What to do in Aarhus – Denmark

Aarhus is the museum town of Denmark, not as big and fashion forward as Copenhagen and not as small, traditional and chill as Ringkøbing. Aarhus is the second biggest city in the country, once an established Viking settlement, then a flourishing harbour, now a cultural hotspot. With not one, not two, but three Michelin star recommended museums, churches and other attractions. It also has some very interesting modern architecture.

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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*.

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.