Yes, it’s really nice to be Norwegian in Denmark!
TRAVEL: With easily transmitted mutants in free circulation, enthusiasm for cramped aircraft and queue-packed airports has dropped sharply!
Sometimes it needs a little variety in an everyday life that has long been characterized by antibac, bandages and frenetic hand washing; if not for something else, then to see and experience other surroundings and other faces, even maybe hear another language!
Car as a mode of travel is decidedly infection-friendly, and even though it puts a line over the most remote destinations, there is a lot left within reasonable reach. I often mention Denmark and Sweden. Denmark in particular has long been a Norwegian holiday favorite, and Denmark was again our choice.
– What about Århus, the lady wondered, and so it was, with an extra detour to the Silkeborg area and Danish «high mountains» – Himmelbjerget.
DFDS – never a mistake!
You can travel to Denmark in several ways. Since flying was irrelevant, where the choice between driving all the way, to boat from Oslo to Copenhagen, or boat to Hirtshals or Fredrikshavn.
With several good memories from DFDS between Oslo and Copenhagen, we ended up driving our Volvo V60 on board Pearl Seaways, and they are very comfortable boats operating the route.
Even more comfortable was raised by the fact that the number of passengers was pandemic-reduced, so it was extra good with space on board. We like to travel to Copenhagen with DFDS several times a year, and this is a trip that is worth recommending. The food on board is very good, and if you treat yourself to a Commodore Class cabin, you get that little extra of comfort which makes the trip a little more pleasant.
Cheapest XO so far
If you are in the shopping corner, there is a very good shop on board. Not least, there are often good offers on clothes from well-known brands – and last time I came across the cheapest XO brandy I have bought so far …
On the trip to Denmark we ate in the a la carte restaurant, where an excellent 3-course meal costs DKK 375 (Danish enough). It was followed by a super Ripasso from Tommasi, which was good for the delicious veal.
Fantastic crab bisque!
Our little week in Denmark otherwise offered many great meals. One of them came the first night in Aarhus, where we found the small and intimate restaurant Mefisto in the Latin Quarter. Here it is always full, and you have to be quick with table reservations to get a seat.
We were lucky, and were served a meal that was almost alone worth the trip to Aarhus.
The Mefisto menu has a quick price of DKK 398, and for this you can choose three glasses of wine for DKK 258. Here you do not have to fear for quality – all three wines we got were of class, a Portuguese white wine for the starter, a Barbera Langhe Rosso for the main course and a Rieslauer Auslese for the dessert.
So it must be said: The crab biscuit that was served as an appetizer is some of the best we have tasted, no matter what we compare. A taste experience we will remember for a long time – and a clear roll of the dice six!
The main course was nothing left; veal back on pepper sauce with glazed onion, wild mushrooms and fried carrots, and then a dignified finish with Caneles-dipped in raspberry wine with sorbet and white chocolate. Throughout super!
It’s going to be Radisson Red again
The evening after, the idea was to eat at the hotel, but that was not to be. Incidentally, the hotel deserves a chapter of its own. We stayed at the first Radisson Red hotel which has opened in Scandinavia, and got a corner room on the 6th floor with a large terrace, and with a fantastic view over parts of Aarhus city center, including the art museum Aros.
The room was large, well equipped and tastefully decorated, and new is new, since …
Radisson Red is a new category of comfortable downtown hotels where guests must have “a short distance to everything.” This is how it works too; when we come out from the main entrance we were in the middle of the center of Aarhus, 2-3 minutes walk from the large shopping street Sønder gade – Århus’ answer to Københavns Strøget – with magazines such as Salling and a myriad of small, exciting shops.
With Norwegian hotel prices fresh in mind, the room rate at Radisson Red will be a pleasant surprise – Danish kroner 956, – per night, with lunch included. We sign up again for the next Aarhus search!
Big Mac in the room!
But then, the dinner at the hotel we canceled after putting on the menu. There was nothing wrong with what was there, but nothing of the very modest selection tempted us, so we decided to go to one of the numerous restaurants found in the streets down to Åboulevarden.
It did not become any of that either.
It was Friday night, and the nightlife in Aarhus is, to say the least, flourishing, so she should have booked a table, obviously! Not one of the 10 – 12 restaurants we visited had room for the two of us, so now good advice was expensive!
The rescue was near anyway – and McDonald’s suddenly parted in a side street on the way back to the hotel. There was a cheeseburger, Big Mac and a couple of servings of french fries for the hotel room. If nothing else, it was at least a cheap dinner – 85 Danish kroner in total …
We were full too.
