PedalingWalrus

I hope we all (somewhat) enjoy this second hypothetical of my August vacation. Yes? I hope so. :-)

For some strange reason I have fixated myself on not wanting to take and pay for a COVID test during my travels if I have been already vaccinated. My main fear is that my precious time on the tour would be hijacked and my secondary objection is the principle of reward of vaccination...for that I started considering a very worthy alternative to Europe by biking the Oregon coast. However, my dates coincide with peak forest fire season.

Today I stumbled upon a newsbit that says no testing necessary to fly to Denmark for vaccinated US Travelers.
(slight ironic fine print is that there may still be a rapid test during the border checkpoint in Denmark but I digress...)

So. DENMARK :-)

There are several official routes through Denmark and of course one can just go and disregard any routes and still have a great time. And I wonder if I can just cross the border into the other EU states without any checkpoints...my guess is yes.

Anyone done Denmark?

Main consideration I think is about the WIND.
Prevailing winds seem to blow from West and Southwest so if I were to bike the Western coast I would choose to go NOBO

I did a rough estimation of mileages and it seems I should be able to circumnavigate Denmark in 2 weeks

Tourist in MSN

I have not been there.

Keep an eye on what Europe is doing for vaccine passport. Here is one article I found that is a few days old:
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/health-passports

If you are eligible later for the digital version of that, it may speed things up at the airport. And the airline you use might have more info later on what info you need to have.

A couple months ago when Iceland opened up for travel, I saw the detailed list of what they needed to have for vaccine data, which included lot or batch numbers. I think all you need is on the CDC card you got. But since the CDC cards are easily forged, you may want to have some redundant info on vaccination too.

I think every state has a database of vaccinations, if you can get your vaccination record from that data base, that does not have details like lot numbers but it is a harder to forge record.

I am in Wisconsin, here is where you obtain your record of vaccinations that you got in Wisconsin.
https://www.dhfswir.org/PR/clientSearch.do

I am guessing (and this is only a guess) that the CDC card and the state database record may be enough.

Make sure your passport has an expiration date far enough into the future. Passport renewals might be unusually slow now.

Have a great trip.

I am storing my CDC card and a printout from the state database with my passport. I am hoping that is enough for when I need it.

imi

Yes, in Denmark the wind can blow strongly mostly from the west, with NW being more usual although it can shift to SW on a daily basis. Riding North to South is better. Straight east to west can be a slog!

Basically flat everywhere and many dedicated cycle paths. Very bike friendly.

It’s been a while since I’ve ridden through Denmark, but I remember being surprised that some small drain pothole covers far right on the roads had grates that ran in the road’s direction making it very easy to get your wheel catastrophically stuck! (hope that made sense?). Just a heads up.

The Danes like cold -really cold- beer, often having two fridges in shops and bakeries, one to pre-chill. Carlsberg Hof is my fave summer beer there 🍺

axolotl

I toured in Denmark in June many years ago. I rode in a big counter-clockwise circle, crossing the border from Germany, and arriving back in Germany on the west coast island of Sylt by ferry from a neighboring Danish island. The delightful little island of Aero in the Baltic is not to be missed. Funen, a much larger and more densely populated island was also very enjoyable. Funen had pleasant gently rolling hills, not dead flat like the area north of Copenhagen. One part of southern Jutland had some actual hills, but nothing too serious. Despite riding in a large circle, I managed to have headwinds every day. Really. But I was lucky insofar as the rain was concerned. Though it rained often, it rained almost exclusively at night while I was there. Mostly hostels (uniformly excellent) with some camping.

raybo

This page has 5 links to information about bike touring in Denmark. While you might not find all 5 of interest to you, there are links to useful routing and bike touring sites.

PedalingWalrus

I just bought my flight ticket so I guess the trip is ON 👍❤️💪😁

Doug64

Hopefully, the Covid restrictions will ease, and you will have a great ride.

My wife and I have only ridden from Copenhagen south at the start of a 2-month ride. We did have the opportunity to explore some of the island for a couple days while waiting for a bike shop to open. The rear brake on my wife's bike was damaged in transit, but she felt comfortable riding with just the front brake.

If the rest of the country is like what we experienced in our small preview, you should have a great ride.

brianinc-ville

I've only ridden in Copenhagen and Aarhus, but it really was a great time. Aarhus has more hills than you'd expect in Denmark. Even if you're set on touring the whole country, you should set aside some time in Copenhagen just to get into the urban design and bike culture. The food these days is as fantastic as you hear.

One thing to keep in mind: the latitude of Copenhagen is 10 degrees north of Portland, Maine -- in the summer, the sun comes up really early. Bring an eyeshade! Also, the weather can turn cold and rainy, even in August. And the wind is real.

indyfabz

Yeah. I was there in '85 while doing the whole train/backpack thing around Europe that was so popular with us college kids back then. I had never been that far north in my life. I was there for a couple of days starting on July 7th or so. It didn't really get dark enough for fireworks.at Tivoli until near midnight, and it started getting light so early. One of the days was darn cold and damp for what I was used to in July. Long pants, sweater and windbreaker on.

PedalingWalrus

US vaccinated travelers can now travel in and out without a test as of today

becnal

Denmark is wonderful biking country. Great bike paths and routes everywhere, I had an absolute blast. I highly recommend!

