Wild and Warm

Despite its growth, Odense is still a manageable size with plenty of greenery. The river winds its way through the townscape and forms a flowing margin for the Munke Mose and Hans Christian Andersen parks. the river flows past Odense Zoo, where it’s wild and warm all year round. Go for a walk in the pleasant gardens, climb aboard one of the Åfart boats and enjoy the trip along the river Odense Å – perhaps with a jazz band on board. 

Andersen and Nielsen

Two very ordinary Danish names, or maybe not. With first names Hans Christian and Carl in front of them, they have certainly put Odense on the world map, each in his own way. The town has two museums dedicated to the writer. Here you can get right up close to Hans Christian Andersen’s life and works, which are still read all over the world in more than 130 different languages. Music was Carl Nielsen’s language, and he was particularly good at putting spring on Fyn to music. Each year, the town celebrates its famous composer when young musicians from all over the world flock to Odense to compete in the international Carl Nielsen competitions. Carl Nielsen also has two museums dedicated to him, one in Odense and one in Nr. Lyndelse. 

All for the sake of taste

Cafés and restaurants are brimming with goodies to tempt the taste buds. Odense has made great strides to meet demand for ingredients that just exude quality. Go to the market by Koncerthuset (the Concert Hall) on Wednesdays and Saturdays, or the Rosenbæk Gårdmarked market on Fridays/Saturdays, where the stalls outdo one another in proffering delicious goodies ranging from cheeses and wines to treats from the restaurants, butchers and growers of all kinds from every corner of Fyn. Explore Bazar Fyn and give vent to all the “vices” you have brought with you from the big wide world. You can get everything there, and it’s served in high spirits in Danish with a foreign accent.

Sensory Experiences

From Rosenbæk market, it’s not far to Brandts with its international art exhibitions, photographic art and media museum, cafés, shops and the little Tidens Samling museum, where you can get acquainted with fond memories in the shape of clothes, household appliances, knick-knacks and much more from when you were very young – or perhaps when your mother was very young! It’s open all year round, and you will find this to be the case everywhere in Odense. The town never closes. If you find yourselves in Odins Helligdom (Odin’s Sanctuary) in winter, you can put your skates on and outline a couple of figure eight son the rink near the old abbey at Gråbrødre Torv. See a play at the theatre, go to a concert in Odense Koncerthus or other music venues in the town, or go to WinterZOO and enjoy the heat with the animals of the Rain Forest. Elsewhere, the whole place is buzzing with shops, museums and tempting cafés where the staff knows what people want.

Did you know…?

You can – practically – cycle through the whole of Greater Odense without meeting a single car? The town is Denmark’s no. 1 cycle town and has 360 km of gravel and asphalt paths along rivers and on sections of disused railway line.