We’ve been driving our motorhome around northern and eastern Europe for almost 6-months, and most recently drove south from Oslo to Helsingborg along Sweden’s Bohusiän coast. Then we took a very short but very expensive ferry ride across the Øresund Strait from Helsingborg in Sweden, to Helsingør in Denmark.
 |
| Helsingør, Denmark |
Helsingør dates back to 70 AD and sits on the on the northeast coast of Zealand, one of Denmark’s many islands. As the ferry approached, we had a great view of this historic town and its 15th century Castle Kronborg. The Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and famous as Elsinore in Shakespeare’s play ‘Hamlet’.
 |
| Historic houses (L), St Olaf’s Church and Railway Stn (R), Helsingør, Denmark |
It was pouring with rain when we got off the ferry but we stopped for a walk around Helsingør old town, finding it full of brightly coloured houses and cobbled streets. Highlights of our walk were the 13th century Saint Olaf’s Church, the impressive Renaissance-style railway station, the 16th century Skibsklarergaarden - Denmark’s best preserved merchant house, and the interesting Maritime Museum.
 |
| Nyhavn Canal, Copenhagen, Denmark |
After leaving Helsingør we drove about 30 mins south to Copenhagen and stayed the night at the campsite we had used on our first trip to Denmark. We loved Copenhagen on our first visit and our second visit didn’t disappoint. We visited the city to walk around the Nyhavn Canal area, and had dinner there before returning to our campsite for the night.
 |
| The royal burial church of Denmark (UNESCO). Roskilde, Denmark |
Setting off the next morning, our first stop was in Roskilde, west of Copenhagen. Roskilde’s history dates back to the pre-Christian Viking times, and it has several buildings and monuments to celebrate that history. One of these is the Gothic Roskilde Cathedral. Apart from its wonderful architecture, it is famous for being home to the tombs of many Danish kings and queens, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
 |
| Beautiful autumn colours on the way to Sorø, Denmark |
After a walk around Roskilde, we drove south. The drive was lovely. The autumn colours were in full swing in the Danish countryside, fields were being ploughed, new crops were popping their heads up, and people were out and about in the towns. We soon arrived in the pretty rural town Sorø.
 |
| The museum in, Sorø, Denmark |
The town dates back to the 12th century and is known as one of the most beautiful in Denmark. We had a lovely wander around admiring its vibrancy and historic architecture. We particularly liked the Renaissance-style Sorø Museum housed in a 17th century inn, which is one of Sorø’s oldest buildings. Nearby, we also saw Sorø’s lake and the 12th century round Bjernede Church, which is one of only seven remaining Nordic Round Churches in Denmark.
 |
| The cable-stay bridge between the islands of Faro and Falster, Denmark |
Leaving Sorø, we kept driving south, and about 1-hour later we crossed from the island of Zealand to the island of Falster, via the Faro Bridges. These are two road bridges across the Storstrømmen Sound, that meet in the middle on the small the island of Faro. The first bridge is fairly ordinary, but the second bridge was an impressive-looking cable-stay bridge.
 |
| Leigh outside the Marine Stuen tavern, Nykøbing, Denmark |
After arriving on the island of Falster, we continued south, stopping in Nykøbing. This is an attractive small town with lots of restored and eye-catching buildings, a cobbled pedestrian centre, nice public art works, and a lovely modern marina development called Slotsbryggen. The town was built around a 12th century medieval castle, and contains several half-timbered buildings such as the Tsar’s House, and Marine Stuen, a famous tavern.
 |
| The row houses in Maribo, Denmark |
After crossing yet another bridge to yet another island, this one called Lolland, we stopped in Maribo. This small historic merchant town (pop 5,936), dates back to the 15th century, and after finding motorhome-sized parking, we had a wander about. We liked Maribo’s Romanesque-style cathedral, and the interesting houses all joined together like row-houses. However, unlike most row-houses, these each had their own character.
Ferry%20(2)a.jpg) |
| The ferry from Rødby in Denmark, to Puttgarden in Germany |
Our next stop was Rødby, where we boarded a vehicle ferry to take us across the Fehmarn Belt Strait to Puttgarden in Germany. This meant that our travel in Scandinavian countries was at an end, sadly. It’s been a wonderful trip, but we have only a week or so left of our travel in Europe, so needed to keep moving.
It was a quick ferry ride to Puttgarden, and cheaper than the bridge tolls had we travelled overland. After disembarking in Puttgarden, we drove to Hamburg. But you can read about that in the next blog.
This blog describes part of our 6-month motorhome trip around north-eastern Europe, which began in Prague.