Things to do in Funen
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Café Under Uret
This bistro’s dim, candlelit interior is filled with wheat sheaves, comfy leather banquettes and easy-on-the-ear pop, while outside tables catch the evening sun. Well cooked, healthily huge brunches, sandwiches and burgers feature at lunch, while evening mains include chicken breast, beef and pasta.
reviewed
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Skovsgaard
If you’ve been touring Denmark’s decadent palaces, it’s refreshing to visit Skovsgaard. The kitchen cellars, pumproom, servants’ dining room and housekeeper’s room of the old manor house have been furnished with dummies and props, giving an interesting glimpse of how the lower half lived. The stables hold a carriage museum with 25 horse-drawn vehicles. There’s also an organic food café at the entrance. It has a small menu of fresh-brewed coffee, homemade bread and cakes, salads, burgers and sandwiches. There’s also a little garden with tables. Recommended.
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Danmarks Jernbanemuseum
Clamber aboard a diverting collection of 19th-century locomotives at Danmarks Jernbanemuseum, just behind the train station. The museum has about two dozen engines and wagons, including double-decker carriages and the Royal Saloon Car belonging to Christian IX, fully kitted out with everything a king might need – even a writing desk. There’s also a huge collection of Märklin model trains, and a separate exhibition about Denmark’s ferries. Audiovisual explanations are in English, German and Danish.
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Langelandsfort
There are few better Danish examples of Cold War paranoia than Langelandsfort, built in 1953 to defend the western Baltic against the Russians. You can descend into various bunkers and command centres, board a claustrophobic U-boat, explore a minesweeper and peer inside two fighter planes (a Russian MiG-23 and an F-35 Draken). The solid grey masses of concrete, rusting barbed wire and camouflage-green emplacements and anti-aircraft guns are in startling contrast to the picnic-perfect countryside in which they are set.
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Fyns Kunstmuseum
In a stately neoclassical building, the Fyns Kunstmuseum has a serene atmosphere and contains a quality collection of Danish art from the 18th century to the present, chronologically arranged. Highlights include Gustava Emilie Grüner’s cheerful Portraegruppe Familien Leunbach and HA Brendekilde’s harrowing, powerful Udslidt, (‘Worn Out’), depicting a dead farm worker and distressed woman in a vast, flat field. Changing exhibitions are also staged.
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Naturama
Naturama, a natural history museum, is in an impressive spiral building with displays of stuffed animals and skeletons on three levels – whale bones dominate the basement, Scandinavian mammals lurk on the middle floor, while birds from the tiny Pallas’ leaf warbler to the golden eagle float on a balcony above it all. There’s state-of-the-art sound and lighting, and regular film shows and a good hands-on section where you can stroke a mole, draw a wolf or dress up in skins.
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Odense Zoo
Denmark’s second largest zoo borders the river, 2km south of the city centre. The animals generally have large enclosures and the zoo supports conservation and educational programmes. It’s home to tigers, lions, giraffes, zebras, chimpanzees and African birds, and there’s an ‘oceanium’ with penguins and – the zoo’s biggest attraction – manatees. Children can also enjoy petting donkeys, a playground and lots of animal related games.
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Kræz Night & Day
A night-time venue for live music, comedy, karaoke and lectures, this is also one for a summer’s day – outdoor tables merge with those of several other restaurants around pedestrianised Gråbrødre Plads to form a convivial mass of diners. Food is bistro-style – soup, Greek salad, burgers, Mexican platters, baked salmon etc – but served in monster portions and with tasty twists. A decadent weekend brunch includes chocolate brownies. Service can be slow.
reviewed
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Maritimt Center Danmark
In high summer, the Maritimt Center Danmark runs cruises on the historic wooden sailing ship Meta, and there’s often pirate-related fun for kids – contact the centre for details. Another vintage ship is the M/S Helge, which sails in Svendborg Sound. While you’re down at the harbour, look for Sejlskibsbroen, a jetty lined with splendidly preserved sailing ships opposite where the Ærø ferry docks.
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Bymuseet Møntergården
Odense’s city museum, Bymuseet Møntergården, is in a courtyard of half-timbered Renaissance houses. The ‘Creative Man’ exhibition on the ground floor focuses on Funen’s very early cultural history, while upstairs there are nice Stone, Bronze, Iron and Viking Age finds, including a lur (a snaking bronze instrument sounding like a trombone).
reviewed
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Brandts Klædefabrik
The former textile mill on Brandts Passage has been converted into a sprawling cultural centre and cinema, Brandts Klædefabrik, with a photography museum, modern art gallery and exhibition tracing the history of the Danish media. Bright and capacious, it holds around 25 changing exhibitions annually by artists from all over the world. People aged under 18 are admitted free.
