A Danish Interlude - 1999

In June and July 1999, Noelene and David cycled on Sjælland and Fyn islands as part of a summer holiday with friends.

We had been  cycling for over two months when we arrived in the village of  Svogerslev near Roskilde to visit friends. We were ready for a break from our daily routine of breaking camp, loading the bikes, riding to the next night's destination and then pitching the tent again. A few days in an attractive old house with views over the gently rolling countryside were just what we needed. We felt refreshed and ready to hit the road again.

Viking boats in Roskilde harbour

We left Svogerslev under a threatening sky which looked as though rain was about to fall at any minute. As the day wore on, the sky brightened and we started seeing occasional patches of blue sky. The road wound through pleasant villages and gently rolling countryside to the old port of Køge. We had planned on staying the night in the youth hostel here but when we arrived, we found that it had been fully booked by parties of school children on summer holiday camps. After lunch in the excellent bakery on the main square, we spent some time walking around the old parts of the town admiring the numerous old buildings which date back to the early 1600's.

The countryside between Køge and København is very built up, so we decided to take the excellent and frequent train to save time. Large sections  of the carriages on the train were given over to specially designed bike racks to make it easier to take bicycles. When we arrived in København, we rode out to the largest of the youth hostels along the wide bicycle lanes which run along most main roads in this city. The hostel was packed with parties of school children and holidaying families and we managed to get the last two beds. We had expected the hostels to be busy, but we didn't expect them to be as busy as they were. We made the decision to book the next night's accommodation before we left in the morning.

The next morning, we rode back into the city and spent time sightseeing and looking at all the expensive things we couldn't buy in the exclusive shops. We wandered down to Nyhavn, the attractive old harbour which is lined by old buildings housing numerous restaurants. We had lunch in one of these restaurants where the house speciality is a herring buffet with herrings served in ten different ways. If you like herrings as we do, it made a delightful lunch especially when washed down with a large glass of excellent Danish beer.

The statue of H.C. Andersen near the town hall in København

In the afternoon we took the train to Helsingør which is the site of Shakespeare's Elsinore where Hamlet is set. Krondorf castle stands in a commanding and imposing setting overlooking the sound between Denmark and Sweden. This is the narrowest point between the two countries and the Swedish city of Helsingborg is only a 25 minute ferry ride away. It seemed as though almost one shop in three in Helsingør was a beer and alcohol outlet. Because alcohol is much more expensive in Sweden than Denmark, many Swedes make a regular ferry trip across the sound to buy their beer and wine. If they don't have their own sack truck, the ferry companies provide them. They arrive with crates of empty beer bottles and swap them for full ones.

A burning witch on mid-summer's eve

It was mid-summer's night and in every town and village we had seen people building huge bonfires with effigies of witches on top. The youth hostel which is pleasantly situated overlooking the sound had there own built on the sandy beach. This was a night for celebration and revelry to drive away all the evil spirits with the burning fires.

Breakfast at the youth hostel was served in the lovely old dining room overlooking the sea. It was a full Danish breakfast with lots of different breads, jams, cheeses, cold meats, cereals, yoghurt and fruit. A breakfast like this was enough to set you up for the whole day's cycling.

After visiting the castle, we rode along the coast road towards Hornbæk. A few kilometres before the town we detoured onto a narrow sandy track alongside the beach. Heavy clouds had been building up and it started to rain as we rode into the town. We stopped at a café for coffee and tea. They were still cleaning up after the celebrations of the night before and a couple of the customers looked as though they hadn't left to go home.

We put on our rain gear and headed south. The road skirted Esrum Sø and we had a delightful ride by the lake and through the forests to Fredensborg palace, the beautiful summer residence of the Danish Royal Family.

From Fredensborg we had a fast ride through the forest to Hillerød to visit Fredericksborg Slot. The baroque gardens have been recreated using the original plans and the effect is truly spectacular. Later we visited the palace itself and stood in awe at the magnificence of the elaborate chapel and reception rooms.

The beautiful baroque gardens at Fredericksborg Slot

The ride back to Roskilde and Svogerslev was very hilly - more hills than David had experienced anywhere in Denmark apart from the area around Silkeborg. The clouds started building up as we rode and it looked as though rain was about to fall at any minute. We could see the two spires of Roskilde cathedral in the distance but they didn't seem to get any closer. The ride seemed to be taking forever as we rode through the quiet lanes. Eventually we did reach town and after doing some shopping we made our way "home" to Svogerslev.

A few days later we caught the train to Odense on the island of Fyn. We left our bags at the youth hostel and rode back into the city to do some sightseeing. We parked our bikes amongst several dozen other bikes in a narrow street near the cathedral. It had been raining on and off all day and we walked in the rain to visit Hans Christian Andersen's house. It is interesting that the Danes refer to their famous writer as H. C. Andersen while the English always use his full name. In a park near the house and museum, a theatre group was giving open air performances of some of his famous stories in Danish, English and German. The audience of adults and children stood under dripping umbrellas quietly enjoying the spectacle.

The open air museum of Den Fynske Landby

The next morning we headed to the open-air folk museum at Den Fynske Landby  where we spent a pleasant hour or so wandering around the old buildings that have been assembled there. After delaying our departure as long as possible we headed south into a very strong headwind. David tried to provide a windbreak for Noelene as we rode through quiet villages to our lunch stop at Ringe. He was feeling quite tired after all his hard work and was a bit put out when Noelene stated that there hadn't been any head winds all morning. After a quick trip to beautiful Egeskov castle which David had visited on previous trips, we rode on to Fåborg. The sky became increasingly dark and rain started to fall as we reached the town.

Youth hostel breakfasts have been one of David's great joys in cycling around Denmark. The had invariably been excellent and well worth the 38DKK price. Unfortunately, the breakfast at the Fåborg hostel could only be described as very poor value. From the hostel we had a short ride to catch the ferry to Ærø. When we arrived at Søby we rode uphill and downhill on the quiet cycle route to picturesque town of Ærøskøbing. This is one of the most attractive towns in Denmark and we spent a pleasant few hours wandering around before heading for the ferry across to Langeland.

Old houses in Ærøskøbing

We didn't stop in Rudkøbing but made our way onto the bridges which link Langeland to the islands of Tåsinge and Fyn. We stopped at the churchyard in Landet on Tåsinge to visit the graves of the ill fated lovers, Elvira Madigan and Sixten Sparre. There were a number of fresh bouquets of flowers on the graves as visiting newly weds leave a tribute to the tragic couple. After stopping at Valdemars Slot and the pretty village of Troense we crossed to Svendborg and were quickly at our friends house.

We didn't leave Svenborg until midday the next day but we had a fast ride on quiet back roads to Nyborg. Lunch was a half kilo of luscious fresh strawberries with rich creamy cheese and tasty bread. After some difficulty finding the new railway station in Nyborg we had a fast trip back to Roskilde.