In 2022, two and a half million tourists flocked to Copenhagen, keen to wander through the cheerful waterfront buildings of Nyhavn, past the melancholy sculpture of The Little Mermaid, and through the enchanting Tivoli Gardens. But what does Denmark have to offer beyond its capital?
We took a road trip to Kystlandet, where a 266 kilometre coastline looks out to the Kattegat Sea; separating Denmark and Sweden and formed of quiet, pebbled beaches, seaweed hung on fences drying in the sun and fjords met mountains leading to wild plains all around.
Including places to stay, eat, drink and see, this is what to do in Kystlandet, Denmark.
STAY
Jørgensens Hotel
Trains run directly from Copenhagen to the town of Horsens, in the Jutland region. You can fly to Billund airport in around 90 minutes from London or get here by rail in just over two and a half hours from Copenhagen. It’s possible to walk the pedestrianised main street, lined with shops, cafes, galleries and historic buildings, from the railway station all the way to Horsens Marina. Jørgensens Hotel sits midway along and serves as a perfect base from which to explore Kystlandet. Built in 1744, as the plush home of a noble, Scandi cool mid-century furniture sits inside the unmistakably Baroque architecture of the building. Polished handrails curve along carpeted staircases carrying guests up to narrow hallways leading to magnificent rooms.
The vaulted cellar is the hotel’s eatery, Restaurant Eydes, which serves classic Danish and French cuisine. Enjoy breakfast here as sunlight cascades down from the street through panels creating the perfect setting for the best kind of dining – long-drawn out affairs in great company.
Rebellagaard
With luck, you will bag an invitation to dine at the beautiful country house of Tine and Magnus Svensson. If you’re truly blessed you will get the chance to stay at Rebellagaard, their bed and breakfast. After years of working in New York and Copenhagen, the Svenssons returned to Horsens and purchased Rebellagaard – a building Tine had played in while growing up. It had served as a home for behaviourally challenged boys, a nursing home, and a pig farm and sits surrounded by acres of utopian countryside.
The Svenssons have painstakingly restored the building, retaining as much of its original features as possible which includes two stone lion guards that protect the entrance to what is now their home. The origins of the lions are unknown but they are considered a part of the estate. The adjoining Bed and Breakfast caters to guests with four double rooms splendidly decorated with a combination of new and recycled pieces of furniture. Produce from the nearby farm is provided for each room to encourage guests to prepare their own breakfast in the communal kitchen.
Kroen Endelave
This traditional Danish inn, on the island of Endelave, has been greeting visitors since 1857. Walk ten minutes along the shore, from the island’s ferry terminal to find it. The spacious rooms are a masterclass in refined Scandi living: a stack of towels sit on a stool, a perpendicular rail holds your clothes and a window frames the sweeping scenery of remarkable views of the sea. The menus at the restaurant and tavern downstairs offer home cooked dishes prepared with entirely free-range animals and fresh produce from the nearby island of Tuno. Whilst that may sound rather hip, it’s simply a way of life on Danish islands. Kroen Endelave takes pride in recreating the slow and mindful dna of Horsens Fjord where food only ever travels a very short distance.
EAT + DRINK
Dolly’s
Once you arrive in Horsens, waste no time heading to Dolly’s. In fact, eat here as many times as you can. The gorgeous restaurant, in the hands of the third generation of the same family, is a local landmark and the best place for trying the other Danish delight, bacon, which is served here delightfully crispy. The extra high ceilings, ceramic wall plates above big windows and chalk-board menus add warmth to the atmosphere. A wooden ship hangs from the ceiling in a nod to the industrial harbourfront it sits on. Yet, it’s the no-nonsense traditional Danish food that makes the establishment remarkable. Dishes to try are steamed cod served with potatoes, pickled beetroot, omelet with crispy pork, French onion soup and the traditional rye bread which accompanies everything.
