My Denmark journal- 4. Aarhus

Hello, it’s me again! Ready to visit a new city with me?
This time the road leads us to Aarhus, the second largest and most beautiful city in Denmark (after the wonderful capital, Copenhagen). Full of color, art, history and landscapes, I had the chance to visit it not only once, but two times and it didn’t disappoint me in any of the trips. What I like the most about it is the mixture of tastes and how anyone could find something to enjoy: from the most modern places to traditional ones, from nature to art, pious to nefarious, noisy and crowded streets to the beach where only waves and seagulls break the silence.

I will start this tour with the most popular touristic spot: ARoS Aarhus Art Museum. It is famous for the contemporary and quite controversial art exposed inside as well as for its famous rooftop with a multicolored circular skywalk. The so-called Your rainbow panorama by Ólafur Elíasson offers the visitors a unique view over the city through its colorful windows and it is indeed a good spot for great photos.

The landscape view from the 10th floor can be admired also from an opened balcony.

As for what is to be discovered inside, I will not show you much because I don’t want to spoil all the fun. Just enough to awaken your curiosity, I’ll tell you that it has a strange way to send the message behind the work of art and your feelings will switch from happiness to sadness or from joy to fear at any step .

The museum has also at the first floor a cinema continuously running movies ( I caught a funny animation), an art & souvenirs shop, a restaurant and a coffee shop, plus few more painting expositions at the basement level.

Second place on my map was the Botanical Garden which, in contrast to the museum, has free entrance. Well here I felt like in another world than the one outside: I was already somewhere in desert surrounded by cacti, than in the next room surrounded by citrus fruit trees and in the end in a beautiful tropical forest.

The garden might not be impressive for everyone, I recommend it being a nature lover and for the way I was disconnected from ordinary.

On the way to the next spot, which could be called a village museum, me and my friends continued to cross a beautiful park, perfect for a rare sunny day for Denmark.

Once arrived in the so-called Den Gamble By, I was introduced to the historical part of the city. The Old Town is presenting aspects of Danish life around 1900-1970 with pavered streets, horse-drawn carriages, old cars and vintage architecture. In contrast to the Botanical Garden, here the access was not for free, so prepare 70 dkk (Danish crowns ).

It was nice that they actually let you go inside the old houses and experience traditional life with a walk in their backyards which have animals as well. Besides dwellings you can enjoy Poul’s Radio and TV shop, the gynaecologist clinic, the kindergarten, and the hairdresser’s or even shop in the mini-supermarkets of the time. The streets reveal in detail habits and activities of everyday life and sometimes you can even see people wearing Danish traditional harbour.

If you are an old fashion car fan than you will like for sure the ’20s district. There is an authentic motorcar exhibition with wonderful cars and the workshop ‘Automobilforretning Carl Christensen’ where you can see how engines used to be made and function. Honestly, I am not really passionate of vehicles but this corner of the town succeeded in getting my attention.

Aarhus is a good city to get lost into as every corner brings something new. In its beautiful center you can go shopping in the commercial area and enjoy a nice meal along the river which crosses the city. You should expect in this side of the city to find higher prices, but there are also cheap fastfoods if you don’t want to spend a fortune on food.

Later on you could rest near the sea, watch the sunset or, why not, have a bath if it is summer!

To the list of tourist attractions I happily add Marselisborg Deer Park which is right next to Aarhus. It was amazing walking in a small forest full of deers and stags which do not run away from people, but come closer for love and food.

Last but not least comes Tivoli Park, a smaller version of the one I told you about in Copenhagen article. Unfortunately here I was too busy having fun and couldn’t find any worth posting photos. Anyway, I hope this only pushes you even more to go there and try it because is worth it !

Hope you like the post as much as I like this city, if you are in Denmark than is a “must see” !