Reaching the island of Ærø is all part of the fun. We were staying in Svendborg, on the larger Danish island of Fyn (also home to the city of Odense and Egeskov Castle) and had booked our foot passenger ferry crossing a few days earlier due to it being peak season. We boarded the 10 o’clock ferry and, 75 minutes later, arrived at Ærøskøbing, the main town of Ærø. The island is known for its goal to become energy self-sufficient, its low road traffic, its cycling and hiking routes, and its artisanal products, all of which make it a pleasant and interesting destination. 

For our first activity of the day, we crossed the road to wait for the free island bus through the countryside to Søby for a very wholesome few hours of nature-based fun at Søbygaard.

It was such a fantastic place with a great range of self-led activities which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

Activities included:

🔥 grind your own flour and make campfire flatbreads

🌳 take a walk around the grounds 

🔪 whittle a knife

🍃 learn about nature through your five senses in the museum 

🍿 make popcorn on the campfire

🔨 knock wooden heads over with Thor’s hammer

🛡️ dress up and reenact a battle

🏹 borrow bows and arrows to practise your aim

🏰 visit the 1580 hunting lodge of Duke Hans the younger

🔍 explore the museum of collections 

🧸 play in the toy corner

💰 treasure hunt around the grounds and hunting lodge, including reeling something up out of the lake!

💦 pond dip in the lake

There were a couple of things we noticed that made the visit even better for children. Firstly, that when exploring the hunting lodge, unlike many such properties in the UK, it felt very relaxed and more accessible with no boundary ropes or signs saying ‘do not touch’. And secondly, we were amazed at the lack of supervision for the campfire, bow and arrows and whittling knives, but in Denmark it’s just how things are! Families are trusted to act safely, know more or less what to do, and tidy up after themselves. And they just do. This creates so much more freedom and independence for children which can only be a good thing!

Key information: entry costs 85 DKK / £10 / €11 for adults and 60 DKK / £7 / €8 for ages 4-16; there’s a simple yet delicious cafe onsite as well as a little gift shop; the bus stop isn’t directly outside so keep an eye on your maps app as you go and get off at the nearest one.

Back to Ærøskøbing on the bus, we found a café called Aroma near the ferry port. It’s famed for being plastered in almost every movie poster imaginable but also does great beers, coffees and food. (Also a good place for a two-year-old to nap we discovered!)

Our next activity was to explore Ærøskøbing. This is best done using a guide book or a free leaflet available from the tourist information centre at the port. They’ll tell you the houses’ interesting histories as you pick out long-ago dates carved above the decorated doors. It’s a perfect example of a fairytale Danish town: cobbled streets of rainbow-coloured houses with bicycles and tall hollyhocks out front. 

Kids will also love spotting the pairs of ceramic dogs in many of the houses’ windows. It’s said that – in this nation of seafarers – the dogs would face outwards to represent a longing for the husband to come home and would be turned back inwards when he did.

After an ice cream stop, our adventure to Ærø finished with a pilgrimage to the famous colourful beach huts. I say pilgrimage since it was quite a challenge! 

From the town of Ærøskøbing, you head north away from the ferry port, past the marina and through some marshy fields. On this particular afternoon, though, the rain began as we neared the coast. It worsened. The wind gusted unobstructed over the land. And, by the time we reached the beach huts, it felt as though we were being battered by an extremely wintry storm (it was mid-August)! 

With no coats or umbrellas (and I’d donated my jumper to Small!), we were far from prepared so had no choice but to cower beside one of the huts until the rain subsided a little! 

The silver lining, though… an amazing rainbow set against the grey sky, arching above the beach huts! Beautiful! 

There were a few rain-free minutes to appreciate our surroundings then it was time to battle on back to the port, sheltering when possible, to get to our 5:30pm ferry back to Svendborg.

Key information: one-way foot passenger tickets between Svendborg and Ærø cost 68 DKK / £8 / €9 and 43 DKK / £5 / €6 for children aged 4-15; tickets can be booked here; the same website shares the ferry timetables, the free island bus timetable and map; ferries are spacious and have toilets and a cafe; cars can be taken; various maps and public toilets are available at tourist information at the port.

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Europe blogs 

Ærø was just one stop in our 2.5 week road trip from Derbyshire (UK) to Copenhagen in Denmark. The full itinerary, using our own car, is below. I’ll come back and link in future blog posts as I write them. It was a great trip but, if we did it again, we’d add another night on the way up north to break the journey up, and possibly the same again on the way back down.

Day 1: home to Folkestone for our LeShuttle crossing; drive to Bailleul, France (or similar for 1 night) (a long travel day but broken up so it didn’t feel too bad)

Day 2: long travel day #1 – breakfast in France, lunch in Belgium at Chateau d’Hélécine (free bouncy castles and amazing playgrounds next to a lake and café) and dinner in Germany (stay 2 nights in Weilerswist or similar or stay in Cologne if preferred)

GERMANY

Day 3: visit Cologne

Day 4: long travel day #2 – Cologne to Fleckby (or similar for 1 night) via Bremen Rhododendron Park (playgrounds, walks and a pricey/busy café so maybe bring a picnic) 

DENMARK

Day 5: travel to Svendborg (4 nights) and visit Odense

Day 6: visit Aero island by passenger ferry

Day 7: visit Egeskov Castle

Day 8: visit Langeland island (self-drive tour)

Day 9: visit Sagnlandt Lejre (Land of Legends) then travel to Roskilde (or similar or stay in Copenhagen if preferred for 2 nights)

Day 10: visit Copenhagen

Day 11: visit Lisleje Beach; travel to Askeby (or similar for 2 nights)

Day 12: visit Mon island (self-drive tour)

Day 13: long travel day #3 – Askeby to Lubeck (2 nights) via a stop in Heiligenhafen Pier

GERMANY

Day 14: visit Lubeck

Day 15: long travel day #4 – Lubeck to Oberhausen (or similar for 1 night) via a stop in Celle

BELGIUM

Day 16: visit Ghent, Belgium (stay 2 nights in Wingene or similar or in Ghent/Bruges if preferred)

Day 17: visit Bruges

Day 18: Bruges to home

All information is correct at the time of posting. Follow us on Instagram @four_go_exploring for more independent family adventures.