Welcome back! Greetings from Denmark! I'm back on track with publishing my blog on a more timely basis this week. My cold has subsided with my writing enthusiasm returning. 🙏
I hope you've had a memorable week with moments of magic you are grateful for.
I've now arrived in my last Scandinavian country before returning to Canada. The Danes I've met are gracious, welcoming and so helpful. English is broadly spoken making easy for me to get to where I want to do and better yet, initiate convos wherever I go.
There are early indications that Denmark is lagging Finland, Sweden and Norway in moving to a cashless society. There many more ATMS available through a variety of banks throughout my travels. As I share in my travels below, I even encountered a situation where cash was the only option. I've decided to continue being a cashless tourist by only using my debit/credit cards. I still prefer to use cash as I have better control over the amount of money I'm spending. An empty wallet is a good visual indicator of my financial position!
I do have pet peeve in Scandinavia. You have to pay to use public toilets throughout the four countries (and there appears to be far fewer toilets available). I've moved from outright indignation about having to pay to silent acceptance. It's been an interesting personal challenge (first world problem, for sure) after what I've been accustomed to in every other part of the world I have visited on this adventure.
I've also have had to adjust to hotel rooms without A/C, bar fridges, kettles, mugs and coffee and much higher nightly rates. On the plus side, many hotels do offer breakfast as part of the nightly rate.
May the universe bring endless blessings (blessings in disguise) and moments of magic 🦄 to you and your loved ones in the week ahead. 🙏
Travel update: The where to visit in Ireland pendulum has swung back to Galway. I have two nights booked in the city; just need to figure out where I should sleep on Saturday night, September 6. I'll be staying at the Waterside Inn in Mississauga when I return to Toronto on the evening of Saturday, September 7. The trip to Dave's cottage is dependent on the weather forecast. We need three consecutive days of dry weather to complete the reshingling!
Travel Administration
Pedestrians in Scandinavia beware! Cyclists have become a new walking hazard!
Travel Maps
This week's adventures started in Stockholm. A five hour train ride delivered me to Gothenburg for the next three nights. On Wednesday morning, I was on a ferry to Frederikshavn on the east coast of northern Denmark for two nights. Aarhus, Denmark's 2nd most populous city, was my last destination in the week.
Sweden: August 20 to August 27, 2025
Denmark: August 27 to September 4, 2025
I met a young couple from New York City as I was exiting my hotel ship, the good ship Lollipop. Jerome and Tasha had just arrived at the ship (it's about 9 am) after their overnight flight. We chatted about their planned week long travels in Sweden. Jerome also mentioned their trip to Boracay, Philippines to attend a wedding. He's the third person on this adventure to mention Boracay and its beaches. Wondering if the universe is trying to make a travel suggestion???
Stockholm to Gothenburg
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| Stockholm Central Station |
What a memorable five hour train adventure to Gothenburg. I was seated at a table facing two passengers across from me and a passenger besides me. I'm pleased to introduce Jessica, her older sister Carmella (across from me) and Anton, who sat beside me. I was quiet for the first couple hours other than asking if Jessica and Carmella had brought me lunch when a large Subway bag appeared on the table. The other comment I made, based on the observation that both women were wearing the same colour top, was I had missed the memo on today's dress code. They had a smile, with equally light and engaging comments.
Jessica is a mother of two boys (5 & 7), works in customer service for the Stena Line (ferry I was taking to Denmark) and married to a professional football (soccer) player. Unfortunately, the team was having a bad stretch (10 years) and the game underway was equally challenging. Carmella is a mother of four boys (2 - 11 years), works in pre-school and married to environmental engineer. The sisters were returning from Stockholm after attending a concert for one of Jessica's favourite bands and visiting with cousins in Stockholm. Sadly, for Jessica, the band omitted some of her top songs so she had mixed feelings about the concert.
Anton, his wife and their company's nine female employees were also returning from Stockholm. Anton and his wife decided to celebrate their 10th year in business by treating their employees (and themselves) to a company paid weekend in Stockholm including attending the Ed Sheeran concert. Amazing blessing for all involved! Anton is the company accountant and IT wiz with his wife taking care of the people side of the business. Their company, a franchise business in home kitchen (I think) renovation, was the leading franchise in Sweden. Our conversation turned to travel as Anton was thinking about celebrating his 40th birthday in Maldives. Well, I just happen to know Emily who works on Gulhi Island in Maldives. I've connected Emily and Anton to help Anton explore possibilities in planning for his upcoming February birthday extravaganza. I also connected him with my 2nd friend Emily who also has Maldives travel experience. Finally, I shared my Maldives travel blogs with Anton should there be any info to trigger further research. I'm most appreciative of his offer of support while in Gothenburg if the need arose.
