Denmark - Funnen (Chapter)

This is the Funen chapter from Lonely Planet’s Denmark guidebook.

Thatched farmhouses, picture-book coastal towns and Renaissance castles dot Funen’s patchwork quilt of fields and woods. At Odense, Hans Christian Andersen’s birthplace, you can’t miss references to the author – sculptured trolls lounge on street corners, duckling-and-swan mobiles dangle in shop windows. Odense offers plenty for families besides fairy tales: old steam engines, a first-rate zoo. The region’s castles include the Renaissance masterpiece Egeskov Slot. At Ladby, you’ll find Denmark’s only Viking ship grave. It’s loveliest island is Ærø, with historic seafaring towns, although Langeland has Langelandsfort, a Cold War military installation.

• Cut loose at Egeskov Slot, a splendid moat-encircled Renaissance castle with a garden full of mazes, museums and marvels
• maps
• Explore the fairy-tale world of Hans Christian Andersen in Odense, at the excellent HC Andersens Hus museum and the children’s cultural centre of Fyrtøjet
• transport
• Visit Denmark’s only Viking Age ship grave, Vikingemuseet Ladby, the last resting place of a 10th-century chieftain
• restaurants & accommodation

Coverage includes: Odense, Around Funen, Kerteminde, Ladbyskibet & Vikingemuseet Ladby, Egeskov Slot, Faaborg, Svendborg, Tåsinge, Langeland, Rudkøbing, Northern Langeland, Southern Langeland, Ærø, Ærøskøbing, Marstal and Søby.