With four children, you can find us mostly in nature during our travels. We ignore most cities. But if there is one city that we would really recommend visiting with kids, it is definitely Odense in Denmark! Wondering why? I share it with you in this blog article!
Fairy tale city Odense
Odense is one of Denmark’s largest cities and is located on the island of Funen. It is the hometown of Hans Christian Andersen and this can be seen throughout the city. The city is easy to visit by bicycle or public transportation. There is so much to do with children that after visiting Odense twice for a week, we still haven’t seen and done everything!
Den Fynske Landsby
On the outskirts of town, not very far outside the center, is this open-air museum. The museum is like a village in the countryside in the 19th century. There are beautiful half-timbered houses, farms, a little school, a little church, a blacksmith, a mill and many other houses and crafts that were present in a village at that time. Live animals are present, crops are grown, and all of the village’s “residents” present walk in costume.
You can see how the different crafts do their work, but there are also many places where you can try something yourself such as candle making or wood planing. At the little school, children can dress up and play with old toys. You can ride around in a horse and carriage and, depending on the season, help with work on the land.
We were there in the fall, right when the potatoes were being harvested with a horse and plow. You can take the harvested potatoes home afterwards! So very interactive and nice being outdoors. There is enough to do for a whole afternoon of fun!
The Jernbane Museum
This was a big hit with our kids, we spent hours there. It is a large railroad museum where you are taken back in time to the development of railroads. In the large hall, many century-old locomotives are displayed as if on the platform, with wagons in different classes and from royal wagons to mail wagons. There is a side track on shipping and a very informative section on the development of the rail network in Denmark and Europe. There is another separate hall about interrailing with a train where you can sleep, that you can walk all the way through.
On the second floor there is room to take a break. There is an extensive playground with a duplo train track, especially fun for the younger children. Outside, children can ride along in a miniature train or play in the adventure playground. Truly a nicely set up museum!
The Brandts museum
Right in the center is this art museum. Most of it is not so interesting for children, but there is one floor that is incredibly cool! This because they have a permanent sensory exhibition. The exact content of it changes every year but basically it remains the same. They are colorful and artfully decorated rooms with different themes. Everything is incredibly interactive and focused on an intense experience of your senses. The exhibition is not huge but we spent hours there, there is so much to play and experience!
During the Danish vacations it can be very crowded. It is suitable for children between the ages of 2 and 10 but honestly, we loved it as adults too!
The Hans Christian Andersen museum
We didn’t get around to it, but this museum is so highly recommended that I want to mention it anyway. In the old city center of Odense, right next to the street where Hans Christian Andersen’s birthplace is located, is this beautiful museum. And as the name suggests, the whole museum is dedicated to Andersen’s fairy tales. You can walk through the museum with headphones on, with explanations in every language.
You will learn about the life of Hans Christian Andersen and then walk through some of his fairy tales. There is also an area where children can dress up. It’s definitely still on our list to visit!
Hans Christian Andersen statues city walk
To stay in the theme of fairy tales… Scattered throughout the city are statues depicting an imagination from the various fairy tales, sixteen in total. You can combine a city walk with the challenge of tracking down all the statues! And if, like ours, your children love a little challenge and play, you can make it a game not to look at the sign right away, but try to guess first which fairy tale the statue in question comes from!
The troll walk
Scattered throughout Denmark are the trolls of Thomas Dambo, an artist who builds beautiful wooden trolls in the middle of nature, often combined with a nice walk. It’s a tip to seek these out with kids! Just outside Odense you can find one of these trolls, Hans Hule Hand, and a short walk along a plank path takes you to this beautiful troll with playhouse. Very nice to play for a while!
In conclusion…
Besides these tips, there are many more things to do in Odense. There are several beautiful parks scattered throughout the city with large playgrounds. There is a small zoo, Odense Zoo and there are a few other smaller museums. From Odense you can get to the sea in no time and on Funen itself there are lots of other cool things to do with kids. And what we love about visiting Denmark with children is that everyone is so sweet and patient with children.
There are good changing and feeding places everywhere, you can always have your own food and drinks and everything is child-friendly. Because of the many indoor activities, you can definitely do a city trip in spring or fall as well. We have been there in the autumn vacations and in the summer, both were very nice. As far as we are concerned, Odense is highly recommended with children!
Have you ever been to Odense? And are you as much of a fan as we are? Feel free to share in a comment below this blog article. Also if you have more tips 😀 !