The important travel tip my three new friends shared was suggesting I traveled to Gothenburg's southern archipelago during my stay. Gothenburg also has a
Northern Archipelago I was unable to visit.
Some train ride, right?!!
Gothenburg Walkabout
Ho hum! Another scenic Swedish city! Welcome to Sweden's 2nd largest city (by population) and important port city.
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| Love abounds |
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| City Hall (l)/Law courts (r) |
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| Important historical person |
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| Love those buildings/reflections |
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| Stenpiren terminal |
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| Harbour view |
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| Looked impressive |
I embarked on an important personal quest to verify Sweden's leadership in the cinnamon bun domain. My quest brought me to Haga, a district within Gothenburg, that has a bakery known for its enormous cinnamon buns (photos below) and historic buildings. I successfully suppressed my desire to indulge in eating my way through one of these buns. They do look enticingly delicious!
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| Haga street map |
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| Haga street - walk through history |
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| The leading cinnamon bun barkery |
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| Fancy a cinnamon bun? |
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| Competing bakery's storefront |
This quaint city, about a 30 minute train ride from Gothenburg, is known for its pastries and
Swedish fika. Anton was fascinated I would travel to this city just to have a fika experience. So fascinated he planned to share my travel plans with his team on Monday. Crazy tourists!
My master plan was to visit a bakery known for its pastries. I should have done more thorough research as I discovered the bakery is closed on Mondays, the day I was visiting! I should also mention this city is known for hosting special days throughout the year where the different restaurants and bakeries participate in tours. Yup, you can go from place to place eating delicious pastries and drinking coffee! I'll have to time my next visit.
I ended up having fika at a restaurant following a recommendation from a shop owner who shared the bad news about the bakery being closed. He suggested the restaurant across the street was a great and reputable fika destination. He was so right. Olivia, who I've decided is a fika expert, guided me to buying a cardamon cinnamon bun to accompany my coffee. She advised that while the cardamon cinnamon bun was non-traditional, it simply tasted so much better. I now agree!
I also had an interesting conversation with a local resident while I was sitting a park waiting for my return train. The convo started with my new friend mentioning, in Swedish, what a lovely day it was. Once we determined I was only English speaking, he switched to English. His parents were originally from Poland, settling in Sweden about 40 years ago. He had two travel tips - visit Poland for its beauty and history and visit
Christiana, Free Town in Copenhagen. He took the time to share photos as well as relate some of its history. I still need to decide if I'll be visiting. Always appreciative of travel ideas, though.
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| Beautiful canal |
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| Welcome to my fika experience! |
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| Another display case to pastry heaven |
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| Fika - cardamon cinnamon bun & coffee |
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| Let's go shopping |
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| More beauty in the central town area |
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| Train station |
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| How about that train station!! |
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| Train station |
Sunny Tuesday! Thank you to the universe for a warm and sunny day for island hopping. For context, it's fairly common to have overcast and rainy conditions throughout the year! I chose to explore the two islands I've documented below. I wanted a 'taste' of the islands, avoiding an in-depth visit and the logistical challenge of scheduling ferry time to successfully island hop.
'The southern islands of the Gothenburg archipelago are car free and offer everything from quaint villages to uninhabited islands. The islands are easy to reach by public transport ferries from Saltholmen ferry boat terminal or Stenpirent travel centre.'
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| Vooming out of Saltholmen ferry terminal |
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| First island seen from ferry |
Welcome to quaint homes (and some very luxurious homes) on the island. There are paved roads on the islands for the residents' golf carts, mopeds, tractors and the occasional service vehicle. Many islands have nature trails to explore the uninhabited sections. There are cafes and shops on the island eager to separate you from your money. Overall, a relaxing walk around the island to enjoy the sights.
I did meet a couple from Sweden at the Tången ferry terminal as I was debating my next destination. They graciously continued my education in the proper pronunciation of Swedish destinations. They also suggested traveling north from Gothenburg as the coastline towards Oslo was beautiful. The husband had been to Rochester, New York for training in a previous life. Rochester is just across Lake Ontario from Toronto.
