Denmark with Kids and a Dog: Copenhagen, Odense and Aarhus Travel Guide

Join us as we explore Denmark’s most family-friendly cities: Copenhagen, Odense and Aarhus, with a teenager, a dog. From trampolines and castles to rainbow rooftops and baby moose sightings (yes, really), this episode covers our favorite spots, dog-friendly finds and travel tips for making the most of Denmark with kids. Whether you’re into Viking museums, beaches, or ziplining through castle gardens, Denmark has something for you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello and welcome back. I'm Lisa and I'm Erin. And this is the Getaways Podcast. So I was talking to my sister last night and like I cannot believe that we are this far into the year. I mean it's it's April pretty much.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

I know it's crazy. The sun's out.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

And time is just flying by. I mean, we gotta we gotta get on summer. I'm ready. Um, yeah, we gotta do some some summer planning. Um, but yeah, and then we've we've got some France trips already scheduled, but I feel like time is just flying by.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Well, we do have our first week in Italy for the summer at the beach plan, so we just gotta figure out two more. But one week is just, you know, it's not not enough.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

There's a lot of vacation. Um, all right. So today, it's funny because last time when we had the question and answer, Denmark was the place that I said that I would want to live. And now we're good to talk about it today.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Yay, I love Denmark.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Um so we've been there what three times, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Three times, yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Yeah. So the first time we went straight from we flew from Berlin, Doblis.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

And just did Copenhagen.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Only Copenhagen for Halloween and my birthday.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

Yeah, and we gotta come back to that. But we stayed at a real we stayed there twice. We stayed at a really nice hotel that was not expensive and had really big, we all stayed together. It was a big family room. Yeah, we did. But it's a decent hotel and really well placed. It's the Imperial. Yes, and right next to it, there is a big walking path around the water, which is lovely. And they do a really nice breakfast.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

They do a good breakfast, they have a good restaurant downstairs.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

We ate there a few times. It's very close, it's not right in the center, it's right across the river, which is nice. And but it's very like it's a less than a 10-minute walk to get to the center.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Yeah, and not expensive. No.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

The second time we stayed there, we had separate rooms.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Yes. Um, and Rex. Yes. Um, but anyway, let's get started. Should we start with Copenhagen? Let's start with Copenhagen. We've been to Copenhagen three times. And okay, the first time, like you said, was your birthday. And there were we did a lot of stuff that was really cool. In three days. In three days, yeah. We had it pretty booked, I think. Okay, so we did the Tivoli, Tivoli Gardens.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

Yes, which is an amusement park right in the center, and it is so cute and so fun, and it was Halloween and it was decorated.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

So festive.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

So festive. And we had the best time we went during the day and night.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Yeah, and it's supposed to be magic at Christmas. We have not done that yet, but um, but I think that's like one of my favorite amusement parks because it's just so cute and it's small, it's good for all ages.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

Not big roller coasters, it's not like Magic Mountain or Six Flags. Six Flags, but it's uh it's a it's adorable.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

I loved our boat canal, our canal boat ride. The first time or the second time? Well, I loved it both, but the first time it was like new and cool, and it's you know, they take you through everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

You see Christiana, you see like the opera house, which is beautiful, you see the the trash factory. I don't know what it's called.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 3:26

It's where they burn trash, which powers a lot of all of Denmark, I think. And it they've built it into like this like man-made mountain, and they have a ski, ski slope that goes down it, and they've got parks on top of it. It's just it's very cool. So they drive you through all that on the boat. It's freezing.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

But they give you blankets and hot drinks, and it's it's super lovely and a fun way to see the city. But we also did something else. I think it was your birthday present. We did a little scavenger hunt. It was called Thousand A Thousand Points or something, and we had it was all on our phones, but we did clues and it sort of gave us this great overview of the whole city and um and even like the place in the park where there's trampolines in the ground. And it's it was that was a fun way to sort of see things in the city.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

