Denmark

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Quick Facts

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Local name

Danmark

Capital

Copenhagen (København)

Government

Constitutional Monarchy

Nationality

Danish

Population

5 482 266^[1]

Languages

Danish

Religions

Christianity (Protestant)

Currency

Danish Krone (DKK)

Calling Code

+45

Time Zone

CET (UTC+1)

Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

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Introduction

Chinese Pagoda - Tivoli Garden

© All Rights Reserved don_kam

A modern, progressive nation, Denmark has long abandoned the less sophisticated ways of its Viking heritage. What highlights Denmark as an attractive place to visit is the lack of obstinate over-development and polluted modernity: its capital and largest city, Copenhagen is a thriving cosmopolitan city, but one which reveals the Danes' remarkable sensitivity to environmental aesthetics. Water fountains, parks and gardens abound; historical architecture remains superbly intact; and running through the city center is the world's longest pedestrian mall.

Denmark also boasts Scandinavia's oldest town, at Ribe. Ribe is a good place to visit if you want an insight into Danish history: not only because of its various museums heralding Viking artifacts, but also because of its relative lack of development over the last few centuries, leaving it much like it was three centuries ago.

Brief History

Geography

Denmark is a small flat peninsula. There are also several islands that are connected by bridges or boats, including the road towards Sweden. Denmark shares international borders with Germany and Sweden.

Regions

Denmark is divided into 5 administrative regions.

• Hovedstaden (Danish Capital Region)
• Midtjylland (Central Jutland)
• Nordjylland (North Jutland)
• Sjælland (Zealand)
• Syddanmark (South Denmark)

Cities

• Copenhagen, the capital city
• Aarhus
• Aalborg
• Esbjerg
• Odense
• Roskilde

Sights and Activities

Christiansø Island in Ertholmene

Christiansö

© All Rights Reserved snatterand

Christiansø Island in Ertholmene is an island in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark. Since the Middle Ages fishermen used these islands as place of shelter. In the late 17th century Denmark needed a naval base in the central Baltic Sea against Sweden. Therefore the Danes built two large naval bases one on Christiansø and the other on Frederiksø. The outposts were used from 1684 to 1810 and the population dropped greatly after that. Today the population is around 96 people and they live mainly in the old fortresses. For a romantic weekend couples can even rent rooms in the old fortresses for a few nights.

The Little Mermaid

Small Little Mermaid

© All Rights Reserved sfoshee

One of the most recognisable landmarks of Copenhagen is the famous statue of the little mermaid. It is situated in the harbour of the city, which means it's a pretty long walk (30-45 minutes) from the center of Copenhagen to the statue. If you don't feel walking that far, note that most of the channel tours have a route that takes you along the statue. The statue was placed in Copenhagen in 1913, as a gift from Carl Jacobsen, who was impressed by the performance of the little mermaid that he had seen earlier. The statue was made by Edvard Eriksen. The face of mermaid is that of Ellen Price, who had the lead role in the ballet that Carl Jacobsen had seen. The statue in the harbour is a copy, of an original that is stored in a secret location. For good reasons as the one in the harbour has been vandalised several times.

Møns Klint

Møns Klint (Cliffs of Møns) are impressive bright chalk cliffs stretching 6 km down the coast from Liselund. Some of these sheer cliffs are over a 120 m dropping drastically into the sea. Møns is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe with hundreds of thousands of visitors a year. There are several great and clearly marked paths for hikers, riders and cyclists.

Råbjerg Mile

Råbjerg Mile is a natural sand dune that is being allowed to do its thing. That means the sand dune is slowly moving north-easterly 18 m every year. As it travels across the land scape it is leaving behind a moist layer of sand that can be followed back to were it started over 300 years ago. The sand dune lies between Skagen and Frederikshavn.

Trelleborg

Trelleborg is the collective name for six viking villages and forts that are located in present day northern Denmark and southern Sweden. Most of them were built in the late 10th and early 11th century. These impressive towns helped to rain havoc on most of the Northern Europe for several years. Many of the ones in Denmark are located near present day Limfjorden, Hobro, Odense and Slagelse.

Other Sights and Activities

• Legoland - Is a theme park dedicated to Lego.
• Nightlife -Spend a night out in Copenhagen that no one will ever forget.
• Beer - Enjoy great Danish beer at expensive prices.
• Coastline - Explore the amazing coastline of Denmark.

