Just like my hometown of Liverpool, Aarhus (Denmark’s ‘second city’) has in recent years become a rather popular tourist destination thanks to being awarded European Capital of Culture status.
It’s certainly a place I’ve wanted to visit for a long time now, so when my husband and I were recently planning our Danish road trip it seemed the perfect place to start.
Where we stayed
Since becoming parents, checking in to trendy design hotels has become a thing of the past. But staying somewhere stylish isn’t something we are prepared to compromise on.
And thanks to Airbnb we soon found a very cool apartment available in Aarhus Ø, the newly redeveloped harbour area. Decorated and furnished in true pared back Nordic style, it was the perfect base for our long weekend. Plus from the floor to ceiling windows we had a fantastic view of the eye-catching Iceberg building opposite.
Where we ate
With two street food markets, a Mikkeller bottle shop and the excellent A+ Siam Sushi, Aarhus is a fab foodle experience even if you’re eating in.
We also really enjoyed a late dinner when we arrived at the sensational Salling Rooftop, a terraced urban oasis on the roof of the Salling department store right in the centre of town.
For our final meal we ate at Frankies Pizza. Part of the Madklubben restaurant group, both the décor and stone-baked pizzas come highly recommended.
What we did
Our first day was dedicated to one of the largest public art museums in Northern Europe, ARoS.
As you would expect we excitedly headed straight for the roof to walk the, ‘Your rainbow panorama’. Created by Danish-Icelandic artist, Olafur Eliasson, this amazing circular installation, made from all the colours of the spectrum, looks like its floating above the museum. The 360 degree views across the city are spectacular, even if somewhat dizzying when you’re running after an over excited toddler while trying to take it all in.
Once everyone had ‘slightly’ calmed down we then spent the rest of the day exploring five very special exhibitions and gallery shop, as well as eating lunch in the gorgeous Art Café.
On day two we firstly headed to DOKK1 an amazing public library and multimedia centre. As well as its striking design inside and out, there was also a fab coffee shop with outdoor seating and a huge playground, perfect for a sunny Sunday morning.
From there we headed to Bassin 7 to take a closer look at the amazing Harbour Bath designed by Bjarke Ingels Group BIG before jumping in the car and heading to see the breath-taking Infinite Bridge.
Sitting half on the sand and half in the sea it really was a magical setting to relax in and watch the sun set before heading back to pack up our car for our next destination, Lego House.
A small city with a big personality, we loved our stop over in Aarhus. Friendly people, incredible art and culture, and typically fantastic food make it a must visit for all Nordic lifestyle fans.
And being only one hour from Legoland, and a spectacular island-hopping three-hour drive from Copenhagen, it’s the ideal first stop for any Danish Family Road Trip.
You can find out more about visiting Aarhus here.
All images by Nicola Capper.
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