So we did that, we did Tivoli, we shopped because we were only there, we were there a very short time the first time we were there, and then the second time we were there exclusively in Copenhagen, we stayed in that Airbnb and um which was near the beach. Right. It's like what 20 minutes into town. Yeah. And we did Tivoli again and we shopped. Dylan and I went to the aquarium. That so the aquarium's called Den Blah, I think, planet, and it is so nice, and it was so Dylan was probably 16, 15, 16, and he still loved it. It was like really, really well done. And then you and I went to the deer park. Is that in Copenhagen? Uh-huh. It was like a 20-minute drive from our house. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

Which was super cool. Rex couldn't go there, but it was really nice. Sorry, I was looking at amazing for dog walks.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

No, they weren't allowed. Because there's deers everywhere and they are not scared.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Deer just run around everywhere, and they're, I mean, there's just a million of them, and it's it's really lovely. We did a segue tour, which um Dylan actually hated because he hated driving the segue.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

He wasn't in very good control of the segue.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Um, but it was also kind of a cool way to see the city. Um, if you like that sort of thing. I don't know that I would segue again, but we saw like the Little Mermaid and the palace, and they took us through a good bit of the city. We got a really good sense of everything.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

But my favorite part of the Segway Tour was when we got done with the Segway Tour, we found a really cute restaurant to have lunch at.

SPEAKER_01 5:48

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

That was so cozy. Like, what's that word?

SPEAKER_01 5:51

It's it's H-Y-G-G-E. And how do you think that's pronounced? I say Hughie, but I'm sure that that's entirely wrong. Everything that I think is a Danish word. I hear somebody Danish say it, and I'm like, oh, I don't, I don't, I've never done that, I've never seen that, I've never been anywhere near that. So what does it mean? So it's it's everybody always says there's no exact translation into English, but it means cozy, like having a warm drink with friends and it's w under a blanket. Like it's it's a feeling more than it is a specific definition, but it's it's it's a vibe.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Um we went we went into Christiana. It's a little area right outside of the center of Copenhagen, and it's like um it's its own community, it's its own free little town. It's a free town, I guess. They there's no police. The police don't get to handle things that happen in there. People live there. It's just like a like a hippie community out there.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

Yeah, there's no jurisdiction for the government. There's like graffiti everywhere and like little houses.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

To yeah, to buy little knick-knacks and stuff at. I don't know. It was it is also a vibe. It's a vibe for sure. And then we went to a beach several times. Yeah, several times.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

But in the city too, and the beaches are lovely. I don't mean to like overlook those, but they're they're really nice. Um, and locals love to, you know, swim in the morning and do their sort of cold dips. But New Haven is sort of like the area where I think everybody thinks of when they think of Copenhagen, which is all the colored buildings along the water. And it's super charming and super lovely. And there's really cute little cafes and restaurants. You can sit inside or outside. It's always cold. So there's always blankets and there's always heaters outside. But it's super cute. And that's where I had my first and only Irish coffee was there. Oh, we were like, Yeah, that was so good. Yeah, and that's huge, huge ey whatever, however you say it. Because it was like you were freezing, you come into a nice warm spot and have a warm drink, and you know, it's it's all the vibe.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

You know what else we had our first time in New Haven, and you've continued on the tradition every morning since is s' That's what I can't say. That's what I S'more Broad.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

That's what I was that's what reminded me is because we were on the canal tour and the the driver was like, Have you tried this? You tried this, and I'm like, No, no, no. And he's like, Oh, it's it's an open-faced sandwich with usually like fish or cheese or something. And I'm like, Oh, I eat that every day. But I thought it sounded a lot different than you said it.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

Because the first time we went there, the first time we had s'more board in New Haven, and Lisa was like intrigued with this bread because it is dense, dense bread.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

My sister would say that there are sticks and chews in it because there's it's very seedy and it's not, it's it's dense, but it's not it's not hard at all. It's it's grainy, but no, it's definitely if you go, you have to try it because it's like the best fish and on this bread, and it's hearty, but still like on the you know, you don't feel like weighty after you eat it, but it's they're the best, and you can get it for lunch or dinner or just like an aperativo at a restaurant, like really everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

Now, the Danish people love their schnaps. Yes. I think maybe all cold weather countries love their schnaps. And they have this drink that we just randomly found, didn't we, at the grocery store? And we keep going back for more. It's called Rostov, and it's salty caramel. And is it the most delicious thing you've ever had?