Events and Festivals

• Roskilde Festival - One of the biggest annual rock music festivals in Europe. In 2008, it will be held from 3 to 6 July.
• Copenhagen Jazz Festival - For the year 2008, it will be held from 4 to 13 July.
• Tønder Festival - A festival for folk music, usually held in the last weekend of August. For the year 2008, it will be held from 28 to 31 August.

Weather

Denmark has a maritime climate and is in fact a transition zone between the warmer parts south of the country, like Germany and the colder ones (especially in winter) to the north, like Sweden. Most of the country has the same climate and weather and differences are only marginal. For example, the western parts of the country are just slightly wetter and cooler than the parts to the east (although it is a bit warmer in winter, because of the influence of the sea).
Temperatures in summer (June to August) are between 18 and 22 °C, around 13 or 14 °C at night. Winters are mostly around zero on average, a few degrees above during the day, a few below during the night. Although some winters might have like 30 days of snow coverage, other years go by withouth significant snow at all. Summer and autumn (June-November) are the wettest times of year, but precipitation is quite evenly spread out, differences are small.

Getting There

By Plane

The Copenhagen Airport (IATA: CPH, ICAO: EKCH), originally and commonly known as Kastrup Airport, is the major hub for Scandinavia. It is a large airport, and has connections to destinations around the world. If you go to the countries north of Denmark, there's a good chance that you will make a stop at this airport. There are also commercial flights from smaller airports in Aalborg (airport code AAL), Aarhus (airport code AAR), Billund (airport code BLL) and Esbjerg (airport code EBJ).

By Train

The Oresund Bridge connects Copenhagen by train to Malmö in Sweden. Hamburg in Germany is the hub for mainland Europe to access Denmark via either the Great Belt rail link, the Little Belt Bridge or a train ferry that operates between Rødby in Denmark and Puttgarden in Germany.
Check Danske Statsbaner for more information about services, for example to Sweden but also as far as Frankfurt or Oslo.

By Car

You can enter Denmark by car from northern Germany via the E45 and Sweden via the E20 across the Öresund Bridge between Copenhagen and Malmö.

By Bus

Eurolines provides extensive services to and from Denmark, including the capital Copenhagen. Destinations are plentiful to other European countries and cities.

Gullivers Reisen has buses between Berlin and Aarhus, stopping in Kolding and Vejle as well.

By Boat

International ferry services operate from Norway, Germany, Sweden, the Faroe Islands the UK, and even as far as Iceland. Some ferries go to Poland and the Baltic States as well.

Faroe Islands and Iceland

• Smyril Line between Hanstholm, Torshavn in Faroe and Seysdisfjordur in Iceland. This service only goes in season, which is roughly the summerperiod of May to September. The boat to Torshavn goes yearround. This line also travels sometimes from Torshavn to Lerwick in the UK and to Bergen in Norway.

The Icelandic cargo ship Eimskip has two vessels, the Dettifoss and Goðafoss which travel the route Rotterdam-Hamburg-Göteborg-Århus-Fredrikstad-Tórshavn-Reykjavík. It takes 8 days in total and the return trip goes via eastern Iceland and Tórshavn only. The vessel can take a maximum of 3 passengers but only between mid-April and mid-October.

Sweden

• Stena Line and Silja Line between Gothenburg and Frederikshavn.
• Stena Line between Varberg and Grena.
• HH Ferries and Scandlines between Helsingborg and Helsingor.
• Scandlines between Helsingborg and Copenhagen.
• Scandlines from Landskrona
• Bornholmstrafikken between Ystad and the island of Bornholm.

Poland

• Pol Ferries between both Copenhagen and the island of Bornholm and Swinoujscie.

Lithuania

• Lisco Baltic Service between Klaipeda and Copenhagen (Frederica).
• Lisco Baltic Service between Klaipeda and Aarhus via Abenraa.

Germany

• Langeland-Kiel has ferries between Kiel and Bergenkop (Langeland).
• Scandlines between Puttgarden and Rodby and between Rostock and Gedser.
• Scandlines between Sassnitz and Ronne on the island of Bornholm.
• Bornholmstrafikken between Sassnitz and Bornholm as well.