Brandbygegaard Winery And Distillery
In the village of Amstrup, another perfectly rustic farmhouse serves a piping hot rhubarb tart, not with tea, but with home-pressed cider made with apples grown in its own orchard. The farmhouse floods with light through floor to ceiling windows, bookshelves line the walls and the most enviable kitchen awaits like a hearth on a winter’s day to welcome guests. Apple brandy is served with a side of great conversation around the most beautifully-laid table decorated with wildflowers, mismatched crockery and the cookbooks which tell you how to make the very things you are being served. It’s an unmatched experience of Danish hospitality which epitomises effortless living with the land.
Nior Bistro
Follow a shooting star all the way to Nior Bistro in Horsens Sailing Club and grab a table overlooking the marina and the fjord. Stjerneskud (shooting star) is everything you need from Nior’s menu. This classic Danish dish, and king of all sandwiches, is less sandwich, more celebration. Fresh-baked sourdough bread is topped with smoked salmon, steamed and pan-fried plaice, hand-peeled prawns, asparagus and seafood dressing garnished with fresh lemon. Whilst the menu also includes delicious rib burgers and ground beef burgers, Stjerneskud has become Nior’s brightest star.
What To Do
Endelave
By Erik Christensen – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7780594
A small ferry leaves the fishing harbour at Snaptun Marina three times a day on weekdays and twice a day on weekends. As times vary, it’s best to check the most suitable departure time on the website. The crossing takes just one hour to arrive at Endelave – Island of the Year (2020 – 2021) out of over 400 Danish islands. In this quiet place, the 185 inhabitants are outnumbered by rabbits by 100 to one. You will see rabbits and hares everywhere you go. Hopping around in the distance, in the gardens of small cottages and running away faster than you could blink. The island’s main draw is The Kanino which is a 21 kilometre walking trail which many also cycle or ride horses on. It cuts through paths with fairytale cottages, wild ponies on rugged plains, pine farms, and a windmill, and leads to the beach which is home to seals. The walk is every bit as magical as it sounds. Walking along the beach brings you to Tanggården, a seaweed farm. Book a seaweed safari, where visitors can wade into the sea to identify different types of seaweed and learn more about what is perhaps the only sustainable source of food on the planet.
Hotel VejleFjord
Hotel VejleFjord is Denmark’s Best Spa Hotel (Danish Beauty Awards 2023) and Jutland’s Best Hotel (Danis Travel Awards 2023). Most of the guests are Danish and the hotel runs to capacity most of the year. It’s easy to see why. Fresh air, exercise and rest were the pillars Dr. Christian Saugman built VejleFjord when it opened in March 1900, as a treatment facility for tuberculosis. With healing and wellness at its core, the hotel continues this legacy nearly 125 years later. Seven separate pools offer thermal baths and the experience includes forest saunas and aromatherapy steam rooms. Sensory summer rain showers and the Mammoth Shower with warm water falling from three meters high is a highlight of the experience. In addition, the Thalasso Spa’s 34°C, eight per cent salt water pool and salt spa are unmissable.
VejleFjord’s brasserie serves an impressive a la carte menu with fresh produce supplied by the Little Organic Farm Shop (Det Lille Økori), a micro farm in Horsens run by self-taught farmers Sissel and Anders. Outside, Hotel VejleFjord’s vast gardens expand out to the fjord. Original walking paths lead to the shore and Træskohage Lighthouse. Benches and seating areas along the beach are perfect for a morning coffee in the clean, fresh air the mountains afford.
Fængslet Prison Museum
Whilst at first thought a prison museum may sound bleak, a visit to Fængslet, a former prison, is worthy if only for the story of its most famous inmate Carl August Lorentzen. He escaped on Christmas eve 1949 through an 18 meter tunnel, which he had dug single-handedly, over 11 months, only to be caught eight days later when he stole food from a nearby farm. A replica of the tunnel named, Lorentzen’s Tunnel, is a permanent exhibition at the museum and retells the story in a fascinating way.
Fængslet has been open to visitors since 2012 and is the largest prison museum in the world. It recounts true life stories through the use of video, animations and sounds. Moving shadows create the impression of prisoners and guards moving along the corridors. The immersive experience has won the 2015 InAVation for the best visitor attraction and the best in region (non-British) Museums + Heritage award in 2016. The last inmate left the prison in 2006 and the building complex has been repurposed as offices, a concert venue and museum, all of it uniquely engaging.
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