Denmark

A small kingdom of islands and peninsulas where nowhere is more than 52 km from the sea. Its red-and-white flag, the Dannebrog, is said to have fallen from the sky in 1219.

• 6Mpeople, approximately
• 443named islands
• 8,750 kmof coastline
• 171 mhighest point, Møllehøj

In Copenhagen the bike is the default way to get around. Riders get wide lanes separated by a kerb, bridges built only for cycling, and green waves of traffic lights timed to a steady 20 km/h.

• 1 in 2trips to work and school are made by bike
• 20 km/hgreen-wave speed for riders
• 2014Cykelslangen bike bridge opens

55.676° N · 12.568° E

Kronborg guards the narrow strait between Denmark and Sweden, where for four centuries every passing ship paid the Sound Dues. Shakespeare set Hamlet here and called it Elsinore.

1. 1420sEric of Pomerania builds the fortress Krogen
2. 1585Frederik II completes Renaissance Kronborg
3. c. 1600Shakespeare writes Hamlet, set at Elsinore
4. 2000Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site

56.039° N · 12.621° E

Hans Christian Andersen published the fairy tale in 1837. Brewer Carl Jacobsen later commissioned sculptor Edvard Eriksen to cast her in bronze, and she has sat on her rock since 1913.

“Just living is not enough,” said the butterfly. “One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”

Hans Christian Andersen, The Butterfly

• 1913unveiled on 23 August
• 1.25 mtall, in bronze

55.693° N · 12.599° E

Dense rye bread, rugbrød, is piled high with toppings and eaten with a knife and fork. Tradition sets the order of a proper lunch.

1. Sildherring
2. Fiskother fish
3. Kødmeat
4. Ostcheese

Nyhavn · 55.680° N · 12.591° E

The white cliffs are made from the shells of microscopic sea creatures that settled on an ancient seabed about 70 million years ago.

• 128 mat Dronningestolen
• 70Myears of chalk
• 2017UNESCO biosphere reserve

54.97° N · 12.55° E

At Denmark's northernmost tip the Skagerrak and the Kattegat collide in a visible seam of waves. You can stand with one foot in each sea.

57.744° N · 10.640° E

Denmark switched on the world's first offshore wind farm, Vindeby, in 1991. Today wind turbines supply around half of the country's electricity.

• 1991Vindeby, the first offshore wind farm
• 11turbines at Vindeby

Amager Bakke burns the city's waste to make electricity and district heating. Its roof, designed by BIG, is a public park where you can ski, hike or climb the façade all year round.

• Ski
• Hike
• Climb
• Opened 2019
• Architects: BIG

55.688° N · 12.623° E

Shipping containers stacked on floating platforms make affordable student housing right on the water. Residents share a sheltered courtyard garden and a rooftop terrace, and can swim straight from the deck.

• 2016first rigger opens
• BIGBjarke Ingels Group design

55.69° N · 12.61° E

LEGO takes its name from the Danish words leg godt. The company was founded in Billund in 1932, and in 2017 it opened LEGO House here: a building stacked like giant bricks, designed by BIG.

• 1932LEGO founded
• 2017LEGO House opens
• 25Mbricks inside

55.731° N · 9.115° E

On one of the longest evenings of the year, Danes gather around bonfires by the water. A straw witch is burned and, as tradition has it, flies off to Bloksbjerg in Germany while everyone sings Holger Drachmann's Midsommervisen.

• 23.06Sankt Hans aften
• 1885Midsommervisen written
• 17½ hof daylight in Copenhagen

When the sun sets before four in the afternoon, Danes answer with candlelight, markets and long lunches. Hygge is the word for that feeling of cosy togetherness.

• Gløggmulled wine
• Æbleskiverround pancake puffs
• Julefrokostthe Christmas lunch
• Risalamanderice pudding with an almond

• 15:38midwinter sunset, Copenhagen
• 7 hof daylight on 21 December