As part of our self-drive tour around several less-visited Danish islands, we spent a lovely day exploring the little island of Møn. Here are the five activities we did with a 5.5-year-old and a 2.5-year-old.

1. Wandering the Pretty Town of Stege

This is where we started. It’s the picturesque historic capital of the island and features the grand Stege Church – famous for its medieval frescos – and the well-preserved Stege Town Gate (Mølleporten) that dates back to the 1400s. Ambling around the streets, you’ll see the characteristic hollyhock-fronted colourful houses. There are lots of beautiful murals around town too. If you fancy a museum (a late start meant we didn’t have the time), there’s the cultural and historical Møns Museum which is inside an old merchant house and the quirky Thorsvang Collector Musuem just over the bridge into Lendemarke.

2. Lunching by Stege Nor Lagoon

There are many ways to enjoy this peaceful view, but we bought delicious, freshly-made sandwiches from Slagter Stig and far more cake than intended from another nearby bakery called Konditor Bager which I think is a chain. We ate these by the lagoon’s marina which had a little playground nearby and also Møn Minigolf for anyone so inclined!

3. Admiring Elmelunde Church

Situated in the village of the same name, the oldest church on the island is stunning inside and out. The whitewashed exterior and pretty grave yard gardens draw you in but the intricate frescos inside will make you want to stay. Only relatively recently uncovered and restored, they were actually painted in 15^th century by the so-called Elmelunde Master. The church’s prominent position and distinctive appearance meant it was used as a landmark by sailors in the Baltic.

We had the place to ourselves and enjoyed the peacefulness. Small is always in awe of religious buildings and this one was no different: one of the few experiences guaranteed to quieten her (albeit briefly!). 

4. Learning About Klekkende Høj Burial Mound

OK, so technically we did this first because it was near our accommodation, but it didn’t feel like the thing to lead a blog post with! Perhaps this type of thing isn’t top of your to do list but it is interesting and quite uncommon. And if you’re trying to teach your kids about the world and its people and their history, then it’s a good conversation starter. There are around 60 burial mounds around Møn and beyond, dating back to the Stone Age. The stone-built tombs and passage graves are where farming communities buried their dead and remembered their ancestors in large-scale religious rituals (sacrificial axes nearby evidence this). They’re Denmark’s oldest known stone structures and can be spotted randomly in fields as you drive around.

Visting Klekkende Høj – a twin passage grave – entailed a short walk through a field and we were able to walk down the passage to see into the grave cavities and then up to the top of the mound. It doesn’t take long. Torches are helpful. Passages are dark, low and narrow so not everyone will want to enter.

5. Hiking Møns Klint

6km of limestone and chalk cliffs, 120m above the Baltic Sea, and one of the newest World Heritage sites… what’s not to love?! Møns Klint is a breathtaking spot but visiting requires some commitment! You start at the visitor’s centre and can take one of several short, forested boardwalks to admire the views over the turquoise sea. 

But the big adventure is to descend to the beach, mainly through more forest, home to many rare plants due to the chalky soil. You’re walking on wooden staircases rather than uneven ground most of the time but it’s A LOT of steep steps. Finally reaching the beach – with legs of jelly – felt great! 

The time on the beach was fun. We admired the vast looming cliffs we had just been at the top of, we drew on the dark beach stones with the chalk, we threw pebbles into the sea… and we ate all the snacks to ready ourselves for heading all the way back up again… I counted 483 steps on the way back up! Small and Tiny did an amazing job: Tiny only gave up towards the very end!

Key information: hiking as we did was free, but to visit the GeoCentre costs; at the top, there’s a great playground, a café and a very tempting gift shop; plenty of parking on site but it is billed via license plate registration.

---

Møn 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 Ærø island by passenger ferry

Day 7: visit Egeskov Castle

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

Day 9: visit Sagnlandet 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 Møn island (self-drive tour)

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

GERMANY

Day 14: visit Lübeck

Day 15: long travel day #4 – Lübeck 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.