Denmark: The Complete Guide to the Countryside, the Islands and the Best of Copenhagen

Experienced and first-time travelers alike rely on Fodor's Gold Guides for rich, reliable coverage the world over. Smart travel tips and important contact info make planning your trip a breeze, and detailed coverage of sights, accommodations, and restaurants give you the info you need to make your experience enriching and hassle-free. If you only have room for one guide, this is the one for you. The best guide to Denmark, packed with essentials City walks to royal residences, museums, amusement parks Countryside rambles, island-hopping, and beach getaways Best Danish design: porcelain, glass, silver, and crafts Copenhagen by night -- jazz clubs, casinos, ballet, theater Plus touring Bornholm, the Faroe islands, and Greenland Where to stay and eat, no matter what your budget Hyggelig inns, gilded luxury hotels, centuries-old manor houses, pastel island cottages, and squeaky-clean hostels Elegant dining rooms, fish houses, chic city restaurants, cozy taverns for smørrebrød, bistros, and old-world cafés Fresh, thorough, practical -- off and on the beaten path Costs, hours, descriptions, and tips by the thousands All reviews based on visits by savvy writer-residents 15 pages of maps -- and dozens of great features Important contacts, smart travel tips Fodor's Choice What's Where Pleasures & Pastimes Festivals Background essays Complete index Excerpted from Fodor's Scandinavia

This excerpt from the essay "Fairy Tales and Fjords," by Karina Porcelli, gives you a taste of what Denmark have to offer and the sights and scenes that make it a great place to visit.


The kingdom of Denmark dapples the Baltic Sea in an archipelago of some 450 islands and the crescent of one peninsula. Measuring 43,069 square km (17,028 square mi) and with a population of 5 million, it is the geographical link between Scandinavia and Europe. Half-timber villages and tidy agriculture rub shoulders with provincial towns and a handful of cities, where pedestrians set the pace, not traffic. Mothers safely park baby carriages outside bakeries while outdoor cafés fill with cappuccino-sippers, and lanky Danes pedal to work in lanes thick with bicycle traffic. Clearly this is a land where the process of life is the greatest reward.


While in Denmark, visitors pinch themselves in disbelief and make long lists of resolutions to emulate the natives. The Danes' lifestyle is certainly enviable, not yet the pressure-cooked life of some other Western countries. Long one of the world's most liberal countries, Denmark has a highly developed social-welfare system. Hefty taxes are the subject of grumbles and jokes, but Danes remain proud of their state-funded medical and educational systems and high standard of living. They enjoy monthlong vacations, 7 1/2-hour workdays, and overall security.


The history of the little country stretches back 250,000 years, when Jylland was inhabited by nomadic hunters, but it wasn't until AD 500 that a tribe from Sweden, called the Danes, migrated south and christened the land Denmark. The Viking expansion that followed was based on the country's strategic position in the north. Struggles for control of the North Sea with England and western Europe, for the Skagerrak (the strait between Denmark and Norway) with Norway and Sweden, and for the Baltic Sea with Germany, Poland, and Russia ensued. With high-speed ships and fine-tuned warriors, intrepid navies navigated to Europe and Canada, invading and often pillaging, until, under King Knud (Canute) the Great (995-1035), they captured England by 1018.


After the British conquest, Viking supremacy declined as feudal Europe learned to defend itself. Internally, the pagan way of life was threatened by the expansion of Christianity, introduced under Harald Bluetooth, who in AD 980 "baptized" the country, essentially to avoid war with Germany. For the next several hundred years, the country tried to maintain its Baltic power with the influence of the German Hanseatic League. Under the leadership of Valdemar IV (1340-1375), Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands became a part of Denmark. Sweden broke away by the mid-15th century and battled Denmark for much of the next several hundred years, whereas Norway remained under Danish rule until 1814, Iceland until 1943. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are still self-governing Danish provinces.


Denmark prospered again in the 16th century, thanks to the Sound Dues, a levy charged to ships crossing the Øresund, the slender waterway between Denmark and Sweden. Under King Christian IV, a construction boom crowned the land with what remain architectural gems today, but his fantasy spires and castles, compounded with the Thirty Years' War in the 17th century, led to state bankruptcy.


By the 18th century, absolute monarchy had given way to representative democracy, and culture flourished. Then -- in a fatal mistake -- Denmark sided with France and refused to surrender its navy to the English during the Napoleonic Wars. In a less than valiant episode of British history, Lord Nelson turned his famous blind eye to the destruction and bombed Copenhagen to bits. The defeated King Frederik VI handed Norway to Sweden. Denmark's days of glory were over.


Though Denmark was unaligned during World War II, the Nazis invaded in 1940. Against them, the Danes used the only weapons they had: a cold shoulder and massive underground resistance. After the war, Denmark focused inward, refining its welfare system and concentrating on its main industries of agriculture, shipping, and financial and technical services. It is an outspoken member of the European Union (EU), championing environmental responsibility and supporting development in emerging economies. It was one of the only countries to forgive a considerable amount of third world debt during the World Summit in Copenhagen in 1995. Expensive as it is, Denmark is in many ways less pricey than the rest of Scandinavia.


Copenhagen fidgets with its modern identity as both a Scandinavian-European link and cozy capital. The center of Danish politics, culture, and finance, it copes through balance and a sense of humor with a taste for the absurd. Stroll the streets and you'll pass classic architecture painted in candy colors, businessmen clad in jeans and T-shirts.


Sjælland's surrounding countryside is not to be missed. Less than an hour away, fields and half-timber cottages checker the land. Roskilde, to the east, has a 12th-century cathedral, and in the north, the Kronborg Castle of Hamlet fame crowns Helsingør. Beaches, some chic, some deserted, are powdered with fine white sand.


Fyn rightly earned its storybook reputation by making cuteness a local passion. The city of Odense, Hans Christian Andersen's birthplace, is cobbled with crooked old streets and Lilliputian cottages. Jylland's landscape is the most severe, with Ice Age  --  chiseled fjords and hills, sheepishly called mountains by the Danes. In the cities of Århus and Aalborg you'll find museums and nightlife rivaling Copenhagen's.


The best way to discover Denmark is to strike up a conversation with an affable and hospitable Dane. Hyggelig defies definition but comes close to meaning a cozy and charming hospitality. A summertime beach picnic can be as hyggelig as tea on a cold winter's night. The only requirement is the company of a Dane.