These two shaped-stone pillars look provocatively sexual, but are supposed to represent the proud if hapless 'darning needle' that's the antihero of Hans Christian Andersen's eponymous short story.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
15.7 MILES
Complete with moat and drawbridge, Egeskov Slot is a magnificent example of the lavish castles that sprang up during Denmark’s 'Golden Age'. Though still…
0.52 MILES
For train buffs, this fabulous video-rich museum is almost reason enough to come to Denmark. The core collection of over 30 engines and wagons, ranging…
1.95 MILES
Wind back the clock to the 1850s at this delightful open-air museum, a landscaped 'village' of over two dozen furnished old buildings transplanted from…
0.31 MILES
Lying amid the seemingly miniaturised streets of the former poor quarter is the sparse little cottage where Hans Christian Andersen was born. Visiting it…
24.61 MILES
This highly thought-provoking 'welfare museum' is housed in Svendborg's old poorhouse, within which paupers lived segregated by sex, as virtual prisoners…
25.49 MILES
Some 18km long and incorporating a suspension bridge that's arguably as elegant as the Golden Gate, the Storebælt link is a remarkable piece of…
25.11 MILES
Sejlskibsbroen is a jetty lined with splendidly preserved wooden sailing ships, including some multimasted schooners, all seaworthy and making regular…
27.87 MILES
Ideal as a boat-trip excursion from Svendborg, this lavish palace is crammed with antique furniture, Venetian glass, 17th-century Gobelin tapestries and…
Nearby Odense attractions
0.11 MILES
The small childhood home of Hans Christian Andersen paints a picture of the writer's poverty-stricken childhood. He lived here from 1807 to 1819, aged two…
0.13 MILES
With a classical face, seal-flipper feet and a triumphalist six-pack tummy, this astonishing female figure reclines naked on Odense's central square. But…
0.15 MILES
A feast of whitewashed Gothic arches and vaulting, Odense’s imposing cathedral took 200 years to build (1300–1499) with the tower added in the 1580s.
0.16 MILES
This sprawling arts centre occupies a beautifully converted 1887 textile mill. Most of the gallery space is used for well-curated, frequently changing…
0.16 MILES
Tracing the role of the media in our lives from X Factor to the monastic scriptorium, most of this excellent museum is in Danish and has a Denmark…
0.2 MILES
In a stately, porticoed building from 1884, this airy gallery presents regularly changing contemporary art exhibitions, a lot of them multimedia which…
0.25 MILES
With its seemingly endless, sharpened spire, Sankt Albani Kirke is an 1867 Catholic church whose exterior is interesting for the wooden knight and naive,…
0.28 MILES
In the charming Fyrtøjet, children are encouraged to explore the world of Hans Christian Andersen through music and storytelling.