SPEAKER_01 9:24

It's delicious, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

So good.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

It's almost problematically delicious. Okay, so should we talk about the other food there, though?

SPEAKER_00 9:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Okay, so the street food in Denmark is, I guess, sort of surprising. I mean, churros are a big thing on the street.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

Churros are a huge thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

And hot dogs, and then the fish, like the way it is here, like the herrings and the cold water fish in sandwiches. And then the place that I think the locals go that's great for visitors to is the food hall in or Sively food hall. Yeah. I mean we had lobster rolls. We had lobster rolls, yeah. And we also had Mexican there. Um, you can get to it from the street, but you can also enter it from the park itself. And they have loads of different kinds of foods and all different nationalities. And we never had anything bad there.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

Food hallins are a big thing up here. Yeah. Because we have them in every city in the Netherlands.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

But affordable, so to speak. I mean, it's a little bit more expensive just because of where it is and getting stuff, but people can you can go and everybody can get what they want, and it's just kind of a fun atmosphere. If you're going there with kids too, the playgrounds are like crazy extraordinary. There's a whole one park that's entirely like there's little cars you can drive around. It's like a whole little city built for kids to play in. There's not a lack of things for little kids to do, too.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

Yeah. So the second time we went, we stopped in Odense for a brief two nights.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Was that that big house? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

But Odens was lovely.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

Yeah. And they had the um, well, first of all, we had an amazing house that had a thatched roof, a trampoline in the backyard. Like the house was great and not expensive.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

Not expensive at all. Fireplace, huge living room, huge kitchen.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Lots and lots of nature all around. But we went to the zoo there. The zoo is so, so cute. It's really cute. And they have a good assortment of animals and but still doable all in a couple hours and really nicely done.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

We went to Funin Village. The one in Odense is like an outdoor, like the way they lived in like the 1700s. It was really, it was cute. And you got to go into little houses and see how they lived, and they had farm animals. We didn't take Rex with us when we went to that.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

Yeah, no, he doesn't do well with farm animals, but um, but definitely again, something for all ages, like little kids and big kids and you know, are gonna enjoy it because there's plenty to see and walk around and it's cool.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

Yeah. And then we walked around. Well, we walked up and down the river with Rex a lot, which is really pretty. And then we we explored a little bit of downtown, which is really cute. And we walked past the Hans Christian Anderson Museum, but we did not go in. Right. So we need to do that next time because I totally would go back to Odense.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Oh, yeah, no, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

After Odense, we went to Tranekar.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Uncertain. That's exactly how it's called.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

And it's it's on this little peninsula that's so far away from everything. But I'm gonna tell you why we went there. Do you know why we went there? Because we got a house for$16 a night. We got a house for 16 euros a night, and it was the coolest house that we've ever stayed in. It was like black and white pictures of Paul Newman, Nick Jagger. It had like old vintage luggage. It was like dis decorated so it was just like a rock star's house.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

Yeah, no, it was really cool. And literally 16 euro a night. And then you had to pay for your linens. So I think that was like an extra 20 each or something. Yeah. Um, and a really cute area where just across the street, there was like a long, long trail that we walked every day. Really cute area.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

We went to this castle called Eskov Castle, which we didn't go in because we took Rex with us. Uh-huh. But it was it was beautiful. And they had, we did that maze. Right. There are peacocks everywhere, which Rex did not appreciate. Um, there was a car museum. There was a huge playground.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

And there was a Japanese garden.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Yeah. No, it was really cool. Really cool. And and yeah, you didn't need to go in the castle because there was so much else to do. So much to do.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

And it was like six dollars to get in.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Yeah, nothing.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

So that's all we did at that house. And then we headed up to the north to Aarhus. Aur house. Aarhus. I don't know how to say that. How do you say that?

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Aarhus. You say you say it fast and nobody'll notice? Yes.

SPEAKER_00 13:45

Which we did some good stuff there.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

We did some good stuff there. Favorite?

