 has Viking roots and stands on the eastern side of the Jutland peninsula, with a large student population lending a youthful feel. It personifies the easygoing lifestyle that propels the Danes to the top of quality-of-life indexes, with cobbled streets, design stores, cafés and dedicated bike lanes, as well as forests and sandy beaches nearby — so perfect for a chilled-out long weekend. ● Visit ARoS Art Museum as much for the building as its contents, though these are also pretty cool. On the roof, the star of the show is a rainbow panorama artwork created by the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. It's a huge circular glass walkway made up of all the colours of the spectrum, and a stroll through it offers a selfie-tastic panorama over the city (£20; aros.dk). Inside ARoS Art Museum ROBIN SKJOLDBORG/VISITAARHUS ● The open-air Den Gamle By 'living history' museum gives a taste of Danish life in bygone years along authentically recreated streets. There's everything from a school room and bakery from 1864, via a 1920s ironmonger's to a Blockbuster video store and pizzeria circa 2014. Actors bring everything to life and speak English as well as Danish (£18; dengamleby.dk). ● You might not think of Aarhus as you would Sydney, Rio de Janeiro or Cape Town, but soft sandy beaches are just a frisbee throw away from downtown. Hop on a rented bike (£14 for 24 hours; donkey.bike) and it's less than two miles past woods to the stretch known as Den Permanente. There are lifeguards in summer, as well as changing rooms and refreshments (visitaarhus.com). Den Permanente beach PHOTOPOP/VISITAARHUS ● Take bus No 18 from the railway station to the award-winning Moesgaard Museum, which brings the past to life in a very unstuffy way. Come face to face with red-haired 'Grauballe Man', who has been){kind=link}
It would be a tough pub-quiz question to name Denmark’s biggest cities after Copenhagen, but coming in at No 2 is Aarhus, with a population of about 300,000. The city (pronounced oar-hoos) has Viking roots and stands on the eastern side of the Jutland peninsula, with a large student population lending a youthful feel. It personifies the easygoing lifestyle that propels the Danes to the top of quality-of-life indexes, with cobbled streets, design stores, cafes and dedicated bike lanes, as well as forests and sandy beaches nearby – so perfect for a chilled-out long weekend.
● Visit ARoS Art Museum as much for the building as its contents, though these are also pretty cool. On the roof, the star of the show is a rainbow panorama artwork created by the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. It’s a huge circular glass walkway made up of all the colours of the spectrum, and a stroll through it offers a selfie-tastic panorama over the city (£20; aros.dk).
● The open-air Den Gamle By “living history” museum gives a taste of Danish life in bygone years along authentically recreated streets. There’s everything from a school room and bakery from 1864, via a 1920s ironmonger’s to a Blockbuster video store and pizzeria circa 2014. Actors bring everything to life and speak English as well as Danish (£18; dengamleby.dk).
● You might not think of Aarhus as you would Sydney, Rio de Janeiro or Cape Town, but soft sandy beaches are just a frisbee throw away from downtown. Hop on a rented bike (£14 for 24 hours; donkey.bike) and it’s less than two miles past woods to the stretch known as Den Permanente. There are lifeguards in summer, as well as changing rooms and refreshments (visitaarhus.com).
● Take bus No 18 from the railway station to the award-winning Moesgaard Museum, which brings the past to life in a very unstuffy way. Come face to face with red-haired “Grauballe Man”, who has been remarkably well preserved in a peat bog for 2,000 years (you can still see his stubble), and look at the remains of Viking ships. Then explore the area’s woodland hiking paths leading to the beach (£21; moesgaardmuseum.dk).