Clean, friendly, photogenic Denmark is one of our most welcoming European neighbours. Rural landscape and traffic-free roads make it perfect for car touring.

Taking the car for a touring holiday on the Continent usually means making the short hop across to Calais, but if you want a very different tour try an overnight cruise/ferry to our nearest Scandinavian neighbour, Denmark.

Driving suddenly becomes a pleasure again as soon as you clear the terminal gates at Esbjerg, for the roads are excellent, the traffic is light and the distances between destinations short enough to be relaxing. It was a bit like going back 30 or 40 years.

The ferry from Harwich reverses the journey the Viking longboats made on the raids that so influenced the history of Eastern England. Esbjerg is a modern port and the ferry curves in through a passage between sand spits but Jutland, the largest of the provinces that makes up Denmark, was the launching point for those epic voyages.

The scenery along the west coast of Jutland is as open as the roads. The North Sea crashes on to sandy beaches guarded to landward by grassy dunes.  Southwards the coastal waters are part of the Wadden Sea, which stretches past the estuaries of the mighty German rivers and along the coast of Holland. The name comes from wad, the Dutch word for mud. The shallow waters are expanses of tidal mud flats, islands and marshy inlets.

The Wadden Sea is one of the world’s most important tidal flats – a large, unique nature reserve full of life in the air, in the shallow water, above and below the marshland surface. In no other place in Denmark is it possible to experience so many migrating birds, in the spring as well as the autumn. Every year, ten to 12  million water birds migrate to or from their nesting places in the Wadden Sea.

It is also home to the largest population of the common seal in Denmark, just as the warm and shallow water is the natural breeding area for many fish species.

The birdlife in the Wadden Sea area around the town of Ribe is truly impressive. In addition to serving as a ‘pantry’ for the migratory birds, the area also constitutes a breeding area for a large number of species.

The Wadden Sea island Mandø is a true paradise for birdwatching enthusiasts. In spring and autumn, you can often see giant flocks of starlings settling down for the night in a black cloud that blocks the sun. The Wadden Sea’s official inauguration as Denmark’s third National Park is scheduled to take place in early autumn in chorus with Wadden Sea Festival on September 3 to 12.

Close to Ribe is the Wadden Sea Centre in the village of Vester Vedsted. The centre is an excellent way to understand the nature of this long sweep of low-lying coast. Inside, the exhibitions show the story of bird life, sea life and the effect of storms and tides on the sea. Outside is a model of the area depicting the rise and fall of the tides which an expert explains as it fills and empties. At low tide you can hire a special environment cart that you can wheel on to the flats. It is equipped with nets, spades and rakes so you can investigate the beach yourself.

You can also take a special Mandø ‘bus’ out to the island across the low water flats. This is in the form of a tractor pulling several carriages, all with giant wheels, to give several feet of clearance to enable it to use the causeway while it is flooding. For more information about the centre, see the website (www.vadehavscentret.dk).

Ribe town centre

Ribe is one of the few towns in Denmark which still has a beautifully preserved medieval town centre with old half-timbered houses, cobblestone streets and a cathedral. It is Denmark’s oldest town.

Ribe’s history can be traced back to the Viking Age at the beginning of the eighth century, when it became a marketplace by the sea and an ideal starting point for expeditions. The marketplace attracted craftsmen and traders from near and far and it soon became a key trading point.

The oldest archaeological finds were made where the waste strata revealed remnants of trade goods and artisan activities by glass bead-makers and comb-makers, among others.

Near the marketplace, traces of permanent settlements from around 710 have also been found.

The town flourished as a centre for trade until the 16th century, when the Reformation, the sanding- up of the river, the plague, fires, flooding and war irreversibly changed its circumstances. Today’s Ribe is characterised by a large number of 16thcentury houses, many of which had to be rebuilt after a fire in 1580 swept through the centre of town and burned down 213 houses.

Ribe Cathedral is visible for miles across the flat landscape; travellers have been met by this sight since the middle of the 13th century – it’s the oldest cathedral in Denmark.

Each night during the summer you can join the Night Watchman, when he walks his traditional rounds in the old winding streets of Ribe. The Night Watchman starts his round from the marketplace in front of Restaurant Weis Stue. It is free to join him for his 45-minute round.

Originally the Night Watchman was a kind of policeman. His job was to maintain order in the streets and also watch out for fires and threatening floods. The modern police slowly took over, and the Night Watchmen in Ribe ended their work in 1902.

