When we were researching somewhere to go last minute late last year, we stumbled across this hidden gem of a city called Aarhus. We managed to find flights that were incredibly cheap… and went on a crazy 24 hour holiday! After taking off at 6am, we landed a few hours later, ready to bus into the city! And wow what an incredible surprise. Sadly we left at 2pm the next day (it was intense but fun!), we could’ve easily stayed a lot longer!
Considering Aarhus isn’t the capital, this Danish city is the perfect weekend break location, and somewhere we would definitely visit again. It is bursting with colourful sights, boasting an urban and youthful atmosphere – and has so many unique activities it’s always worth a visit! So, after finding our newfound love of this city, we wanted to share a complete guide with you to inspire you to visit this upcoming location!
*This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are our own!
How long should I stay in Aarhus?
We would recommend not following our route of only 24 hours! This city would probably be best for a 2-3 day break, however it could be done slower or faster, depending on your preferences and time frame! If we were to go again we would likely stay 3 days. If doing a European road trip, this location could likely be shortened into just over 1 day or 2!
When to visit Aarhus?
We visited Aarhus at the start of September, which for us was great. The weather was good, it wasn’t too hot, the sun was out and was very green all around!
Due to a vast amount of outside activities, we would recommend visiting this city as a spring/summer trip, rather than a winter destination.
Quick Facts about Aarhus
Currency : Danish Krone (DKK). We didn’t once use cash, as we found card-usage everywhere we went. We used an international card and it worked great for us!
Data while abroad : We used international roaming, which was part of our sim-contracts in the UK (most providers offer this so check with your contract).
SIM card : If you do not have roaming opportunities, you can buy an e-sim from as little as $4.50! We usually use Airalo which you can find here.
Where should I stay in Aarhus?
This city is home to one of the best European hostels we have stayed at! Having a full mini golf course within the hostel, alongside a sauna and bar facilities, this hostel was for sure a unique one! Included in our stay was a buffer breakfast, and a very different sleeping arrangement!
This was our choice of room (they do offer ‘standard’ size hostel dorms, alongside private rooms)… but they have a 46 bed room! How insane! We decided to stay here to see what it was like and it was really cool. It felt weirdly very private and quiet considering the amount of beds! There seemed to be a noise-reducing barrier between the room and the social areas, as the room was so peaceful.
The bed came with a keycard entry, and also a keycard-locked locker in the room (which was a nice surprise). Everything felt extremely safe and comfortable, and we would recommend it even as a solo traveller.
We will link this hostel here, we would be back here in a heartbeat if we were to stay in Aarhus again! We will also include a few photos below!
What to do in Aarhus? A comprehensive list!
ARoS Art Museum
Known for it’s rainbow roof art instillation, this museum holds a lot more than just this! We hadn’t seen much hype for the museum apart from the roof, so we were surprised to see some of the stuff we did. We met a giant! Home to the artwork by Ron Mueck, this museum is home to ‘boy’ which is a 4.5 meter sculpture… wow. It was huge! The attention to detail was really special and made it a key feature of our trip.
There was also an exhibition space of an extremely NSFW collection… but we will let you investigate that one!
Visiting the Marselisborg Deer Park
Considering this is a free activity, this was probably one of the best experiences we’ve had!
You have to take a bus to slightly outside of the city centre, and then have to do a lot of walking to get into the actual deer park… but it was so worth it! This isn’t really an accessibility friendly location sadly, but for those who can do it… it’s so amazing.
Displaying facts and information surrounding being near the deer, this park gives you the opportunity to be up close to wild deer- you can see them interacting together, and we even saw babies! We chose to only let the deer approach us as we didn’t want to cause any stress, but the experience was really unique. You could purchase carrots and apples to take in and feed them, or there are always the odd few laying about to grab!
Aarhus Street Food Market
Perfect for a social lunchtime, this food spot is full of varied international cuisines which are all SO yummy! We think this spot is great for groups to go to, as you could get dishes from each place and share them all to try all the worldwide flavours!
We tried food from ‘The Everest Kitchen’, which was Nepalese cuisine, Chicken from ‘Super Bao’, homemade popsicles from the self titled ‘popsicle’, and a traditional Danish pastry called ‘tarteletter’ from Mormors Køkken.
Imagine living locally and being able to stop here for lunch! We are so jealous! Food in Aarhus was good, but this spot was probably one of our favourites.
Go on a night out
Whilst at our hostel we met someone from America who we got on really well with, and ended up deciding for all of us to go ‘out out’!
Being a very youthful-feeling city, the streets felt vibrant and were buzzing! We decided to get ready at our hostel and chill there for a bit, then headed out to a local nightclub called Kupé. The music was a lot more modern, so not necessarily catered to all tastes, however we found the atmosphere to be great! We all ended up dancing with some Danish people we had never met, and it just felt like such a fun atmosphere.
Now, here is where 24 hours wasn’t enough… we left the club at around 2am, then went for a slice of pizza… let’s just say we went sleep at around 4am, ready to wake for 8am in time to get ready for the flight home. (It probably wasn’t our wisest idea)
Den Gamle By
Sadly, we didn’t have time to experience this place. However, we did feel like it deserved a place on this list. Den Gamle By is an open air museum depicting the history of Danish market towns over 4 time periods. Immerse yourself in the past, and learn about the life of a local through history.
Entry is roughly 125DKK (so around £14.30/€16.70/$18.00), and looks amazing. Under 18’s go free, and there is a student discount!
The Infinite Bridge
Another place we didn’t manage to visit was the infinite bridge. It does explain itself- it is a bridge that doesn’t have a start and an end, and it partially over water. It is a really beautiful spot, and would be so lovely on a summer’s day!
We have seen some amazing photos of this over social media, and for drone flyer’s this spot would be so good!
Where will your adventure take you?
We hope you enjoyed our travel guide to Aarhus, and that it helps with your future (or current) travel planning! Let us know below what you thought of our list!
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