Denmark travel guide

Vesterhavet (North Sea) is well known for its big waves and strong winds, but Klitmøller is particularly famous. It’s called Cold Hawaii because the weather conditions for wind- and kitesurfing are perfect year around. Windsurfers, not only from Denmark, but from all over Europe, come to Klitmøller to ride the waves. Pre surfing times, Klitmølle was a traditional fishing village, which was popular in summer with families on holiday, but today the town is flavoured by the growing international community of surf bums, who live out of their vans. Klitmøller is very unique in that aspect, that the fishing boats and surfboards share the beach together.

There are so many good spots along the west coast of Jytland, but some are more popular than others. While Klitmøller has become the trendy place for windsurfers (and those who want to mingle with them), Løkken is still the more traditional beach town for those who are more interested in the sun and sand, than the wind and waves. The wide sandy beach seems endless and is dotted with iconic beach huts, as far as the eye can see. All the summer cottages are semi hidden in the hilly landscape of sand dunes and lyme grass. Though Løkken town is small, it’s very lively with an abundance of cafes - it even has a bit of a party scene during the summer months.

Though Stevns' Cliff is a UNESCO World Heritage site, Møn's Cliff - which is not enlisted - is actually larger and more dramatic. For about 7 km the chalk cliffs on the island of Møn break off in a sheer drop of more than 125 m into the Baltic Sea. Each year the sea eats a bit of the cliffs. Usually it's just 20-40 cm, but in 2007 a huge chunk fell into the sea and turned into the white peninsula you can see today, where it eventually will be totally absorbed by the sea. While the rest of Møn island is flat, the landscape at Møn's Cliff is surprisingly hilly and covered in typical Danish beech forest. There are trails at both the top and bottom of the cliffs with a few connecting stairways. On a clear day you can see across the Baltic Sea to Sweden and Germany from the many lookouts, but be careful not to fall down.

Nykøbing Falster is another old market town with a fine collection of half-timbered houses. The town is beautifully nested on the shore to Guldborg Strait, right in the middle of what the Danish call the South Sea Islands. These islands are generally considered remote countryside, where very little thrives besides sugar beets, but Nykøbing Falster has kept its historical position as the region's biggest town. Today, the main sights are the pretty church, which was funded in the 15th century, along with several cute half-timbered houses, some dating back as far as the 16th and 17th century. Note that the name "Nykøbing", meaning "New Market Town" in Danish, is quite a common town name in Denmark, so it's important to add the geographical postfix "Falster", when typing into the GPS or buying a train ticket.

This giant runestone contains Denmark's longest runic inscription. It was probably erected in the early 10th century, during the Viking Age, by Ragnhild in memory of her husband Alle the Pale, who should have been a chief and pagan priest. Like some other runestones the text ends with a curse for those who tamper or steal the stone. The stone was placed as part of a stone ship (setting of stones shaped like a ship) on an even older burial site of two barrows dating back to the Bronze Age, more than 3,000 years ago. In the 1900s more stone monuments were placed at this site and trees were planted.

Stevns' Cliff is a dramatic stretch of coastline where the land breaks off at vertical cliffs, some as high as 40 metres. It's a natural oddity and a paradise for geology and fossil buffs. Each year, the sea eats away the cliffs some more, making Denmark a bit smaller than it already is. The old church at Højerup is a fine proof of that. It was built inland at the end of the 13th century, but the sea slowly ate away the cliffs. In 1928, the graveyard was swallowed by the sea, leaving the church balancing right on the edge of the cliff. Today, the church has been secured and it's possible to visit the balcony at the back where the chancel once was.
Stevns' Cliff became an UNESCO World Heritage site in 2014, due to the exceptional evidence of the meteorite crash in Mexico about 65 million years ago which extinct over 50 per cent of all life on Earth.

The Six Forgotten Giants are six wooden giants, each placed at a different location in the suburbs of Copenhagen (Rødovre, Hvidovre, Vallensbæk, Ishøj, Albertslund and Høje Taastrup). They are all placed at scenic locations, but off the beaten track, and semi-hidden so you have to go looking for them, like a treasure hunt. The quirky looking giants are built from scrap wood by the artist Thomas Dambo, who wanted to lure people out in nature with his giant art pieces. You can find treasure hunt maps for each of the giants on his website: thomasdambo.com/works/forgotten-giants/. Note that the distances between the giants are great, so it’s best done with a car, if you want to see all six in a day.

The hills, forests and lakes at Tystrup-Bavelse are a gem in the otherwise flat farm landscape of mid Zealand. The valley and lakes were shaped by the moving icecap under the last ice age about 15,000 years ago. At the north end of Tystrup Lake is Suserup Forest, which hasn’t been touched for centuries, leaving it full of old and crooked trees. The artificial sandy beach at Frederikskilde on the shore of Tystrup Lake is obviously popular, particularly during summer. Twisting Suså, the longest river in Zealand, runs through both Tystrup Lake and Bavelse Lake, and is perfect for kayaking and canoeing. History buffs might find the Bronze Age burial mounds interesting. Though there are several parking lots around Tystrup Lake, the largest is at Kongskilde Nature Centre, where there also is a map of the hiking trails.