Ribe

Introduction

Sunshine after rain, Ribe

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Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark and one of the oldest anywhere in Scandinavia. The town has just over 8,000 inhabitants, but is one of Denmark's highlights. Although it is small, you can easily spend hours wandering around the old town and visiting the cathedral and some museums. The castle/slot is worth a visit as well.

Sights and Activities

• Ribe Art Museum - Ribe Art Museum - The museum's permanent collection, Ribe collection consists of a long string of masterpieces of the Danish Golden Age painters, Skagen painters and the classical modernists. In addition to works from the collection displayed 2-3 special exhibitions annually.
• Ribe Castle - Riberhus Castle lays on the Castle Bank in Ribe. Today there are only ruins left as well as a bronze statue of Queen Dagmar, who lived at the castle in the early 1200-century. The castle was not the first building on the site. Archaeological excavations show that there have been people in the area as early as the 1100s.
• Ribe Cathedral (Ribe Domkirke) - The cathedral is dedicated to Our Lady, or the Virgin Mary. Its construction started approx 1150 and was completed 100 years later in approx 1250th It replaced an old stone church on the same site. There has recently just south of the cathedral found Christian tombs from the middle of 900-years. The cathedral is the main church in Ribe diocese, which stretches from the barrels and almost to Holstebro.
• Ribes Vikinger Museum - Ribes Vikinger Museum - Ribe Viking Centre, which is an authentic reconstruction of the Viking Age Ribe, was founded in 1992. Here you can see three Viking environments: Market anno 710, Ribe anno 825, and a large yard with associated buildings anno 980th Viking environments shows the trend throughout the Viking Age, which is quite unique to the Danish culture. The reconstructions are performed in close cooperation with the antiquarian collection in Ribe, and therefore can Ribe Viking Center showcase completely authentic environments.
• Wadden Sea Nationalpark (Nationalpark vadehavet) - The four municipalities mudflats Varde, Fano, Esbjerg and Tønder all have areas in the Wadden Sea National Park, but only 300 km2 of the National Park totaling 1,466 km2 is land area. 97% of nature in the Wadden Sea National Park's natural habitats such as shallow marine, tidal channels, tidal flats, marshes, salt marshes, sand flats and dunes.

Events and Festivals

• Ribe wine festival - Ribe Wine Festival held annually the first weekend of september as a great wine market in Ribes cozy and medieval pedestrian street.
• Ribe Choir Festival - Ribe Choir Festival is a festival where happy and talented singers gather together to enjoy singing joy, camaraderie and informal entertainment.
• Ribe Jazz Festival - Jazz Festival is held in Ribe with concerts on various themes. Jazz has over the years been a significant feature in Ribes culture, and therefore celebrate Ribe Jazz Festival with a number of events, shows different epochs in jazz since jazz took in Ribe.
• Tulip Festival - Today, the tulip festival in Ribe is one of the largest town festivals with life and happy days. There are concerts, various performances, a large amusement park, flea market and much more.

Getting There

By Train

Vestbanen operates trains to Esbjerg and Tønder.

Getting Around

By Bike

Bar in Ribe, Denmark

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Sleep

Budget

Ribe is home to one of the well run Dan Hostels, which has good Ikea style rooms and a very good breakfast to start the day. If you want to keep prices low, bring your own towel and bedlinnen.

Keep Connected

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Post

Post Danmark A/S is Denmark's national postal service, and has a good reputation regarding service, speed and reliability. Sending a standard letter or postcard (up to 50 grams) costs 5 DKK within Denmark, 8 DKK to other European countries and 9 DKK outside Europe. Parcels up to 1 kilogram start at 75 DKK within Denmark, but are mostly 200 DKK or more to all other countries. The website has details about more prices and also about the opening hours of post offices, which vary widely from region to region but are usually open from around 9:30am until 5:00pm, 5:30pm on Thursdays. Most are open on Saturdays until 1:00pm. Apart from the post offices, some kiosks and newsagents sell stamps as well, and you will find postcards in many places. National and overseas mail must be placed in the red letterboxes that you will find almost everywhere. Collection times are posted on the letterboxes.

External Links

• Ribe Tourist Office
• Official Governmental Website