Planning For A Bike Tour In Denmark

As you read this, we’ll be cycling Denmark from the German border in the south to Skagen, at the northernmost tip of the country.

We’ll have plenty of tips for cycling in Denmark when we return. In the meantime, here are some links that helped us plan this trip:

  • Danish Tourist Board – All kinds of information, including maps, ideas for sightseeing. UK residents can order brochures, and a free map!
  • CycleTourer – Jon & Frank have put together a very informative page on the practical side of cycling in Denmark, including tips on cycling routes, campsites and which maps to take
  • Ud I Naturen – A map of all the primitive or official wild camping sites in Denmark. Like the paal camping sites in the Netherlands, there’s nothing fancy here (expect a clearing for your tent, water and a pit toilet) but they are very low cost and tranquil.
  • Overnating I Det Fri – In a similar vein, the book published by this organisation includes nature campsites and free camping spots across Denmark. You can buy it in bookshops, tourist bureaus or online.
  • CycleSeven – This site, run by a group of bike tourists, has two great articles on touring in Denmark: A Spring Tour and Fine Cycle Touring Around Denmark. The author of these articles, also answered 10 Questions for TravellingTwo on bike touring in Denmark.
  • Woolly Pigs – These bike tourists have Danish roots, and they have several posts dedicated to cycling in Denmark.

Getting There

In terms of how to get there and where to start, that was mostly decided by where the train would take us. We live in Holland, and wanted to travel overland to Denmark.

As a train goes direct to Flensburg on the German / Danish border (and it’s a night train, meaning we don’t have a spend an expensive night in a hotel or lose a day of touring), that seemed like a good starting point. We certainly preferred it over the more expensive option of flying to Copenhagen. We paid €150 each for a return ticket, including the fee to carry our bikes.

If we’d been starting from the UK, we’d probably have taken the ferry to Esbjerg.

Where To Go

Deciding where to go was tough. In the end, although we’d heard many wonderful things about Copenhagen, we decided to stick to western Denmark and the Jutland region. Why?

  • We didn’t want to spend too much time on ferries between islands. After all, we only have 2 weeks and we want to cycle, not wait around in parking lots for the boat to arrive.
  • We aren’t big city people when we’re cycling. We want to get out in nature, and pitch our tent in secluded spots.
  • We’d heard beautiful things about the Danish coastline, particularly the eastern coast of Jutland.

Could This Plan Backfire?

Weather is a risk for us. We’re taking rain gear and warm clothes. If the weather turns wet, we’ll be pretty miserable out in the middle of nowhere in the Danish countryside. We’re unlikely to be near big towns most of the time, so we’re hoping for lots of sun, and not too much wind going up the coastline.

Comments

  1. Hans
    16th August 2010 at 7:35 am #

    As for the weather….I’ll pray for you. 🙂
    One of the best sites is yr.no, type your city name in the search field. Then use ‘hour by hour’, after choosing English as your language.

    The primitive places from udinaturen.dk /teltpladser.dk cost either 20kr pp/pn or are free. I have a primitive place in my garden in Karise.

    As an alternative (maybe a subject for another post Friedel) you might use couchsurfing.org or warmshowers.org and organise your trip in that way. It is THE best way to get in contact with Danish people.

    Free camping is forbidden although there are som forests where they have established ‘allemandsret’, which makes them free.
    Chances to run into trouble while wild camping are minimal.

    For the Dutch: you will meet a lot of Dutch farmers in Jylland, who will be happy to host you.

    Check ferry schedules, most ferries sail continuouesly, so waiting is not a real issue.

    Have a nice trip, Hans

    • friedel
      18th August 2010 at 5:13 pm #

      Thanks Hans! The weather isn’t so great at the moment, but from that great weather link you shared, we see the weekend will be nicer 🙂

      We have used WarmShowers in the past, but weren’t organised enough on this trip (we decided to not pre-plan our day-to-day schedule) to really make the most of it.

  2. kiwidutch
    20th August 2010 at 12:12 pm #

    Greetings from sunny Portugal! The kids are delighted with the swimming pool, the holiday house is ultra basic but will do just fine, there’s wifi for catching up on the blog in the shade and the sun is shining and it was 35 degrees at the hottest point of the day yesterday. What more do we want ?LOL.
    Fingers crossed for you that the weather improves and that the winds are always blowing towards your next destination!
    Have fun, we are thinking of you :)The Kiwidutch clan.

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