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Milos
Rare in Denmark, the Greek taverna is represented in Odense by Milos. Its fresh white interior is populated by charming waiters. The long menu incorporates Greek favourites such as moussaka, souvlaki and keftedes – a welcome change from open sandwiches. Veggies can tuck into pikilia (a tapas-style selection of feta-filled spinach tarts, stuffed peppers and dolmades).
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Odense Åfart
From May to mid-September, Odense Åfart runs 35-minute river rides to the wooded Fruens Bøge area, where there’s a ‘nature playground’ full of giant wooden toadstools and centipedes. From here, it’s a 15-minute walk to Den Fynske Landsby. The boat stops at Odense Zoo en route. Trips leave Munke Mose on the hour from 10am and 5pm.
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Fyrtøjet – Et Kulturhus For Børn
In the charming Fyrtøjet – Et Kulturhus For Børn, youngsters explore the world of Hans Christian Andersen through storytelling and music (in English as well as Danish from June to August). They can dress up as Andersen characters, have their faces painted, act out stories and draw fairy-tale pictures in the art room. All materials are included in the admission price.
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Børsen
‘Gastro pub’ is a revolting term, but Børsen seems happy with it. Luckily it’s a great place, with a snug, semisubterranean bar, sunny outdoor seats and big plates of appetising grub – juicy burgers, burritos, sandwiches and salads. Everything is made from scratch, so service can be slow. This is also one of the town’s top nightspots.
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Den Gamle Kro
The atmospheric Gamle Kro spreads through several 17th-century houses, with a glass-roofed courtyard and medieval cellar. Traditional Danish (eg fillet of sole stuffed with salmon and spinach) and French (eg Chateaubriand or pork with Lyonnaise potatoes) recipes are mostly meat-based, but there’s usually one veggie main. There’s also a huge wine list.
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Restaurant Klitgaard
This small gourmet place, noted for its use of fresh, locally grown seasonal ingredients, is one of the best places we’ve eaten in Denmark. The pairings of ingredients are clever (slow-roasted, tender duck breast, with the merest sliver of foie gras for richness) and surprising (like the sensational rhubarb sorbet with pickled rhubarb and lavender oil).
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Den Grimme Ælling
A charming restaurant in a cobbled lane, The Ugly Duckling specialises in varied high-quality buffets. One area is set aside for cold ingredients – a rainbow of new potatoes, herring, olives, tomatoes, cucumber, sweet corn, pickled red cabbage and the like. Hot-plate items include fried plaice, succulent lumps of beef and plenty of sauces and gravies.
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Café Biografen
Ducks waddle around terrace tables at this cheerful place beside the Brandts Klædefabrik cultural centre. The café does a decent selection of baguettes, salads, quiches, burgers, tapas and tostadas, plus coffee, cakes and beer. Its varied clientele, from little old ladies to moody-looking artists, makes for great people-watching. Order at the bar.
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Den Fynske Landsby
A delightful open-air museum, Den Fynske Landsby has borrowed period houses from around Funen and laid them out to create a small country village, complete with barnyard animals, a duck pond, apple trees and flower gardens. Costumed ‘peasants’ tend to the geese, while children in knickerbockers play with hoops and sticks.
reviewed
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Anne Hvides Gård
The oldest house in Svendborg, dating from 1560, is Anne Hvides Gård, a bumblebee-coloured structure that leans tipsily to one side. Its basic collection of local archaeological finds is labelled in Danish, but pop in if you’re passing to see the strangest item: a 14th-century wooden statue of the four-faced god Svantevit.
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Surfcenter Langeland
Beginners wanting to learn how to windsurf should contact Surfcenter Langeland based in Hesselbjerg, near Ristinge, which offers four-hour classes for 550kr per person (minimum four people). You can also hire sea kayaks (400kr per day) and the brave can undertake kitesurfing courses. Contact Surfcenter for full details.
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Café Cuckoo’s Nest
A mid-priced place where you can go for breakfast and stay until the wee hours, Cuckoo’s Nest does everything from scrambled eggs to cocktails. There’s open courtyard seating, backgammon sets and occasional live blues and jazz. Veggies should double-check ingredients, as fish sometimes counts as a vegetable.
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Froggy’s Café
A good people-watching spot overlooking the main pedestrian street, Froggy’s has an all-day menu of reasonably priced burgers, pastas, omelettes and salads. It’s a late-opening nightspot on Friday and Saturday, when punters are shown the door at 5am. Sunday morning offers a restorative brunch (89kr).
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Forsorgsmuseet Viebæltegård
Forsorgsmuseet Viebæltegård is Denmark’s only poorhouse and workhouse museum. It’s unusual –we’d certainly never seen a lice box before – and on Wednesday in high summer you can even sample poorhouse food. About a third of the information is in English.
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