5 Days in Aarhus, Plus Silkeborg
Five days lets you add a second real day trip on top of Aarhus’s core: three city days, a Legoland Billund day, then Silkeborg and the Lake District for a bog body, a lake steamer, and Denmark’s own version of a hilltop view. For just Legoland, see the 4-day plan ; add a sixth day and the 6-day plan folds in Ebeltoft too.
Book these before you go
Day 1: The Cathedral, ARoS, and the Latin Quarter
Morning
Walk the Latin Quarter’s old streets, then visit Aarhus Cathedral (Domkirke), Denmark’s longest and tallest church.
Afternoon
Spend the afternoon at ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum for Your Rainbow Panorama, the rooftop’s rainbow-glass circular walkway. Check current admission at aros.dk .
Evening
Dinner along Åboulevarden, roughly 120-180 DKK for a casual meal.
Tip: visit ARoS in the late afternoon once the morning tour groups have thinned out.
Day 2: Den Gamle By and the harbour
Morning
Den Gamle By’s roughly 75 real relocated buildings recreate a Danish market town across several centuries, next door to the free Botanical Garden greenhouses.
Afternoon
Head to Aarhus Ø for the triangular Isbjerget building and Dokk1, Scandinavia’s largest public library.
Evening
Dinner at Aarhus Street Food, roughly 80-150 DKK a dish.
Tip: combine Den Gamle By and the Botanical Garden, they sit next to each other.
Day 3: Moesgaard and Marselisborg
Morning
Bus south to Moesgaard Museum (MOMU) for the Grauballe Man, an Iron Age bog body found in 1952.
Afternoon
Continue to Marselisborg’s palace park, Deer Park, and forest running down to the beach.
Evening
If it’s April-October, Tivoli Friheden is an easy evening stop; otherwise a Frederiksbjerg dinner covers the slot.
Tip: wear real walking shoes, both stops are longer on foot than the map suggests.
Day 4: Legoland Billund
Morning
Head west roughly 1-1.25 hours to Legoland, the original 1968 park, beside Billund Airport.
Afternoon
Give Miniland and the rides a full afternoon, this is a whole-day trip.
Evening
Return to Aarhus for dinner, or treat this as a Billund departure day.
Tip: buy tickets online before you drive out, gate queues run long in summer.
Day 5: Silkeborg, the Tollund Man, and Himmelbjerget
Morning
Drive or bus roughly 45 minutes west to Silkeborg. Silkeborg Museum, in a manor built in 1767, holds the Tollund Man, another remarkably preserved Iron Age bog body, and Museum Jorn covers Danish COBRA painter Asger Jorn.
Afternoon
Board the historic paddle steamer Hjejlen, billed as the world’s oldest operating steamboat, across the Lake District toward Himmelbjerget, honestly a 147-metre hill (Denmark’s real highest point, Møllehøj, sits elsewhere at about 171 metres), topped by an 1875 brick tower.
Evening
Head back to Aarhus for a final dinner in the city.
Tip: check the Hjejlen’s current sailing schedule before you go, it doesn’t run year-round on every route.
Getting around and where to stay
Days 1-3 are walkable or a short Letbane ride; days 4 and 5 both need a car, bus, or organised tour. Stay in the city centre or Latin Quarter, check rates on Booking.com . Denmark uses the krone (DKK), not the euro.
One concrete tip: do Legoland and Silkeborg on non-consecutive days if you can. Both are full, tiring days out, and back-to-back day trips leave no slack if either one runs long.
Read more: see the Aarhus travel guide for the wider trip context, and the 6-day itinerary for the next day trip to add.