What a hotel!
In Silkeborg we had been given a room at Hotel Gl. Skovriddergaard on the outskirts of town, and what a hotel! The room turned out to be a suite in a very old building, and again everything was done to create top comfort and a good setting for judging.
Not least, this was really done by a service that has understood the importance of good customer care. And again we experienced a Danish cuisine at its best, with a super veal fillet with beets.
Book well in advance
In the name of decency, you can not be in Denmark for several days without at least one good chrome dinner. Not this time either – and the last night before the journey home we took the trip to Svostrup Kro by the river Gudenåen, a few kilometers from Silkeborg center.
The inn has been royally privileged since 1834, and really has the buzz of history over it. It is about one of the old barge inn inns, where barges could rest when they were transporting goods on the river Gudenåen between Randers and Silkeborg.
Svostrup Kro has more than cozy, low-ceilinged inns to offer. The inn has several charming guest rooms, some also with four-poster beds, and offers a number of different package stays.
The location by the river Gudenåen also has a number of great hiking opportunities, but also here: Book well in advance!
Classic dishes are maintained
Our dinner at Svostrup Kro is also a memorable culinary experience.
It started with a delicious Bouillabaisse, continued with a venison fillet that literally melted on the tongue, served with pumpkin puree, and with a nice Valpolicella Ripasso – and ended with a caramel pudding with vanilla ice cream and a delicious Luigi Righetti Recioto.
It was all topped off by a butler who combined imperceptible presence and expertise in an exemplary manner. He could tell that the inn grows all its vegetables in its own kitchen garden, and that Svostrup Kro places great emphasis on maintaining traditional classic dishes.
– For us, it is important that new, young chefs also learn to appreciate the tradition, even if they are also allowed some experimentation within a natural framework. Everyone needs some renewal, and get some new ideas in the classic, he says.
Great hiking terrain
For us who are happy to go hiking in the woods and fields, Silkeborg was a very positive experience. Exactly the visit to the nearby Himmelbjerget was not what impressed most – but impressed greatly made the beautiful hiking terrain around the small lakes around the city.
Here you could go on for days without crossing the same path twice. It’s not really as hilly as Norway, but it’s actually fine to go «flat» too; on soft and comfortable forest floor.
“Sun is God”
What more? Yes, if you visit Aarhus, there are certain things you should bring with you. The Old Town, which I have told a little about before, is an example of this.
Another example is Aros, one of Northern Europe’s largest art museums with almost 21,000 sqm of floor space spread over ten levels.
An added highlight is a stroll in the “Rainbow Panorama” at the top of the building. This is an impressive piece of art by Danish-Icelandic Olafur Eliasson, and it offers an incredible view of Aarhus – in all directions.
Inside the museum, the exhibition “Sun is God” by the British painter Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) and the highlight of the visit to Aros – was also well worth a visit.
Easy for both car and driver
On a trip by car, Denmark is an almost perfect destination. Demanding mountain terrain and long, tiring hills do not exist. Beautiful highways with speed limits of up to 130 km cross – and the rest of the road network is not bad, either. Life is easy, both for car and driver, something good signage also contributes to.
A Volvo V60 with lots of power is almost a bit overkill under such conditions, but the Volvo has a number of virtues that make it such a superb long-distance car. At the top of the list are the seats, which are of very high quality.
Notch in the heel follows the finely tuned comfort which is the sum of an advanced chassis, an exemplary sound insulation and the already mentioned seats.
Lightning fast station wagon
The car we went on a trip with was a 2022 V60 Recharge R-Design T6 AWD. The long name tells of a rechargeable hybrid with four-wheel drive and a lavish level of equipment.
Total power is 340 hp, while maximum torque is as much as 590 Nm, which is available from 1,700 to 5,000 rpm. So it is clear that here is also a real power surplus which in turn contributes to effortless and relaxed driving.
The high power makes this a lightning fast station wagon, with its 0-100 km / h in a powerful 5.4 seconds. Even on long distances without charging, consumption kept well within what was accepted – for the trip to Denmark it ended up at about 0.66 l / mil.
At the same time, the hybrid solution opens up for emission-free driving in the city and local environment.
For various reasons, we made a quick decision to choose the country road for the return trip, ferry-free all the way from Silkeborg to Drammen. It was a day trip of around 900 kilometers, but we both felt that we could have driven even further.
The starting price for this model was 610,900 kroner, and with equipment came “our” car of just over 720,000. From 1 January, there may be a price jump due to the new tax rules for rechargeable hybrids.