Denmark & Sweden
In the summer of 2021 we have been touring through the southern parts of Denmark and Sweden with our camper.
Enjoy our overview and the specific blogposts about these amazing Nordic countries and read what we recommend and what tips we have.
Denmark and Sweden
On Saturday June 26th 2021 we drove from Drenthe in the Netherlands to the south of Denmark in one go. The drive from Stuifzand in the province of Drenthe to Ballum on the southwest coast of Denmark with our camper was just over 500 kilometers and we took a whole day for the drive.
The summer of 2021 we spent in the southern parts of Denmark and Sweden. The original plan was to go to Iceland with our camper, but due to circumstances the time to make that trip became too tight in the summer of 2021. We had already taken this into account to some extent in the months before and we had already devised the alternative of Denmark and Sweden, the Nordics have also been high on our wish list for a while. We chose our first destination, Ballum on the southwest coast, because it is located in the Vadehavet National Park, the Danish “Wadden” region.
Ballum
The first 5 days we stayed in Ballum on the southwest coast. Because wild camping in Denmark is not legal we wee staying at official campsites. In Ballum we stayed at campsite Ballum Camping.
The main reason for going to this region was that we wanted to visit the national park Vadehavet.
We enjoyed some great bike rides and hikes along the coast in the national park and visited the Danish Wadden island Rømø for a day.
Our next stop in Denmark was the south coast of the first island coming from the west, namely Fyn. It is Denmark's largest island after Sjaelland, which lies east of Fyn. It is separated from Sjaelland by the Great Belt (sea) and Jutland by the Little Belt (sea). Fyn is now connected to Jutland and Sjaelland by bridges and tunnels. Fyn is also called the "Garden of Denmark". The drive from Ballum was just under 200 kilometers. We spent 4 days on Fyn, staying on the south coast, actually also the south coast of Denmark. We were with our camper at camping Nab Strand, a top campsite with very affordable prices.
Fyn and Ærø
On Fyn we visited the small coastal towns of Svendborg and Faaborg which are approx 30 kilometers apart. Both towns are small bot cozy harbour and coastal towns that are worth a visit.
South of the coast is an archipel with numerous small islands that are really worth a visit too. We visited Ærø by taking the ferry from Svendborg to Romo and the ferry back from Ærø to Faaborg.
After Fyn we drove on to the next island in Denmark which is Sjaelland. On Sjaelland, that lies east of Fyn, we mainly visited the northeastern part of the island and therefore ofcourse also the city of Copenhagen. Since Copenhagen was the main purpose of the time we were going to spend on Sjaelland, we chose a campsite that was within cycling distance of the city. That became the basic but overall nice campsite Hyldegardens in Stenlose, more than 20 km by bike from Copenhagen. In the end we went to Copenhagen for two days and we visited the town of Hillerod and its surroundings.
Sjaelland & Copenhagen
On Sjaelland, our main goal was to visit Copenhagen. But we were close to the town of Hillerod which is also a nice place to visit. This is mainly due to Frederiksborg Castle, which is actually located in the middle of the town, just north of the center.
We had set aside two days for Copenhagen. On the first day we went by bike and that was very doable from the campsite on our e-bikes. On the second day we took the train from nearby Farum to the center of Copenhagen, very doable as well.
In the end we spent a little less than two weeks in Denmark before we made the crossing to Sweden on July 10th. We crossed the Oresund Bridge, the connection between Copenhagen (Denmark) and Sweden. The bridge is part of the 16 kilometer long connection for road and rail traffic over the Sound. The bridge has been open since July 1st, 2000 and is partly known for the Swedish-Danish Netflix series The Bridge. If you want to cross the bridge, be aware that the toll fare can be quite high, check this. The alternative to make the crossing is to travel by ferry, there are several routes.
In the first 10 days in Sweden we first spent a few days on the south coast near Solvesborg and then in Urshult on Lake Asnen. We deliberately looked for places by the water because it was very warm in Sweden during this period, even unusually hot by Swedish standards.
Urshult
Urshult is a very small town in the heart of Smaland on Lake Asnen
Denmark & Sweden Blog Posts
Fyn and Ærø
On a fantastic sunny day we visited the small towns of Faaborg and Svendborg on Fyn and the smaller island Ærø of the coast