Badger6

I'm not touring, since my family is coming along, but I intend to cycle daily while in Denmark from end of next week to the end of the following week. I'll be in Tisvilde, Copenhagen, and Odense. My plan is generally to just use the Strava heat maps to find the best routes, then overlay to Komoot for anything worthy of seeing each day. A full on circumnavigation sounds way interesting. And though it is windy there, it's probably not a whole lot worse than where I am...Belgium is quite windy most days.

Have you any updates on your routes or your planning PedalingWalrus?

PedalingWalrus

Hey There. You will find me on Strava HERE

I packed the bike yesterday! Whew. Terrible feeling haha. Covid test hopefully Tuesday morning. Fly Thursday night. Going Clockwise on the National Denmark Routes as a guidance (not a rule)

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/36591594 east to west
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/36591561 western coast
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/36679546 the ancient route

Patty Up North

Hi there,

Im a touring Dane. Livlig in Vejby, the coast of nothern Sealand. I will be having an additional kid on the 26th of august, so cant join you as a guide. But I can give you information and answers.

I will be on my PC later today, so will provide more information then.

Edit: If you plan to wildcamp, let me know. It is easy and very enjoyable, but can be a bit tricky to figure out. So let me know.

Patrick.

Patty Up North

The East to West is a great route, have done it myself. Ærø can be done in a day, but spend 2-3 days, mabye a hike one day. Café Havkatten (Marstal) serves a great Fish n´ chips, the owner is original an copenhagen guy, hwo have travelled a lot him self. And the maritime museum in Marstal is really good if you are in to that.
Cold war museums can be found on both Stevns and Langeland, both are great, but be sure to have the guided tour in the undergrund tunnels, thats 90% of the experience. And book the ticket in advance, if yu will have a thing to say regards time of the tour. If you like the Stevnsfortet, you should also see the Langelandsfortet.
Insted of taking the ferry from Sæby to Fynshav, you can take one from Sæby to Faaborg, where there are an all you can eat for cheap, classic danish seafood lunch, with locally brewed IPAs. Then a short distance to the habour of Bøjden, but the ferry to Fynshav is less frequent.The Western Coast, i have not cycled, only visited by car. A lot of tourists there, but the coastline is beautiful.

Campsites with are offered by the state (Skov- og Naturstyrrelsen), and can vary between a field to pitch your tent to a place with toilets, a tap, firepit and shelters. See map of the official campsites on
www.udinaturen.dk

Great maps can be had from Nordisk Korthandel, on Ved Vesterport 4, Copenhagen. Espcially the map-series offered from them:
https://www.scanmaps.dk/cykel.html/
They are marked with campsites, bikestores, grocery-stores, routes and so on. If you are the PGS kind of guy.

At the moment we have pretty changing weather, bring raingear and an extra warm shirt/jacket. And spare socks. Cooking gear? Gas canisters can be had almost anyware, alcohol in most stores (Husholdningssprit, Borup sprit, blue bottle), and unleadded fuel, yeah...

Use www.yr.no for your weather forecast.

Best wishes. P.

Edit: Deeplinked the udinaturen homepage:
https://udinaturen.dk/map-page?scIds...1303,1153,1152

PedalingWalrus

Excellent info. We definitely want to wildcamp. If you have gps coordinates of spots along our way then please message me. I would REALLY appreciate it. Thank You!

Patty Up North

Well, I dont "have" them, but if you go to the www.udinaturen.dk, you click on "Find faciliteter på kort" (find facilities on map), in top right corner, then activate the following:



What those campspots contains can vary, the text reveals it. But it can be a place to pitch your tent to a shelter, water, toilet. I choose all 4, and find the nearest. If you bring a water filter, then jusy find your water in a small stream og a lake. Danish water are pretty clean, but be aware of farmland. You can drink any water from any tap, unless signed as not drinking water, as known from aircrafts.

Then choose a specefic spot, marked on the map. It will open a small explanation box. Tap "Læs mere" (Read more). And then click "Vis på Google Maps" (Show on Google Maps). It will give you the excact GPS cordinates.

Some of the places need pre arrival booking. I have never been kicked of a spot, if you are ready to pitch your tent in the corner. Nor have I kicked other hikers/bikers away if they came rambeling in at 7pm. I have not slept in maney of the spots in southern Sealand, Lolland, or Falster.
I can recommend this tenting spot on Ærø:

54°52'12.4"N 10°19'57.2"E

And this shelter on Als:

55°00'39.3"N 9°57'16.2"E

Edit: I can´t see your last route, links broken?

PedalingWalrus

djb

PW, If I don't see you writing on here before you leave, have a safe and fun trip.
safe traveling etc etc
cheers

Patty Up North

Btw, every church in Danmark has watertaps outsite, for watering flowers. Its good for drinking, and my main source of water when touring in Danmark.

PedalingWalrus

Thanks for the tip! 👍

Tourist in MSN

Just an FYI, Covid cases are rising in EU, just like here in USA, so watch the news closely.

And have a great trip.

PedalingWalrus

Oh I know…believe me …

skookum

Yes have a fantastic trip, let us know how things go.

PedalingWalrus

We just finished the ride in 13 days. I will post detailed report when I get back home but here is the strava track off my buddy’s watch




synopsis or medal rouns:

entire west coast: gold medal
island of Æro: silver medal
from Copenhagen to Svenborg: bronze medal
honorable mention: from Sjællands Odde to Copenhagen



from Skagen to Aarhus: meh