Aarhus

Denmark's second city, where the rainbow panorama walkway atop ARoS Art Museum is the city's landmark, the open-air Old Town museum recreates a Danish market town, and highlights include Moesgaard Museum and the waterfront Iceberg housing.

Aarhus is Denmark's second-largest city, set on Aarhus Bay on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula. It began as a Viking Age trading post and is now a university town and design city; it was European Capital of Culture in 2017. Compact and youthful, it's perfect for exploring on foot or by bike.

Key areas: the city center revolves around the cathedral, with the medieval Latin Quarter to the north and ARoS Art Museum, City Hall and the open-air Old Town museum to the west; Aarhus Ø, east of the harbor, is an up-and-coming waterfront district with the Iceberg housing and the harbor bath; and the southern Marselisborg area is home to the royal palace, a deer park, the Infinite Bridge and Moesgaard Museum. Day trips include LEGOLAND and LEGO House in Billund, Randers Regnskov tropical zoo, Himmelbjerget in the Silkeborg Lakes, and Mols Bjerge National Park and the small town of Ebeltoft to the east.

Getting there: about 3 hours by train from Copenhagen, with airport buses from Aarhus Airport and Billund Airport. The city has light rail and buses, and bike sharing is convenient. Plan on 2–3 days, plus 1 day for LEGOLAND.

Climate: June–August is mild with long daylight hours, the best time to travel; the Aarhus Festival takes place in early September; winters are cold with short days, and December brings the Old Town Christmas market.

Top sights

• ARoS Aarhus Art Museum – One of Northern Europe's largest art museums. A rooftop rainbow panorama walkway offers 360-degree views of the city, making it Aarhus's to…
• Den Gamle By – An open-air museum that has rebuilt dozens of old houses moved from across Denmark. Walk from 16th-century streets to 1970s apartments.
• Moesgaard Museum – An archaeology and ethnography museum with sloping grass roofs. It displays the Grauballe Man, a bog body from more than 2,000 years ago th…
• The Iceberg (Isbjerget) – A group of white, jagged apartment blocks in Aarhus's new eastern harbour district, shaped like floating ice and a favourite stop for conte…
• Latin Quarter – Medieval cobbled lanes north of the cathedral, lined with independent shops, cafés and bars. It is the city's oldest district.
• Aarhus Cathedral – Denmark's longest and tallest church, with the largest area of medieval wall paintings in Northern Europe and Denmark's largest organ.
• Church of Our Lady, Aarhus – A medieval friary church whose crypt hides one of Scandinavia's oldest stone-built crypt churches, dating from around 1060.
• Aarhus City Hall – Arne Jacobsen's modernist town hall, whose marble façade and clock tower are icons of Danish architecture.
• Dokk1 – A polygonal city library and cultural centre on the harbour, Northern Europe's largest public library, with a giant tubular bell above the…
• Marselisborg Palace – The summer residence of the Danish royal family. The memorial and rose gardens are open when the royals are away, and the changing of the g…
• Marselisborg Deer Park – A forest deer park by the bay where you can hand-feed sika deer and roe deer with carrots and apples. It is a popular spot for families.
• The Infinite Bridge – A circular timber boardwalk, 60 metres across, reaching out into Aarhus Bay. Walking around it gives views of the city skyline and the fore…
• Aarhus Harbour Bath – A harbour public bath designed by BIG, free to swim in during summer, with diving platforms, a children's pool and saunas.
• Aarhus Botanical Garden – A city botanical garden beside the open-air Old Town Museum, with a tropical greenhouse dome where you can see rainforest plants and butter…
• Aarhus University Park – A university campus of yellow-brick buildings nestled among rolling grassy slopes and oak woods, regarded as part of Denmark's architectura…
• Tivoli Friheden – A long-established amusement park on the edge of the Marselisborg forest, with roller coasters and carousels suited to families, and open-a…
• Aarhus Street Food – A food market in a converted former bus depot, with more than thirty stalls serving snacks from around the world as well as Danish open san…
• Salling Rooftop – A free viewing terrace on the roof of a city-centre department store, with a glass platform jutting out from the outer wall and a rooftop b…
• Randers Regnskov – Three glass domes recreating the rainforests of South America, Africa and Asia, where visitors walk among sloths and monkeys in the same sp…
• Himmelbjerget – Denmark's most famous hill. From the tower on its summit you can look out over the Silkeborg lake district, and taking the century-old stea…
• Mols Bjerge National Park – A national park of glacially shaped hills, heathland and coastline. The Bronze Age Trehøje burial mounds overlook the bay.
• Kalø Castle Ruin – The ruins of a 13th-century castle on a small island in the bay, reached on foot along a 500-metre stone causeway. Swedish King Gustav I wa…
• Frigate Jylland – One of the longest wooden warships in the world, moored in a dry dock at Ebeltoft, where you can board and visit the gun deck.
• Ree Park Safari – A large safari park near Ebeltoft, with giraffes, rhinos and cheetahs roaming in areas arranged by continent.
• Fængslet (Horsens State Prison) – Denmark's oldest state prison, which held inmates from 1853 to 2006. It is now an interactive prison museum where you can visit cells and h…
• Ejer Bavnehøj – A hill about 171 metres high that has long been regarded as Denmark's highest point. The summit tower offers views over the lake and hill c…

Where to eat

• Frederikshøj – A two-Michelin-starred restaurant where Chef Wassim Hallal blends French techniques with Nordic ingredients, overlookin…
• Raadhuus Kafeen – Operating next to the City Hall since 1924, this historic spot is a classic choice in Aarhus for traditional Danish ope…
• Substans – A one-Michelin-starred restaurant located in a high-rise in Aarhus East, presenting familiar Danish flavors using local…
• Restaurant ET – A Michelin Bib Gourmand French bistro tucked away in a 19th-century courtyard, serving French cuisine with Danish creat…
• Aarhus Street Food – A food market housed in a renovated old garage next to the bus station, featuring over thirty stalls with global flavor…
• La Cabra Coffee (Graven) – The original location of the Aarhus specialty coffee brand, serving pour-over coffee, sourdough bread, and cardamom bun…

Itineraries

• Denmark Rail & Samsø Island Grand Tour – Take the train north from Copenhagen to Skagen, with a ferry ride to Samsø Island for an overnight cycling trip.
• Denmark Grand Loop Self-Drive – A grand loop covering Zealand, Funen, Ærø, South Jutland, and Skagen, including three ferry crossings.