Things to do in Denmark

Copenhagen, the capital, is a city of cycle lanes, canals and copper spires, with the coloured houses of Nyhavn, the Tivoli Gardens amusement park and Rosenborg Castle. Aarhus, on Jutland's east coast, has a rainbow walkway on the roof of its art museum and Den Gamle By, a museum of old Danish houses. Aalborg, in the north, sits on the Limfjord.

Helsingør is home to Kronborg Castle, the setting for Shakespeare's Hamlet, facing Sweden across a narrow strait. Billund is where Lego began. The Baltic island of Bornholm has round churches, smokehouses and cliffs, and Ærøskøbing on Ærø is a town of cobbled lanes and crooked, flower-covered houses. At Skagen, in the far north, two seas meet along a sandy spit. Tórshavn, in the self-governing Faroe Islands, is a harbour town of turf-roofed houses.

Smørrebrød, open sandwiches on rye bread piled with herring, roast beef or egg, are lunch, and Danish pastries are called wienerbrød, Viennese bread. New Nordic cooking has made Copenhagen a food city. Summer evenings stay light until late and the mild months from May to September suit cycling, while winter is dark and cosy.