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| Small harbour with boat sheds |
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| Sailing into the sea |
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| Rugged, picturesque coastline |
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Note the stairs into the water. There were three
bathers enjoying the water and lunch just behind
the rocks to the right of the stairs. |
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| Living the island life |
This island was about a 20 minute ferry ride away. There were far fewer people and homes on this island. I hiked about 2/3 of the nature trails before returning to the ferry terminal for the return trip. I started a convo, had about an hour to wait, with a couple young Austrian women who were in Sweden for two weeks. Natasha had been to the British Columbia lower mainland/US Pacific Northwest so we had a few things in common to chat about. The hour we had to wait seemed to disappear in a heartbeat.
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| Island map - I explored the northern half |
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| Island landscape |
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| Yet another island across the water |
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| Barren rock |
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Military naval vessels were a common sight
during my day trip. Curious why all this activity
was necessary. |
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Our public ferry - similar to taking a bus on the
mainland. |
Denmark
I was off to my final Scandinavian destination on Wednesday morning. I had previously discovered there was a ferry across when I was trying to plan to get to the same destination by land. You may find this website,
Rome2rio, a handy site to visit if you are looking for travel options between destinations. The website provides source links to transportation companies so you can book trips directly, like I do. While handy, not completely foolproof.
We were blessed to have calm seas for the 3.5 hour ferry ride.
Monstrous ferry with multiple decks, duty free shopping and always lots to eat.
Welcome to my first stop in Denmark! Love these quaint small cities which have preserved historical buildings. The cities also typically block off and/or restrict traffic in the areas to encourage shopping and dining. My reason to staying in this city was for a day trip to Skagen so I could walk to the Grenen, the Denmark's northern most point. Something in my travel DNA steers me towards these types of destinations. In retrospect, I was fortunate in being unable to find appropriate accommodation in Skagen. Frederikshavn was a larger centre with more diverse sights to see. I also avoided the hordes of people from cruises invading the town site! It was an inexpensive 30 minute train trip to Skagen on a train that ran every half hour.
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Interesting plastic figurines nailed to the
top of this fence. |
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| More figurines a few steps away |
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| A historical defensive sight |
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| Into the embankment we go |
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| Cannon #1 |
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Two cannons in total. There is a robo lawn
mower near the cannon in the background. |
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| Danish coastline - looking towards Sweden |
So, Denmark is a fairly flat country. The idea of a viewing platform was an intriguing concept. I was game to find out just how scenic this platform would be. Coincidentally, the platform was in the same general area as the city botanical garden - two birds with one stone. As the text below indicates, this location rises a breathtaking 71 metres (233 ft) above sea level. That said, the platform did provide a wonderful perspective on the city and surrounding area.
'The viewing platform, which in the form of Skagens Gren extends from the top of Pikkerbakken, provides a unique view of the city, the harbor and Hirsholmene with a view of both Sæby and Skagen - in clear weather also to Læsø. At the platform you can also see Kongestenen, where King Frederik has signed his name three times.'
'Pikkerbakken is part of a 3 km long coastal slope formed by the Yoldia and Litorina Seas during the Ice Age. The impressive slope is due, among other things, to the fact that the area has experienced Denmark's largest land uplift. Pikkerbakken itself rises 71 meters above sea level.'
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| Platform in perspective |
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| See what the eye can see |
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| Lot of history |
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| Ditto |
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| Ditto |
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| Ditto |
An unexpected delight was this well maintained, beautiful and expansive botanical garden. My only regret would missing when all the flowers were in bloom. Amazing setting with loads of diversity in vegetation, landscaping and features throughout the garden. It was apparent how much thought was invested in developing this garden. Great escape from the urban setting, adjacent to the city.
'When one enters the abundance of scent and colour found in Bangsbo Botanic Garden, it is not difficult to imagine oneself back in time in Bangsbo’ s heyday, when a gardener could be seen going about his work dressed in a suit and top hat!'
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| Garden map |
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| Watch out for the wildlife! |
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| Interesting sculptures |
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| Water features |
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| Rock garden |
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| A few remaining roses |
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I'm completely fascinated by how flowers are
structured. What ingenuity and beauty - all without
human intervention (most of the time) |
Skagen is a charming coastal town located at the northernmost tip of Denmark which the access point to Grenen, the northernmost point of Denmark. Grenen is an unique sand spit is where the waters of the Kattegat and the Skagerrak converge (North and Baltic Seas), creating visible waves that crash against each other. It's a truly spectacular natural phenomenon - well, on some days other than the day I visited.
I had three options to travel the four km from Skagen to Grenen: take a bus, walk or cycle. It was my lucky day as the bus only operated when cruise ships were in harbour. There were two in harbour the day I visited. Yippee! If you wanted to pay by card, you had to go to the harbour tourist office to make your purchase. Important note: the bus driver only accepts cash (Euros or Danish Krona).
