For our pale skinned-ginger gene family, Denmark definitely ticked a huge box on the climate front. Stef and I also visited Copenhagen for a weekend, child-free, and loved the vibe of the place, but once we started researching the country more, we were blown away by how child-friendly it seemed to be. We had also spent a few holidays abroad in all-inclusive resorts, which totally have their place and tick a lot of boxes, especially when Nyle was between 1 and 3, but now they were a bit older we wanted to travel a little more and see beyond the complex of swimming pools, buffet restaurants and kids club. Denmark is also a country that is super super LGBT+ friendly – we’ve never had any issues travelling as a same-sex parent family, but it does cross our minds at times travelling with the kids and the questions we or they will get asked.
After a quick search for flights which were less than £70 each (each way) we took the plunge and booked our summer holiday, flying into Billund and out of Copenhagen – and we’d figure the journey out later on! A lot of people are probably put off Scandinavia due to the perceived cost of going there, and I’ll not pretend that it is cheap as chips because it isn’t – think London prices! For the entire trip, with flights, car, activities, food, accommodation I estimate we spent around £4000 for all of us which is probably less than 2 weeks all inclusive in the height of summer for 4.
We spent 16 days in Denmark in August 2023, and came home advertising it’s ease, beauty and child-friendly vibe so much that we could have been working for the Danish tourist board. Read on to find out where we went and why the Hygge vibe is totally a real thing!
So our 90 minute (extra bonus) flight over to Denmark was to Billund – home of Lego Land! Now having never been to any Lego Land, why not start with the original. But before that, here’s some logistic information! We had hired a car that we picked up at Billund airport and then dropped off in Copenhagen. Driving in Denmark is really easy; the roads are quiet, even Copenhagen was not an issue and it gave us the complete freedom to travel when and where we wanted. We did just under 1200 miles in our 2 weeks (full map and itinerary to follow) and it was cheaper to rent it for 17 days than it was for 14 so always worth checking that out. We take the kids trunki car seats with us (see our tricks and tips pages) and so we aren’t splashing out extra on car seat hire, and the one-way drop off fee was only £40 so totally worth it.
We did look at staying at the Lego Land hotel, but opted for something a little cheaper and with a little more character – and because we had the car we could travel. Legoland is a 10 minute walk from Billund airport so if you just wanted to go there for a weekend and stay onsite, also totally do- able. Our little home for 2 nights was a 10 minute drive from Lego Land, and was the cutest most perfect little place for us. Set in the countryside, on the edge of a working farm, we were in a hostel / YHA style barn – this meant shared bathrooms, and kitchen, but it was fab. Our family room had bunks for the kids and a double bed, and there was a trampoline and swing ball in the garden, a lounge area in the kitchen, fridges for storing food and the most delicious breakfast of breads, cheeses, ham, cereal and fruit in the morning – all wrapped up and waiting in the fridge for you. The hosts were also extremely friendly and offered advice for our whole trip.
Day 1 was Lego Land, of course! We had already bought our tickets online (cheaper) and a day ticket was around £37 – we didnt bother with the reserve and ride fast pass as it really wasn’t needed. We headed off to Lego Land for just after opening time (note that the car park is a good 10-15 minute walk from the entrance) and spent the first hour wondering around the Lego models and city-scapes – most of which are naturally towns in Denmark, which was pretty cool for us as we could show the kids where else we were heading. They were mesmerised with the moving planes, trains and automobiles (!) and even boats and hot air ballons moved through the Lego sculptures. There was a PRIDE display in the Copenhagen landscape for the festival that had taken place the week before.
We then hit the rides – a train around the safari, boat trip through the famous world icons, the ghost house, the 4-d cinema ride, log flume, rollercoasters – we did all of the tamer ones – our kids weren’t quite ready for the loop the loop! The longest we queued was probably 30 minutes for the log flume (which in mid-August compared to the Windsor site I heard is pretty good) but even in the queues there are Lego stations that the kids can sit and play at whilst you stand in line, and how the queue weaves around means you always have eyes on them – genius!
Here’s a few tips and things we would advise:
– Download the app – it has maps, route planners, and even queue time
– Know your kids height before you go – they are very strict so avoid disappointment and just avoid the rides that they aren’t big enough for – this was the rapids for us!
– Do the city-scapes and Lego models at the end of the day. The rides generally mostly close an hour before the park, so you could do the bit we did first (as it is the first thing you come to) at the end and not eat into ride time!
– The driving school is for over 6’s – thankfully we realised this before going so we avoided walking past that area as our car-mad 4-year-old would have been gutted. And what the oldest doesn’t know, won’t hurt her!
– The shop is manic – of course it is! We had to divide and conquer and we left it until the very end of the day!
– You can buy a ticket for a 2nd day on your way out and it is only around £10 per person – you could easily fill 2 days here as we didn’t do the aquarium, F1 workshop, indoor centres and we missed a few rides – and there were plenty we could have done a 2nd time. So maybe factor this into your itinerary. However, we were also ok with our 1 day there.
After a long tiring day, we headed for pizza in Billund centre (about a 5 minute drive) and then went back to our hostel exhausted! Everyone slept well that night!
