Travelling around Northern Germany and Denmark

July 9, 2017 3:24 PM

I'll be driving around Northern Germany and Denmark for two weeks with my GF and i'm looking for your best travel recommendations.

I'm driving from Amsterdam (where i live) to Esbjerg in Denmark for a two-week holiday together with my girlfriend (both early thirties, no kids) at the end of July / early August. We're keen on exploring the northern part of Germany and Denmark. I'd say we roughly don't want to go more southern than Frankfurt am Main and more eastern than Maagdenburg. I'm not quite sure how far up north or east we'll go in Denmark, but we both like doing less things thorough than lots of things hastily.

We both love art, museums, food, nature, light hiking and second-hand markets.

Any sights we shouldn't miss? Places where we should eat or sleep? Weird museums? Spectacular views? Strange art installations? Cheap markets?

posted by husky to Travel & Transportation around Germany (9 answers total)

I highly recommend visiting the Silkeborg Museum to see the Tollund Man and Elling Woman. This area of Denmark, along the train line near Silkeborg, is really nice as well for a walk or picnic.

And Superkilen in Copenhagen. Obvious things like Christiania (and the kolonihaven just East of there) are essential too.

http://www.museumsilkeborg.dk/

http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/copenhagen-surreal-park/index.html
posted by abrightersummerday at 4:01 PM on July 9, 2017

The Louisiana Museum outside of Copenhagen is really a do not miss, despite being obvious.

Saxony-Anhalt has some really gorgeous nature parks-- including Fläming Nature Park. I regret not spending more time there when I had the chance.
posted by frumiousb at 4:42 PM on July 9, 2017

Consider Erfurt.
posted by gudrun at 5:27 PM on July 9, 2017

For Denmark: my friends and I enjoyed biking around Horsved and Hundested (via a short ferry). The former has a brambly maze of little cottages populated by families and some eccentrics; the latter had a couple of surprisingly killer secondhand shops even though they were just run by the church. All of us bought stuff even though we were trying not to. The landscape up there is pastoral, but with more hills than southern Denmark, and the views of the Hesselø Bugt were to die for.
posted by Beardman at 5:50 PM on July 9, 2017

2 towns we really enjoyed: Lübeck and Lüneburg.
posted by humboldt32 at 8:53 PM on July 9, 2017

The Lübeck Museum of Puppets was really interesting when I went. Overall, I really liked the city.

If you go to Hamburg, try the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MKG). It has really interesting art and stuff.

Bad Harzburg and Goslar are two small towns near each other in Niedersachsen that are fun to walk around, but kind of cheesy.
posted by kendrak at 9:51 PM on July 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: On the way:
The Nolde Museum It's not a great monument, but a small beautiful place with wonderful gardens, a good collection, a nice cafeteria and a very strange and interesting location.
Højerslusen It's an impressing piece of engineering, the huge dike that protects Tønder and it's environs against the North Sea. Tønder is a fine little historic town, with a great museum where they both have historical artifacts and a section dedicated to chair designer Hans Wegner. The whole Wadden Sea area is interesting. Learn more about it at the Wadden Sea Centre. I haven't been there yet, but I am going later this year, it looks so interesting, both for the design and the content. The centre is close to Ribe, which is the oldest town in Denmark, and the best preserved; they too have a nice museum, with a few major pieces of art. But you should also visit the cathedral and stay and eat traditional food at the Hotel Dagmar — the oldest hotel in Denmark!
Closer to Esbjerg another new museum has opened: Museum Tirpitz, I've heard mixed reviews about it, but I'm going anyway to see what it is. If it is before you leave, I might come back to this ask and tell you. In Esbjerg, there are also these really strange giant sculptures. The art museum in Esbjerg is generally good for contemporary art. For a gourmet treat in that area, go to Henne Kirkeby Kro. I haven't been there yet, but everyone says it is among the best in Denmark.
This is a documenta year, and if I could, I would go to Kassel to see it. Plan to spend at least a whole day walking around there. On the way to Kassel from Amsterdam, Insel Hombroich is an interesting detour.
I like Hamburg, but it's been ages since I've been there so no specific recommendations. I'd like to see the new Elbphilharmonie. Generally, I find Northern Germany a little bland, maybe because so many towns and cities were totally bombed out during WWII. Celle is an exception, and is also famous for it's horses. North of Celle is the Lüneburger Heide, a large heath, and on a somber note: the Bergen-Belsen memorial site.
Haha, I love planning road trips, even when I am staying home.. Have a wonderful holiday!
posted by mumimor at 2:14 AM on July 10, 2017 [3 favorites]

So much great stuff in Mumimor's post. I'd only add that if you're in Esbjerg anyway, you might as well take the ferry to Fanø. Nice beaches and rugged nature (if somewhat touristy). Sønderho is a cute hamlet at the far end if the island. Rømø is a similar island reachable by car via a causeway.

Skagen may be too far (and very touristy), but seeing two seas meet is pretty cool.
posted by AwkwardPause at 7:15 AM on July 10, 2017 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Wow, thank you so much for all these wonderful tips!
posted by husky at 12:10 PM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]