I met a couple from Maryland, USA while queuing for the Grenen bus. Well, it be clear, as the wife shared with me, she was from Chicago and her husband (an ex-military guy) was from the Pacific Northwest. They were traveling on the cruise ship that had docked that morning. Their broader travel plans were to visit different countries, via cruise ship, and then determine what countries they wanted to visit in more depth. For example, they had been on a Caribbean cruise that had 14 different country ports of call. Whew! That's a lot of countries with what I think is very restricted time to get a hint of what the country is like. Power to them. The wife also felt compelled to relate how their oldest daughter was recently divorced after 20+ years of marriage. Her husband did a gender change from a man to a woman ending the marital bliss!
I also had a chance to help out a fellow traveler on the return bus trip from the Grenen parking lot. Piers (from England) and his two teenage children had walked the four km to the point and now decided they wanted to return by bus. Small issue as Piers only had credit cards and the bus driver was the only source for tickets at the parking lot. His two kids were insistent on riding back to the point of suggesting they sneak on the bus. I volunteered to pay the 21 euro fare (I had cash from Finland) on their behalf. So on the bus they came and we were off. While I had offered my assistance without the expectation of being repaid, Piers figured out how to send the Cdn equivalent to my Canadian bank account while on the way to Skagen. Piers and his kids went their merry way once we arrived in Skagen.
I also had a brief convo with a local resident who caught my attention as I was walking to the train. He was sitting on a bench in the shopping area, on his day off, with the intention to enjoy watching the foot traffic and the warm, sunny day.
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| Train station |
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| Cobblestone streets - quaintness continues! |
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| Off to shop and dine |
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| Grey lighthouse - add to my collection |
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| German bunkers - circa WWII |
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| Approaching Grenen |
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For a some fee, you can ride to Grenen
on the Sandmobile.
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| Grenen |
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| Grenen |
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| On the way back - looking towards the lighthouse |
Bus/Train Ride
The 2.5 hour trip to Aarhus was a combo bus and train ride. An important note when using the DBS (Danish Rail) train app; the app identifies the bus and train combination required to reach your destination, however, only sells you the train ticket. You need to buy the bus ticket separately. Alternatively, you can use the Regseplanen ticket app to purchase both tickets. The bus arrived in Aalborg about ten minutes late so, I had a small scramble to get to the train station and find the right track/right car to board the train. Nothing like a little drama to arouse the adrenalin.
Aarhus
Welcome to Denmark's 2nd most populous city and important port city! I spent the full day I had wandering about the city on the bus. It was one of those days where I had little interest in visiting museums or art galleries. The additional dissuader was the expensive entrance prices, typically starting at $40 CDN ($29 USD/25 €). A high cost for something I only half-heartedly wanted to do.
I did take a ride out the city centre to visit the Infinite Bridge, a destination that was totally underwhelming. The trip highlights included:
- Meeting a father and his daughter at the bus stop in Aarhus. He was Hungary visiting his daughter who was attending university in Aarhus. We agreed I should visit Hungary in the future.
- Meeting five Chinese students from near Hangzhou, south of Shanghai, at the bus stop near the bridge. They were enrolled in an accounting program for the next six months, having arrived the previous week. I visited both Chinese cities in 1995 as part of my EMBA program graduation requirements.
I also met a local family who were waiting at a bus stop in the central area after spending time in the park listening to local musicians. I learned about how the city was experimenting with closing off sections of the city centre for festivals and other public events.
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| Botanical Garden visit |
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| My single Botanical Garden photo |
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Infinite Bridge - circular wooden boardwalk
Ho hum... |
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| Infinite bridge |
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| Danish chocolate company - heaven! |
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| Chocolate shop |
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Display case - you know where my
travel priorities are |
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Art Museum with circular 'rainbow' walkway on
roof giving access to tinted city views |
Administration
Wow! Cyclists rule in Scandinavia. I've had to be particularly alert in these countries, starting with Helsinki, when crossing streets and getting off buses. It reminds me of the learning/relearning about which way to look for traffic when visiting countries where cars are driven on the left hand side of the road. Cyclists appear out of nowhere without any intention of slowing down for pedestrians. Aggressive cyclists - now there's a concept to consider.
Next Week
I leave Aarhus on Sunday for a night in both Ersberg and Odense, two nights in Copenhagen, fly to Dublin, take a bus to Galway for two nights and finish the week in a Dublin Airport hotel. I fly to Toronto from Dublin on Sunday, September 7.
I'd be delighted and honoured to 'see you' next week as I wrap up this segment of my extended adventure! Stay happy and healthy!
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