Hello fellow travellers! We are Ras and Karo – the travel couple behind TheTravelBook: an eco-friendly travelling and sustainable lifestyle blog. We were both born and raised in Denmark and have been together for more than five years now. Both of us are super passionate about travel.
Our aim is to ensure that we can show our future kids as many incredible places as we have been lucky enough to see. We have travelled around the world to exotic destinations with a black climate footprint. But now it’s time to change – and we want to prove that it’s possible to change bad habits.
We can achieve this without compromising on the following: quality, luxury or great holiday experiences. This is why we have decided to become an eco-friendly travelling and sustainable lifestyle blog. We love travelling overseas but our backyard of Denmark is just as great. Let us explain why.
Why Denmark is so Wonderful
Denmark offers travellers a variety of unique experiences such as historic villages and viking castles, beautiful coastlines and islands, modern and innovative architecture – the list goes on and on. Danes invented their own concept called “hygge” which essentially means having a good time.
And we do enjoy having a good time. You see this everywhere from the amazing food scene, awesome local beers, sweet local candies and the many holidays that we Danes take. Denmark combines both culture and nature in a way that is felt all around the country. It’s a unique place!
Tourists are drawn to Copenhagen (where we live) and this is understandable as the capital city has endless historical landmarks and modern architectural buildings. You can explore the city by bike or metro.
Biking in Copenhagen is an authentic and fun experience, but be careful! The Danes take biking very seriously. There are plenty of sightseeing opportunities in the city center and if you go a bit further out you will experience a multicultural environment that is adding a lot to the city.
Staycation in Denmark Book
Our generation is spoiled when it comes to travel. We go online and search for cheap flight tickets, luxury hotels and go travelling the week after. Our parents didn’t have the same options as we do – and many summers they would just spend travelling around nearby surroundings.
It takes less than six hours to drive from one end of the country to the other, but there were so many places that we never explored or even heard of. Therefore, in the summer of 2019, we decided to spend our seven weeks of summer travelling around our own country on a staycation.
The following year, in 2020, the pandemic started and nobody was able to travel outside of our country which was the perfect timing for our new book “Staycation in Denmark” which has sold more than 1000 copies along with 800 downloaded ebooks. We are so happy with the feedback!
This book is a travel inspiration book that covers all of our favourite places, including: a unique collection of eco-friendly hotels, a tasteful guide to zero-waste restaurants, breathtaking natural wonders, exciting indoor and outdoor activities, and incredible cultural sights and castles.
We also made a video with highlights from our trip which you can see here:
Our Favourite Places in Denmark
Denmark has such fantastic variety when it comes to travel! An island which is unlike any other place in Denmark is the incredibly beautiful Bornholm Island. The landscape is unique and the island is a leading region when it comes to sustainability – something we care a lot about.
Our trips almost always start or end at the lovely Marienlyst Strandhotel which is the perfect romantic getaway for couples in Denmark. If you like luxury but at the same time want to be close to nature – you should definitely spend a night among the treetops in the cool cabins of Lovtag.
However, if you decide to visit Copenhagen and money isn’t an issue then you should consider spending a night at TheKrane which only has one hotel room! You will be sleeping inside an old crane in an industrial yet up-and-coming area of Copenhagen. It even has a private spa to enjoy.
10 Best Things To Do in Denmark
It’s difficult to narrow down the 10 best things to do in Denmark. To illustrate this, we wrote a book – Staycation in Denmark – with over 250 pages of recommendations for hidden gems. Some of these include:
1. Take in the Panoramic Views from Camp Adventure
Camp Adventure is located one hour south of Copenhagen in the Gisselfeld Klosters Skove forest, making for a wonderful day trip from the capital city. Here you will discover a 45-metre hourglass-shaped tower that has a spiralling walkway giving people panoramic views at the top.
2. Explore the Hammershus Castle in Bornholm
Bornholm is without a doubt one of the greatest pearls of Denmark. It’s an island bursting with hidden gems that you just can’t discover in other parts of the country. One of those such places is the impressive medieval fortress of Hammershus. These castle ruins make for a great day of exploration.
3. Spend a Night at the Marienlyst Strandhotel
Described as “Denmark’s most exciting beach hotel”, the Marienlyst Strandhotel offers guests a relaxed atmosphere and pampering luxury right by the waters edge. The history of this hotel stretches back to 1861 with regular stays from Danish royalty. A top recommendation for couples!
4. Discover Bison in the Forests of Bornholm
Bornholm Island is one of our favourite places in Denmark. What makes this island even more amazing is the fact that you can see bison running around in the wild which is such an incredible experience! These majestic animals are beautiful to see up close in person in the forest.
5. Visit the Abandoned Facility of Naturlejren
Visiting abandoned places is an invigorating experience no matter which country you do it in. Naturelejren is an abandoned pool in Denmark which was used as a scene in a season of the Netflix production ‘The Rain’. The production company decorated the pool to make it look more amazing!
6. Enjoy a Beach Day at Tisvildeleje Strand
Tisvildeleje Strand is a sandy beach located near Liseleje. The beach is home to colourful beach houses which are adorable! We believe these houses summarise all that’s great about summertime in Denmark. Take photos at the beach houses, swim in the sea and spend a day in the sun.
7. Admire the Men by the Sea Sculpture
Four massive nine metre sculptures of men by the sea located west of Esbjerg next to Saedding Beach. These sculptures are one of the main tourist attractions of the area and are a major landmark of Esbjerg. Sunrise and sunset are incredible times to visit with beautiful light over the men.
8. Wander around the Monuments of Dodekalitten
On a grassy field by the ocean in Lolland stands these nine metre art installations and monuments. It’s an awesome feeling to walk through the fields and take in the sculptures with the wind gently blowing in your face from the sea. Look closer at the monuments and you will see human faces.
9. See Beautiful Deers at Dyrehaven Deer Park
Dyrehaven means “deer park”. This nature resort north of Copenhagen is home to lush forests, small lakes and many beautiful deer roaming around freely. We loved our visit here enjoying nature while walking around just the two of us. It was a quiet, serene and peaceful place to visit together.
10. Spend an Afternoon at Fredensborg Palace
Our Staycation in Denmark ebook is filled with different trips you can take and one of those is to the Fredensborg Palace located on the eastern shore of Lake Esrum in Fredensborg on the island of Zealand. We have a lot of beautiful castles in Denmark and this is a prime example!
Tips for your Visit to Denmark
The Danish people invented the word “hygge” which in our opinion best describes us as people. Danish people are open minded, laidback, warm and welcoming. As in other countries in Europe, we have lots of farms and smaller communities outside of the major city centres.
In our experience, we have seen that some of these people aren’t great at English. This can create a language barrier between locals and tourists. But Denmark is welcoming and you will be greeted with open arms.
One of the best ways to immerse in the culture is to find recommendations to go where Danes would go themselves. If you look through our book and visit some of these places you will experience Denmark the way we would like to experience it – and it doesn’t get more authentic than that!
Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoy visiting our wonderful country.
