Odense – the favorite city for tourists?
Odense, Denmark’s third largest city and the biggest one on the island of Funen, also lays claim to being the favorite tourist destination of all Danish cities. It is often linked with the name of the writer Hans Christian Andersen. While surfing on his celebrity, Odense also takes pains to emphasize the 1000 year old traditional buildings, the cultural events and the quality of shopping and the restaurants.
The most visited attraction in Odense is the Odense Zoo. There’s a virtually exact replica of an African nature reserve with both savannah and marshland for a wide variety of African animals. It also has one of the largest aquariums in Europe.
Next on the list are Hans Christian Andersen’s house and the Funen village, an open air museum of typical traditional houses. The Danish Railway Museum and the City Museum (Møntergården) are also popular with visitors. Saint Canute’s Cathedral is where the patron saint of Denmark, Canute, is buried.
The large student population of Odense contribute highly to the cities bohemian, laid back feel and dynamic, eclectic nightlife. Odense is often seen as the centre of the world for Denmark’s music loving youth and visitors would be hard pressed to ignore the presence of band posters and practise rooms around the city. This transfers to evening time when entertainment is more often than not, seen in the form of young, beautiful bands blasting out some electronic, folk, banjo mix in one of the many bars around the centre of town..
Daytime sight in Odense include the impressive zoo, home to the largest African reserve replication in all of Europe and playing home to some of the worlds most exotic animal species, also with Scandinavia’s largest aquarium built into the zoo. The cobbled, winding streets of Odense are easily navigable on foot, over humped bridges, criss crossing the many waterways. A favourite way to explore the city though, is to take a guided boat trip through those said waterways and enjoy the beautiful town at a relaxing pace.
Happily, Odense is well connected to the rest of Denmark by land and water and a regional airport which is often used as a hub for flights into major European cities. The position of Odense on the Odense Fjord sees hoards of top class yachts pass through it, transiting up into the more major fjords of the north. The summer influx of European yachts passing through can be a spectacle in itself.
An easy day out from Odense should include a trip to the coastal town of Middelfart with its flat sandy beaches and little development, Middlefart makes for a relaxing family day at the seaside and is renowned locally for its superior seafood and restaurants.
