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.
We’re back from a bike tour of Denmark, fully convinced that it’s one of the best countries in the world to see on two wheels (as long as the weather is in cooperative mood).
Stephane and Sheri Marchiori, a French-American couple, recently finished a 5-year journey around the world by bicycle by biking the well known Southern Tier route, across the 
Sonya & Aaldrik are an Australian-Dutch couple who set off to tour the world in 2006.
In the grand scheme of things, you can certainly live without a tarp on a bike tour. But if we had to pick just one thing that improves our lives more than anything else on a long bike tour, it would be the tarp.
Warm up in cold weather – If we have a meal outside in chilly weather, a tarp can be used as a blanket over our legs while we eat. Similarly, on really cold nights in the tent, the tarp can be laid over sleeping bags to keep extra warm.
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