking here.

Der Beitrag One week in Denmark with a dog erschien zuerst auf Kaya Wanderlust.