Day 2 in Billund we departed our hostel and headed back to Billund centre to explore the Lego House. This is where you can save some cash (we opted for the free version) but I have read so many reviews that say the Lego House is better than Lego Land, and I think in hindsight we should have forked out and spent a day there. So this blog is for the ‘free’ Lego House experience. Firstly, you can walk into the entrance of the Lego House which has various Lego models including Darth Vader and a motorbike, but the real ‘wow’ moment is the tall Lego tree that towers up through the entrance to the top of the entire building. There are also 9 free play areas on the various roofs of the Lego House which are free to visit. We spent around an hour here exploring them all and you get some good views of Billund from the tops. Descending the outside of the building via the big Lego steps and sliding down the massive Lego bricks was also enough for our kids. Again, they didn’t know what was inside so they probably didn’t feel that they missed out and we did save ourselves £200 – but definitely research and decide for yourselves.
Elsewhere in Billund is Lalandia – a huge water park – but again we opted not to do this as we can do that in the UK, but this would add another day to your itinerary if you wanted to do that as well! And actually there’s a few other places we saw advertised which means you could easily spend (a small fortune and) a good 4-5 days in Billund itself doing all of these!
But we headed out of Billund and drove the 90 minutes up to Aarhus, Denmark’s 2nd largest city where we spent two nights at the Radisson hotel where parking was easy and you could walk all around the city from there, even with little legs! And the breakfast in the Radisson was pretty epic – even pancakes for the kids. We all left stuffed every morning.
Aarhus was a huge success for us. We could have easily spent 3 or 4 days there, but did get around most of it in 2. We got there mid-afternoon and headed straight to the library Dokk1 which we read was fab. We mooched through the city streets (very charming) and came to the waterfront with a huge library and family centre. There were park attractions around the edge of the concourse, and inside there was a small soft play area, Lego areas, Nyle loved the ramps for his cars, arts and crafts and of course books! It was a good chilled area with views over the water where we spent 2-3 free hours.
We then left there to walk to the nearby street food market, Aarhus street food, about 10 minutes away. These street food halls are everywhere in Denmark and they are so easy with the kids. Adults get beer and a huge choice of world cuisine, the kids can be noisy and play (many of them have small parks within) and choose exactly what food they fancy. And they are very realistically priced. The one in Aarhus was a 10 minute walk from the library and then 10 minutes again back to the hotel.
Day 2 in Aarhus started with the art museum, AROS, one of the best I have ever been to, but the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves too, and Stef got her fix of art as well. The highlight was the rooftop, rainbow circle which offers great views of Aarhus for the grown-ups, and a circular walkway that echos, and the kids can ‘run’ around to their hearts content. There is then also the roof terrace for views without the rainbow glass. The installations themselves range from modern art, the sculptures, to immersive experiences which kept even Nyle at aged 4 entertained for an entire morning. There is a lovely shop and café too for a quick pit-stop when energy levels fade.
After the art museum, we explored the city a little more on foot, the highlight being stumbling across some water fountains where the kids stripped off to their pants and had a good play for an hour – note to self, always carry a towel! They weren’t bothered running around and drying off in the sun which was now about 22 degrees and perfect for us all.
One evening in Aarhus we picked up a takeaway – delicious Thai – and drove around 10 minutes south of the city to a wonderful spot for paddling and chilling on the beach. There is lots of free parking nearby and a quick 3 minute walk to the beach where the water is crystal clear and there is a large round wooden walk way that extends over the sea for fish spotting or to just dangle your feet and look over towards the city. The Infinite Bridge is a circle shaped, wooden construction which spans from the surf and out into Aarhus Bay, and it is a popular excursion spot for locals as well as tourists. The sun disappears around 7 here so it does drop chilly and you’ll need a jumper, but we had a good couple of hours eating our takeaway dinner and the kids had another paddle in their pants!
The rest of our time in Aarhus was just enjoying the lovely streets of the city, especially the old town where the roads were cobbled, and the buildings very ornate.
On departure from Aarhus we had 2 hours drive up towards Skagen, the most northern point of Denmark – although we did have to stop en route to watch the England lionesses play in the world cup so we didn’t arrive at our little holiday home for the next 5 days until around 4pm. We were all blown away by what we found we had booked ourselves. This was a real jackpot, a small sommerhus a 5 minute walk through some lavender dunes to a white sand beach. We were completely on our own, the nearest house being a few hundred metres away. It had 2 bedrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, lounge and the cutest veranda with hammock and outdoor seating. We literally arrived and dumped our stuff to then head to the beach for a nosy! I can’t describe enough how wonderful this rental was – even when walking to the beach one morning we had a deer run by us through the dunes. The sand was white, the beach was empty, the sea was (cold and) clear and the stars at night were stunning. We opted to self-cater here and save a bit of cash and the nearest village Albaek had a good selection of supermarkets to stock up supplies with.
By this point in our trip, the temps were around 23-25 degrees most days, generally cloudy in the morning and then brightening up in the afternoon. We used our little sommerhus as a base to explore Jutland, the north of Denmark, heading out to a different place each day (you definitely need a car!). Find out about Jutland, Fyn, Odense and Copenhagen in part 2!