SPEAKER_00 13:49

Oh, the Scandinavian animal park.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

Yeah, like hands down, the coolest animal place I've ever been in my life.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

It's like a it's a reserve for polar bears. A sanctuary, right? It was sanctuary.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

But not just polar bears.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Yeah. I mean, we saw a moose that had to have been like days old if if like walking along with his mom was the cutest thing I've ever seen. The polar bears were incredible and we could see them swimming and eating and everything. But my very, very favorite was the bears. First of all, the park is set up so that the walkways and the observation decks are very unobtrusive to the animals' space. So you're either up above or kind of around the perimeter and up so that you can still see without being on their space. These bears were running around playing with each other, wrestling, swimming. I mean, having like the greatest time. I could have watched them forever.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

Yeah, we did. We watched them for at least a half an hour. And then we also went to an amusement park a little north of our house called Yours Summerland, where you fell in love with this little kid who was wearing rain gear but standing under a fountain. Oh, I wanted his outfit. It was a little toddler and he looked so warm. I was so jealous. He was playing in a fountain with like full-on winter gear. It was the cutest thing. Our house also has um something like what we did in Odens, but it's called Denget Gammel by. And it's like what it was like to live there in the 1700s, but it was more like a town.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

Yeah, like there were buildings and shops, and like you could go in and see, you know, into the bakery and see like what they were making back then. And you know, very much, very much touristy, but also kind of cool just to see what life was like then.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Then we walked by, we didn't go in, but there's this thing called the Aros Art Museum, and at the top is a full round room where it's all rainbow glass, and you walk around it. We didn't do that. But what we did do, it does look cool at night, though. It it does. We went to twice, I think. There's this thing called Most Guard Museum. We did not go in the museum, but we went hiking there several times, hiking, walking through the woods down to the beach.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

The beaches are really lovely all around Denmark. Like I highly, I highly recommend checking them out if possible.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Yeah. And we didn't eat out much in this town. We eat at home. And we had an Airbnb that wasn't our favorite.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

No, not at all.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

And so then on our way home, we stopped in Nordburg for one night and we stayed at like this really cheap hotel, which was fine.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

I don't remember this at all.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

You don't? It's we stayed at this cheap hotel. We went to that science park, that outdoor science park is called Universe Science Park, where they had all the cool, like wind room, rain room, fire room. They had all this VR stuff. Dylan built a rocket. Yeah. And we and that and we stayed at this hotel and we did that big height down by the river, and there were all those like rock men that were built.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I will say, like, there's so much cool stuff for kids in Denmark. Like, I want to be a Danis Child because that that place was cool. And there was stuff for all ages and all exploration. Dylan made me do this VR thing with him where you I did a few things. One was a driving thing, and another one was he built or drew his own roller coaster for us. And then we got into the VR and we wrote it. Um she came out, she was blue. Yeah. No, I was green. Green. She was green. It made me violently ill. But what a cool idea, right? I mean, that he could just change what way we were going and then go backwards and do all of this stuff. And then we got to pretend like we were on it and that and see it, you know, on the VR. It's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 17:35

I do think Denmark was built for young children.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

And one one thing that took me back in Denmark, and it's just I it just took my breath away is that people will leave their strollers with their babies just outside their doors and go in and do the laundry and have lunch. Like they just leave their kids outside of restaurants in their strollers. If they're at the science park, they'll leave it outside. They just leave their kids. Because it's safe. Because it's safe.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

But I mean it's it's just unbelievably mind-blowing coming from Los Angeles that that you know, where there's so much fear of keeping your kid within sight all the time that they just don't have that. I will say though, in general, I guess particularly about Copenhagen, but I've never been a place that, you know, like I I come from working in film and television. And that whole city to me feels like a backlot. Like it's so pristine, clean, and beautiful, and everything, it's like a fairy tale. It's like walking around in a fairy tale more than anywhere else I can think of.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

Yeah, I agree. Your favorite moment?

SPEAKER_01 18:41

The bears. Yeah. Yeah, I'd say the bears. Yeah, I really, really loved the bears. But there's so much I love there. Um, that, you know, I could go on and on. But but yeah, if I had to pick one thing, I'd be the bears.

SPEAKER_00 18:55

But we'll be going back soon. So we'll put stuff up on the website, new stuff we discover when we're back there.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

And I definitely want to be there at Christmas time one year because I think it would just be magic. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 19:08

So thanks for listening. And check out the website, w.thetawayswithaze.com. And we will see you next time. Bye. Bye.