Aarhus, 10 reasons to visit the other Copenhagen

Already a few years ago Aarhus has been chosen as a destination to visit from Lonely Planet and this year it is among those not to be missed Time. Many are realizing that Denmark’s second city is much more than an alternative to the capital. It is for those who love music and sustainable food, for those who prefer sport and for those who really want to get to know Denmark and its history. A university city for over a century, always a nodal port of the North, founded by the Vikings around 770 at the mouth of the river of the same name, in recent years it has developed alternative proposals linked to art, the environment and the world of sport, the last stage from the Ocean Race hosted last June. Its sporting side is one of the ten reasons to choose to visit Aarhus, which is no longer the other Copenhagen.

Travel

The first reason comes before arriving in this city on the Jutland peninsula and is the journey which from Italy takes two forms: one is direct and this is its strength, the other wins for panoramic views. There is a flight that connects Aarhus and Malpensa, in a couple of hours you can arrive in this part of Denmark. The alternative, from other Italian airports, is to stop in Copenhagen and then take a domestic flight. Short but fascinating stretch between the coast and the North Sea and looking out the window you get lost between the green and the blue. Once in Aarhus to reach the city, about 35 kilometers, there is a coach service coinciding with the arrival of the flights. The more expensive alternative is the taxi. The journey is still surrounded by greenery, even if you rent a car and go to visit the rest of Jutland.

The rainbow

There is a rainbow museum inspired by the Divine Comedy, from Hell to Paradise. L’ARoS Art Museum has on the roof the Rainbow Panorama by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. It is a circular glass walkway of different colors that allows a 360° view of the city and its surroundings. It helps you look at the world with different eyes and colors. Inside it has the largest collection of Danish art outside of Copenhagen.

Sailing and other sports

The most important sporting event hosted in recent years is the stage of Ocean Race, a sailing race around the world, which found its place in a renovated and vital port where a sailing training center already existed. L’Harbor Bath, designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, includes a 50-metre swimming pool, a diving circle, children’s pools and saunas. You can try puddle surfing, but also wakeboarding, all the surfing on the sea. And in winter? In Aarhus there is the largest trampoline center in Denmark.

Food and street (food)

It is well known that Denmark has become the capital of food in recent decades. Noma in Copenhagen is only the tallest, most starred and famous example. The Nordic Cuisine Manifestoformulated in 2004 and summarized in ten points with the focus on seasonality, ethics, health, sustainability and quality, applies to everyone: from restaurants to home cooking.

Mad Mikkelborn Mikkel Wejdemann, chef and food blogger, teaches how to use the great resources of the sea, which is at most 52 kilometers from any point in Denmark, to a blue kitchen: from mussels to calamari. There goes the fish, with potatoes and local vegetables, on black bread and butter to create Smørrebrød that are healthy and tasty. To try it at the restaurant, two recommendations: Anker, between the two ports, and Novel with chef Alexander Johnsen, which received the green clover, which the Michelin guide awards for sustainable restaurants.

For those who feel nostalgic for other cuisines and traditions, there is one next to the bus station Aarhus’ Street Food with kiosks from all over the world. Just to give an example, at the pizza counter they actually speak Italian. If you go at the end of September there is a festival entirely dedicated to Food.

Sustainability

Sustainability applies not only to the kitchen. Aarhus, European Capital of Culture in 2017, was listed as the third most sustainable destination in the world in 2021 by the Global Destination Sustainability Movement. The architecture is sustainable, the hospitality (the hotel) is sustainable Scandic in the heart of the city) with Green Key and Nordic Swan Ecolabel certifications, sustainable transport: the city can be visited without problems on foot by integrating with public transport and bike rental.

The rest of the peninsula

Jutland has 360 kilometers of coastline and inland woods, lakes and castles. Going north there is Rosenholm Castle of the Rosenkrantz family (remember Shakespeare?): among the best preserved in the whole country which becomes special during the Christmas period. Also to the north is the lake district with forests and the highest mountains in Denmark. In the market town of Randers there is the oldest pedestrian street in the whole country, Viborg has historic houses. The Djursland peninsula is home to day and nature parks, but also beaches.

The real Vikings

You leave the city and the greenery increases: this museum is immersed in fields and forests and is a stone’s throw from the sea. The Moesgaard of Aarhus tells the story of the population of this part of Europe starting from prehistory, in a design building integrated into the environment. There are real Vikings and you can try to live like them. It’s not the only child-friendly attraction in Aarhus. Dem Gamble By it is the reconstruction of an entire village, a journey through time with even farm animals, and right next door is the botanical garden, moving towards the sea there is The Viking Museum. Legolandthe original, is not that far away and you can think of Aarhus as a starting point for a tour of the entire peninsula.

Rooftop

The green, together with the blue of the sea, is the dominant feature even when you arrive in the city, especially if you go up high. Best place to climb? You pop into a department store (Salling – Søndergade 27) and take the free lift to the roof. You arrive at one of the 10 best rooftop bars in Europe, a summer terrace and winter garden at the same time: Salling Rooftop and Roofgarden. On the roof there is also a glass-bottomed platform 25 meters above the city’s main street. Obviously you go there for an aperitif, but also for lunch. The hours are the same as the department store.

Music

Maybe it’s not the first reason, but it’s the most original. SPOT is an internationally recognized festival featuring the latest trends in Danish and Nordic music. The new edition will be released in spring 2024. To discover music you probably don’t know.

Meeting a prince

In Aarhus University studied the current Danish queen and the royal family passes in a castle not far from here, Marselisborg, part of the summer holidays and Christmas. There is therefore the possibility of meeting a prince or princess, like in a film, on the streets of the city that has the Latin quarter, born in the late 14th century when the Viking fortifications were demolished, full of original bars and shops and has a historic part with the cathedral built starting from 1100. In recent decades the canals around the river and the port have been recovered and dozens of clubs have sprung up along these new banks. Above all, modern architecture set in the environment such as DOKK1, a cultural space overlooking the sea, triumphed.