Quick Facts

Capital: Copenhagen
Location: Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, on a peninsula north of Germany (Jutland); also includes two major islands (Sjaelland and Fyn)
Area: total: 43,094 sq km, water: 700 sq km
Climate: Temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers
Religions: Evangelical Lutheran 95%, other Protestant and Roman Catholic 3%, Muslim 2%
Languages: Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority)
note: English is the predominant second language
Currency: Danish krone (DKK)

Stacking Your Postcards

Tivoli In Copenhagen
Founded in 1843, and since then visited by 270 million. No plastic is allowed, nor is neon lighting permitted in Copenhagen's beloved fairy tale Garden. Music rides and the colorful Tivoli Boys Guard are part of the entertainment. Add to that myriad restaurants and the Tivoli Museum, with three floors of posters, photographs, carousel animals, and other memorabilia. Twice a week, the final event of the evening is a splendid fireworks. Season : May 1-September 15 and late November-December 22.

AMALIENBORG PALACE, ROYAL RESIDENCE, COPENHAGEN. A number of rooms with the original interiors of private chambers and a fine display of precious objects belonging to the Royal Family are open to the public.

ROSENBORG PALACE, COPENHAGEN. Built in the 17th century by the "builder King," Christian IV, Rosenborg Palace today houses the Danish Crown Jewels.

KRONBORG CASTLE, HELSINGØR (ELSINORE). The Castle that Shakespeare used as a setting for his great drama Hamlet. In the "Sounds Toll Days" (15th century), Kronborg held a strategic position at the entrance to the sound to secure payment of the Sound Toll. Besides huge halls and casemates (dungeons), the castle also houses the Danish Mercantile and Maritime Museum.

THE OLD TOWN IN ÅRHUS. An open-air museum featuring more than 70 well-preserved urban buildings moved to this site brick by brick. The townscape is one of an old Danish market town with a genuine atmosphere. A baker and grocer sell yesterday's wares, and there are several other activities going on during high season.

EBELTOFT. A fine example of yesterday's small Danish town. Ebeltoft has a splendid Glass Museum with modern displays by some of the world's finest glass artists, and tourists can visit the interesting old frigate "Jylland".

HIMMELBJERGET (SKY MOUNTAIN). With a height of just 482 ft., this name might seem a bit pretentious, but the quality of its site and the surrounding scenery make the Sky Mountain a wonderful place to visit. Climbing it is easy, the view from the top is marvelous, and ploughing the waves of the Silkeborg Lakes below is a charming paddle steamer called "Hjejlen".

SKAGEN, also called The Skaw, is the northernmost point of Jutland, a charming fishermen's town characterized by a special architecture of yellow houses topped by red roofs with white edges. The landscape is marvelous with Raabjerg Mile, a huge migrating sand "desert" to the south, and in the north the major attraction, the meeting of the two seas, Kattegat and Skagerrak. A tractor-drawn bus takes visitors to this splendid sight.

HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN'S MUSEUM in ODENSE. This famous fairy tale writer was born in Odense in 1805, and his birth place is the top attraction in town It is located in a district of period houses which have been renovated and are still lived in.

EGESKOV CASTLE, KVÆRNDRUP. A beautiful, moated Renaissance castle, built in 1554. Set in a park which also contains a maze. Open to the public at certain times. Five museums are on the premises, including one devoted to vintage cars.

ÆRØSKØBING, ISLAND of ÆRØ, south of FYN. Ferries crossing through the South Funen Archipelago take visitors to this charming town with cobbled streets and small, neat houses, one of them housing a Bottle Ship Collection.

Destination Guides

Copenhagen - A city of delights galore
With a rich history that is evident in its historical buildings and ancient streets, dozens of world class museums and galleries, the uniquely enchanting Tivoli Gardens, and a resident monarchy that is the oldest in the world, the Danish capital has a host of attractions to suit all tastes.

But this is no living museum. Copenhagen is a vibrant, modern city whose fascinating past coexists with the very latest trends in architecture, design and fashion.

This is, after all, one of the world's great design capitals, a status that is reflected in its dynamic new buildings and stunning shops.
Furthermore, this is a city that presents its myriad attractions against a waterside backdrop that helps make it of one of the most beautiful cities in northern Europe.

Bornholm Island; Templar Churches
Located 40 kilometers southeast of the southern tip of Sweden but territorially a part of Denmark, the island of Bornholm is one of the oldest visible rocks in the world. Formed through volcanic activity more than 1700 million years ago, the small granite island has an area of approximately 600 square kilometers (230 square miles). Its rolling hills are covered with a patchwork of farms, pastures and beautiful forests, the coasts are graced by sandy beaches and rocky cliffs and its traditional villages are home to some of the friendliest people in Europe.

Archaeological excavation reveals the island to have been settled since at least 3600 BC, when numerous dolmens and Neolithic mounds began to be constructed. A majority of the mounds show evidence of having been used for burials while others, lacking burial remains, indicate possible astronomical and ceremonial use. Scattered here and there across the island are many boulders and flat, glacier-scoured rock surfaces that are engraved with mysterious symbols and geometric forms, small cup-shaped depressions, and carvings of ships. Conventional archaeological theory, unable to date the engravings or explain their function, attributes them to Bronze Age inhabitants (1800-500 BC). These rock engravings may, however, date from a far earlier age and may have functioned as sea and star maps for ancient mariners

Odense
Odense, the capital of Fyn and the birthplace of Andersen, was named in honor of Odin, the Nordic god of hospitality. More than 1,000 years old, the city is a curious cross between a provincial village and a cultural hot spot. Tucked among its cobblestone streets are museums, theaters, galleries and cafes, especially along Brandt's Passage, a popular pedestrian street peppered with hip boutiques and its own version of a New York Soho loft - a four-story art gallery housed in a former textile factory.

If you can't stomach quaintness, don't go to the Hans Christian Andersen Hus. The area surrounding the museum has been carefully preserved with its cobbled streets and low houses with lace curtains. But for Andersen buffs, the place is a slice of heaven: Inside the museum, exhibits use diaries, drawings, photos and letters to convey a sense of the writer and the time in which he lived. Attached to the museum is an extensive library with Andersen's works in more than 100 languages where you can listen to fairy tales on tape.

Torshavn
Tórshavn, also Thorshavn, capital city of the Faroe Islands, Denmark, on southeastern Streymoy (Stromø) Island, in the Atlantic Ocean, midway between Scotland and Iceland. It is a fishing port and contains fish-processing plants and a shipyard. The city also serves as the commercial and distribution center for the island group. Tórshavn is the site of the Faroese Academy (1965); the national library and archives; the National Museum, with exhibits of local antiquities; and the Natural History Museum. During World War II the city was occupied by British forces from 1942 to 1945. Population (1990 estimate) 14,000.