In 1932 it was decided to take up the Night Watchman tradition as a tourist attraction. Today, Ribe’s Night Watchman still wears the original uniform and sings the original song.

You can see many of the artefacts discovered during excavations as well as get an idea of how Ribe looked in the days when it was a great trading centre, and launch-pad for many of those longboat forays west to Britain and beyond, at the Ribe Viking Museum. There are thousands of artefacts from the Viking days as well as a depiction of life in the Middle Ages, website: (www.ribesvikinger.dk).

Ribe is only a 30-minute drive south from Esbjerg but a huge contrast from the busy container port.

After spending most of the day in and around this lovely old town, we drove north along the coast road towards Herning, staying in one of Denmark’s network ofsmall independent inns – Kro in Danish. We stayed at the excellent Kibæk Hotel, Jernbanegade 18, 6933 Kibæk, where the food was really good, tel: +45 97191003, website: (www.kibaek hotel.dk).

Herning and nearby Silkeborg are in the centre of Jutland at the heart of the country’s verdant lake district – rich, wooded countryside with lakes, rivers and rolling countryside.

The River Guden and the various lakes are a magnet for anglers and many still come here from the UK to catch massive hauls of roach and bream. For both photographer Clive Nicholls and myself, visiting this area was a return journey.  In the Seventies we often reported from here when we worked together on Angling  Times.

Silkeborg is a pleasant town with restaurants, galleries and a laid-back, relaxed atmosphere as the motor boats cruise past the reed-edged river.

The East Coast

From here it is only a short drive to the east coast of Jutland, very different from the exposed west coast. To the north the coast faces out towards Norway and Sweden across the Skagarak waters. Further south and the waters, sheltered by Jutland and the Swedish mainland, become the Kattegat Straits connecting the North Sea with the Baltic via the two main Danish islands of Funen and Sealand and lots of smaller islands. A Dutch sea captain gave the straits its name from the Dutch for cat (Kat) and hole (Gat) because the reefs and shallows created passages so narrow even a cat would find it difficult to squeeze through the hole.

The pretty fishing village of Skagen, a favourite seaside holiday hotspot of the Danes, is located at the northernmost tip of continental Europe and is where the two seas of Kattegat and Skagerak meet. It is also the place to visit to delve into the artworks of the famous Skagen Painters at the lovely Skagens Museum or to rent some of Denmark’s prettiest holiday cottages.

The Kattegat was an important route for the Vikings and they founded Denmark’s second city of Aarhus more than 1200 years ago.

The original city grew up around the mouth of the Aarhus river. During the Viking Age a cluster of houses along the river up to Immervad and down to the Mejlgade street constituted a small urban community encircled by an earthen rampart and a moat.

In 1201 the foundation stone for the cathedral was laid, and the city started to expand outside the original area. In 1847 a major expansion of the harbour was begun.

Today Aarhus has a population of around 300,000. The city has a wealth of restaurants, a fascinating café environment, and a rich musical culture with the Concert Hall, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, and the Danish National Opera among its many offerings. Other exceptional features include a wide range of excellent heritage museums, such as the Old Town and the Moesgård Museum, and plenty of shops.

The Old Town is a collection of authentic Danish buildings, originally started in 1914 and now comprising 75 buildings, which have been brought from all over the country, and are presented by staff dressed in traditional costumes. Visitors can get a genuine insight into the workings of a Danish market town by wandering through the various houses, gardens, shops and workshops, with the opportunity to buy bread from the traditional baker’s shop and look for authentic antiques in the old antique shop.

The children’s museum is also a treasuretrove of fascinating toys and it’s possible  to watch the restoration work that continues to preserve these ancient buildings. There are also plans to add a collection of buildings from the Seventies, which is  due to open this year.

Aarhus may have a vast container port, but this doesn’t seem to prevent the area enjoying the beautiful natural coastline. The city has a superb modern sailing harbour and marina and lovely secluded beaches, backed by wooded, hilly parkland perfect for walking or cycling.

We continued further south through Vejle to the Vejlefjord Hotel with its views over the fjord and across the Kattegat.

The hotel has a fascinating past. It started life as Denmark’s principal TB sanatorium. It’s not difficult to see why, with its position in the clear sea air amid pine forests. In fact some of the original wooden bedrooms have been preserved with wide verandas where the beds were pushed outside overlooking the fjord.

