From Hamburg you can take a direct train to Arhus in Denmark and that’s exactly what I did. My mother and I decided on a short trip to Denmark and combined Arhus with Copenhagen. Arhus is located on the Jutland Peninsula and is just over 3 hours by train/Flixbus from Copenhagen.
I was super impressed with Arhus. It’s been a while since I’ve been in Denmark, so it could also be that… but I loved the quality of the activities you can do in this clean, atmospheric city. I wished I booked a one-way ticket and could stay longer in this relaxed city 😉
We had two days to spend in Arhus and this is what we did:
Activities
ARoS museum: The ARoS art museum is one of the most famous sights of Arhus. The museum features an art installation on the roof, from which you can catch great sights of Arhus. The art installation is a translucent tube colored like a rainbow, which you walk through to enjoy the transition of colors. Being an incredible lover of colors, of course this was my favorite activity of the day! Luckily I also liked the other art in the museum, there are quite many floors with temporary and permanent exhibitions you can visit. The building itself had super interesting architecture and reminded me of the Guggenheim of New York. Unfortunately, we just missed out on a TeamLab Borderless installation.. but I would absolutely recommend going here. The entrance fee is about € 20, which is steep, but worth it.
Street food market: Arhus features several food markets and we visited the Street food market for lunch. It has a very nice outdoor terrace and the interior is decorated really well with graffiti, artworks, light features and cool furniture. You can have many types of food, with burger variations and Asian street food as popular options. Mains cost about € 10-12 and filled us up enough to continue our Arhus tour.
Arhus botanical gardens: Aarhus features two enormous greenhouses which comprise the botanical gardens of Arhus. Sometimes the best things in life really are free, because these beautiful greenhouses can be visited for free. My camera got really foggy when we visited the tropical greenhouse, but the cacti greenhouse luckily did give good photo opportunities. When you walk to the Arhus botanical gardens, you will pass by the open air museum of Arhus (Den Gamle By), which also looked really good. It does feature live actors, so I didn’t dare to visit 😉
Latin quarter and canals: The Latin quarter is the oldest quarter of Arhus and is well worth a visit. It features cobblestone streets, colorful houses and is somewhat out of tune with the rest of the city, as it feels less modern. The area is filled with cool coffee bars and independent, designer shops, so it is perfect for an afternoon stroll. It is really close to the canals (Vadestedet), the canal area really livens up during the evening and especially during weekends, when young people take over the many restaurants and bars.
Mollestien: Mollestien is one street that I would particularly recommend. The houses at the Mollestien were built in the 18th century and still hold on to that charm. It is often called the most beautiful street of Arhus, but luckily not everybody seems to be visiting it at the same time. We visited on a Monday morning in September and we were the only tourists admiring the colorful houses and the last hint of the flowers. I can only imagine this street being even more lovely in spring/summer when the roses and hollyhocks are in full bloom!
Where we stayed
We stayed in Hotel Oasia right next to Arhus’ central station and would absolutely recommend Hotel Oasia. The rooms are small, but comfy and feature a Hastens bed. The lounge and breakfast room are really stylish and get you into the Danish design vibe. You get free coffee and tea all day, which is especially lovely on a cold afternoon in expensive Denmark. All main sights of Arhus are within walking distance and the staff of the hotel is really kind and helpful. Rooms are available from about € 120 per night and include breakfast.
