In one of her first summers in Denmark, Rushnan Binte Amin spent an entire week discovering the country through six separate day trips from Copenhagen. It changed the way she saw her adopted home.
When my husband and I took a week of summer vacation in late July, 2023, our original plan was to fly to Budapest. Then we stopped and asked ourselves a simple question: why not spend that week getting to know Denmark?
We had moved to Denmark during the Covid-19 pandemic when lockdown had made travel almost impossible. Then after the restrictions were eased, life quickly filled up with work, studies, settling into our home, and everything else that comes with building a life in a new country. Before we knew it, years passed, and we had barely left Copenhagen.
So we decided to dedicate an entire week to seeing as much of the country as possible.
In 2023, the government was still subsidizing the DSB Summer Ticket, Sommarbiljett, which cost 399 kroner per person and gave us the freedom to travel extensively by train. Although the ticket was discontinued in 2025, you can still keep costs surprisingly low by booking Orange discount tickets early.
Now I have a one-year-old child, I am not sure I would attempt such an ambitious itinerary again. Then again, having recently returned from a London tour, I have to admit that Denmark’s public transport seems exceptionally family-friendly in comparison, so perhaps it would not be too challenging.
Visiting the home of LEGO
We did not construct a carefully optimized itinerary. Instead, we chose destinations based on what excited us the most on each day. There was never any doubt about the first stop: Legoland in Billund.
We left Copenhagen early in the morning and reached Billund around 11am.
When I was growing up in the 90s, I played with fake Lego because the real sets were far beyond what my family could afford, and visiting Legoland and LEGO House was a childhood dream. Walking through displays of colorful bricks and interactive exhibits made me realize that I had not outgrown that excitement at all.
Since Legoland closes at 6pm, there was not enough time to experience every attraction or to try all the rides, so we squeezed in as many rides and exhibits as we could before heading back, accepting that one day is not enough to do the theme park justice.
Nearby Vejle town, from where you have to take the bus to Legoland, turned out to be an unexpected highlight. Compared with Copenhagen’s largely flat streets, Vejle is quite hilly, with roads that go uphill and downhill, and cobblestone walkways between colorfully painted buildings, many surrounded by large gardens. The waterfront setting gives the city an atmosphere that reminds me a little of some of the smaller towns in Italy.
A sign for HC Andersen’s house in Odense. Photo: Rushnan Binte Amin
A warm afternoon in Odense
Our trip to Odense was much more relaxed. Since we live in Taastrup, we boarded the train at Høje Taastrup Station instead of traveling into Copenhagen Central Station first. Unfortunately, we forgot to reserve seats, meaning we spent the journey standing.
We left later than usual, around 11am, meaning we arrived at around 1pm. It was an extremely hot day, and for a moment we questioned whether leaving home had been a good idea. But Odense is compact and easy to explore on foot.
My main reason for visiting was to see Hans Christian Andersen’s birthplace and museum. As someone who grew up charmed by fairy tales like The Little Mermaid, standing in the city that inspired so many beloved stories felt special. Surprisingly, I found more Chinese restaurants on a single street than in Copenhagen, so we had Chinese food for an early dinner before heading back.
The Utzon Center in Aalborg. Photo: Rushnan Binte Amin
Taking on Aalborg in a single day
If there was one truly ambitious day, it was the day we traveled to Aalborg. Many visitors overlook the city in northern Jutland, but it became one of the unexpected highlights of our week.
We left Copenhagen at 6am in the morning, knowing that we had hours of train travel ahead of us. Spending so much of a single day traveling might sound exhausting, but watching the Danish countryside roll past the train windows made the journey enjoyable in itself. The trip from Copenhagen takes approximately four and a half hours, making it an ambitious day trip. But it is still possible, at least during the long daylight hours of summer.
After getting off the train in Aalborg, our first stop was the delightful Park of Music (De Syngende Træer) in Kildeparken, just a short walk from the station. The open-air attraction is unlike any other park in Denmark. There are dozens of trees planted by internationally renowned musicians are paired with interactive speakers that let visitors play a selection of each artist’s songs at the press of a button. Later, I visited the Utzon Center, named after Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the visionary behind the Sydney Opera House. The striking waterfront building celebrates his legacy and serves as both a cultural venue and a reminder that one of Denmark’s greatest architectural minds came from Aalborg.
Ticket prices vary widely, typically between DKK 400 and 800 for a return journey. Restaurants along Jomfru Ane Gade and the harbor area offer everything from Danish comfort food to international dishes.
Aarhus and another long ride west
Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city, combines history with contemporary culture and can be reached in roughly three hours by direct train from Copenhagen.
For us the journey was itself part of the experience, crossing the Great Belt connection between Zealand and Jutland before continuing through changing landscapes.
The way we planned our day trips may not have been the most sensible. We could easily have stayed overnight in Odense, continued to Aarhus the next day, and then traveled onward to Aalborg.
Instead, we returned to Copenhagen each day and then retraced much of the same route over three consecutive days. But with the Summer Ticket offering unlimited travel we decided to make the most of it.
The ARoS Art Museum, with its famous rainbow panorama walkway, offers wide city views, while Den Gamle By recreates Danish life across different centuries. The waterfront district also exhibits how modern architecture has transformed the city.
Food options were plentiful, from the bustling Aarhus Street Food market to waterfront restaurants serving fresh seafood and Scandinavian cuisine.
The cliffs of Stevns Klint. Photo: Rushnan Binte Amin
Saving Møns Klint and Stevns Klint for cargo
We intentionally scheduled Møns Klint and Stevns Klint towards the end of the week because they are much closer to Copenhagen than destinations like Aalborg or Billund. With our Budapest flight only a few days away, we wanted the final outings to be less physically demanding.
When we visited Møns Klint, the weather was cooperating with us, and the beautiful white chalk cliffs looked every bit as spectacular as the photographs suggest. Towering chalk cliffs rise above turquoise water, and there are forest trails revealing viewpoints that seem almost cinematic. Fossil hunting along the beach has long become a favorite pastime for the visitors, and fossils dating back millions of years are still routinely uncovered. .
Stevns Klint was a different story: we were greeted by rain. But even under gray skies the landscape remained memorable. Stevns Klint can be reached by train and bus in under two hours, making it the easiest day trips on our itinerary. The cliffs contain evidence of the asteroid impact that contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs around 66 million years ago. Walking paths follow the coastline, while Højerup Old Church now overlooks the sea precariously, after the cliff in front of it has collapsed over the centuries.
What I learned after six destinations in one week
Packing lightly proved invaluable. We only carried what we needed, meaning we could move between stations, change trains, board buses, and walk through city centers without worrying about heavy luggage. Since most destinations were day trips, traveling with minimal luggage gave us much greater flexibility.
Denmark’s integrated public transport system made transfers straightforward. The exception came in Billund, when the buses were so crowded that we had to wait for the next departure. Elsewhere, the fact that local buses were included in the Summer ticket made getting around cities and attractions extremely easy.
Denmark is surprisingly varied. Before the journey, I had felt the country was fairly uniform, but every destination offered something distinct: Billund’s playful creativity, Vejle’s hilly streets and colorful homes, Odense’s literary heritage and modern touches: Aarhus’s vibrant urban atmosphere: Aalborg’s northern charm; and the natural landscapes of Møns Klint and Stevns Klint.
Looking back, the schedule was undeniably ambitious and there were moments when we questioned our own planning. But spending one week discovering six very different corners of Denmark transformed the way I saw my adopted home. It reminded me that meaningful travel does not always require crossing borders. Sometimes the best adventures are just a train ride away.