Norway

• Smyril Line between Hanstholm and Bergen (and on to Torshavn, Faroer Islands).
• Color Line between Hirsthals and Oslo, Stavanger, Bergen, Kristiansand and Larvik.
• Color Line between Frederikshavn and Larvik.
• Kystlink between Hirsthals and Brevik.
• DFDS Seaways between Oslo and Copenhagen (via Helsingborg, Sweden).
• Fiordline between Hanstholm and Kristiansand.
• Fiordline between Hanstholm and Egersund/Bergen.

United Kingdom

• DFDS Seaways ferries from Harwich, Essex sail up to 4 times a week to Esbjerg, and is only a 3 hours drive from Copenhagen.

Getting Around

By Plane

SAS and Sterling Airlines are the two main domestic airlines which serve surprisinly many airports for such a small country. As a result, most flights don't take any longer than half an hour. The main airports are in Copenhagen, Ålborg, Århus, Billund, Bornholm, Karup and Sønderborg.

By Train

The Danish State Railways offers a wide range of domestic train services. There are express train and intercity services to and from Ålborg, Copenhagen, Esbjerg, Herning, Horsens, Odense and Randers, among other smaller places.

By Car

Denmark has a very well maintained network of roads, including highways and primary and secondary roads which are all perfectly paved. Driving is on the right side of the road and you can bring your own car or rent one from many of the international and local companies offering rental cars at airports and major cities. A national driver's licence is required and be sure to have sufficient insurance for you and third parties.

By Bus

Where there are no trains, some regional buses make up for the lack of public transportation but services are not very frequent. Most buses leave and arrive in time with train connections to places further away.

By Boat

There are many ferries throughout the country. The most common routes include Kalundborg to Arhus (with Mols Linien and Samso Linien), Ebeltoft to Sjaellands Odde (with Mols Linien) and Ronne to Copenhagen. Most ferries carry passengers as well as cars, as many islands around the country are inhabited and have no bridge or tunnel connection. Scandlines is one of the major operator on a number of routes including Esbjerg to Fano, Fynshavn to Bojden, and Spodsbjerg (Langeland) to Tars (Seeland). Bornholmstrafikken offers ferry connections to and from Bornholm island from Koge.
Finally, Lasoe Linien has ferries between Laeso and Frederikshavn.

By Bicycle

Denmark is one of the most perfect countries in the world to have a biking holiday, if it weren't for the variable weather conditions. There is an extensive network of biking lanes and the country is almost flat. You can take your bike at most ferries as well.

Red Tape

If you are a European Union (EU) citizen, you may travel in Denmark without any restriction as per your EU citizenship rights. If you are not an EU citizen and Denmark is the first stop on your visit, you will need to obtain a Schengen Visa. This visa is valid for any country in the Schengen zone.

Money

See also: Money Matters

The official currency of Denmark is the Danish krone (DKK). One krone (plural kroner) is divided into 100 øre. Banknotes are in denominations of 50 kroner, 100 kroner, 200 kroner, 500 kroner, 1000 kroner.
Coins come in 25 øre, 50 øre, 1 krone, 2 kroner, 5 kroner, 10 kroner, 20 kroner.

As of 29 May 2009, the exchange rates against other major currencies are EUR1 = DKK7.44, GBP1 = DKK8.51, USD1 = DKK5.34.
There was a referendum on joining the Euro zone in 2000. The majority voted against.

ATMs
ATMs cover all of Denmark although not all of them accept international debit cards. Make sure to find an ATM near you that takes international cards.

Work

Study

Language

Danish is an east Scandinavian language (its closest relative is Swedish), a Germanic language developed from Old Norse. Danish is divided into multiple dialects, but the standard version, which is used in media and official relations is used by almost everybody. Danish is commonly understandable for Swedes, Norwegians and to some extent people from Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

According to European Union statistics, English is more widely spoken in Denmark than in any other EU state other than the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Eat

Sleep

Drink

Carslberg Bottles Collection

© All Rights Reserved Hien

• Beer - Carlsberg and Tuborg is sold everywhere, but there's a lot of smaller breweries that are worth trying
• Spirits - Snaps/akvavit (vodka-like spirit), gammel dansk (bitter) and Små grå (liquorice-vodka)

Health

See also: Travel Health

The Danish healthcare systems is one of the best in the world. There hospitals are world class and the service is great. Most doctors and nurses will be able to speak English. Since Denmark is a small country getting to a major hospital in a major city is not hard if an emergency should arise.

Safety

See also: Travel Safety

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

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