When antibiotic treatments overtook the need for such TB units, it was converted into a psychiatric hospital, which it remained for 32 years until 1989. Now the site has a modern rehabilitation unit for people who have suffered brain injuries, and the original sanatorium has been converted into a superb hotel and spa.

A vital part of the treatment of tuberculosis was walking, and walks were made at different levels of difficulty in area round Vejlefjord. This network of paths  remains and has now been expanded to more than 12 miles.

Beach, forest and park are used for the walks. The hilly area offers many different choices of exercise at different levels of difficulty. The Spa will plan you a walking programme or you can just do your own thing.

The Spa features unique granite thermal baths in a newly built unit at the edge of the beech forest.

There are seven pools and two sensory showers, and the natural stone forms pools, caves and corridors in the thermal baths. Each bath, each cave, each room  provides a unique sensory experience.

A range of health and beauty treatments are also available, and we sampled their signature massage treatment – heaven. It involves being massaged by hot,  herb-infused pads. The pads are kept moving so you get the heat into your muscles and joints without discomfort. This, followed by passage through the thermal baths, really is invigorating. The complex also has steam rooms and saunas including a large sauna built outside on a deck.

The rooms are luxurious. the food excellent and the setting simply beautiful, website: (www.hotelvejlefjord.dk).

Odense… and Andersen

From the hotel we drove a little further southwards and took the giant bridge over to the island of Funen. You can cross the island and take an even bigger bridge to the largest island of Zealand and the capital Copenhagen. We stayed on Funen, however, to visit the charming town of Odense.

Odense, is the birthplace of one of the world’s most famous children’s story writers – Hans Christian Andersen. It combines fairytale fantasy and medieval history.

With statues from Hans Christian Andersen dotted throughout the city, any visit to Odense usually starts at the museum dedicated to his life in the cobbled streets of the old city. Designed to give an in-depth impression of the writer, as well as the world that he lived in from 1805 to 1875, you can explore the collection of papercuts, colourful drawings and a comprehensive library before visiting the newly opened Tinderbox.

Housing a new cultural centre, its emphasis is on providing a fun and interactive experience for children where they can be immersed in his fairytales through a programme of storytelling, drawing, music and dressing-up.

To learn more about this period in history, the open-air museum of Funen Village is excellent. In an idyllic country setting, this fascinating village has been completely recreated with half-timbered, furnished buildings and rural structures from the 18th and 19th centuries, depicting life in the 1850s. Complete with farm animals, a village pond and main street, the museum also practises traditional agriculture and offers a changing schedule of events to give visitors the opportunity to be part of that history. You can take a boat along Odense’s leafy waterway to Funen Village.

Another great attraction is the Danish Railway Museum with its collection of locomotives and carriages spanning more than 150 years of Danish travel.

Kunsthallen Brandts is an old textile mill which has been converted into galleries showing mainly contemporary Danish and international art.

During the weekend of the Iron Age Market in June, the city steps back about 2000 years in time and people in costume go about their business. The Hans Christian Andersen Parade in July is when fairytales take to the streets for three weeks.

The wonderfully colourful Hans Christian Andersen Christmas Market combines all the food, drink and decorations of Christmas with a fairytale fantasy, from the last week of November.

From Odense we drove back onto Jutland and headed further south nearer the German border for our last night at the Agerskov Kro.

Agerskov Inn has been on the same site in the village for centuries. It is recorded that in 1659 it was burnt down by Polish troops. The inn, today both a pub and a hotel, was given a royal warrant in 1767. At that time it was more than an inn. The buildings and the surrounding area also housed a small shop, a distillery, a brewery and a farm, and from time to time the local court would reside here.

There are plenty of old pictures and memorabilia around the inn’s dining room. The food is excellent and there’s dancing and entertainment at weekends. It is still the centre of village life, website: (www.agerskov-kro.dk).

The effects of that marvellous massage were diminished a little by the effects of dinner at the Agerskov, but we kept up the relaxed feel of this tour with a gentle drive across lovely undulating countryside back to Esbjerg and the ferry cruise overnight back to Harwich.

Denmark is one of our friendliest neighbours. It is ideal car touring country with empty roads and a network of inns where you can spend the night. The country is beautifully rural and the countryside and cities so clean. We even saw a cleaning squad on the edge of Odense washing down the signs and the white lines at a road junction.