6 Days in Aarhus, Plus 3 Day Trips
Six days covers Aarhus’s city core plus all three of the region’s best day trips: Legoland, Silkeborg’s Lake District, and Ebeltoft’s national park coastline. For two day trips instead of three, see the 5-day plan ; add a seventh day and the 7-day plan adds Randers Regnskov.
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. 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, next door to the free Botanical Garden greenhouses.
Afternoon
Head to Aarhus Ø for the triangular Isbjerget building and Dokk1.
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 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.
Evening
Return to Aarhus for dinner.
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, where Silkeborg Museum holds the Tollund Man, another remarkably preserved Iron Age bog body.
Afternoon
Ride the historic steamer Hjejlen across the Lake District toward Himmelbjerget, honestly a 147-metre hill topped by an 1875 brick tower.
Evening
Head back to Aarhus for dinner.
Tip: check the Hjejlen’s current sailing schedule before you go, it isn’t year-round on every route.
Day 6: Ebeltoft and Mols Bjerge National Park
Morning
Drive or bus roughly 45 minutes to an hour east to Ebeltoft, a genuinely old cobblestoned harbour town, home to the Fregatten Jylland, billed as the longest wooden warship in the world, now a walkable museum ship.
Afternoon
Continue into Mols Bjerge National Park, Denmark’s second national park, hilly heath and coastal terrain rising to about 137 metres, home to more than half of Denmark’s wild plant species.
Evening
Return to Aarhus for a final dinner.
Tip: wear proper shoes for Mols Bjerge, the heath paths are uneven in places even though the elevation itself is modest.
Getting around and where to stay
Days 1-3 are walkable or a short Letbane ride; days 4-6 each 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: put Ebeltoft or Silkeborg, not Legoland, on the day right before you fly home. Both wrap up earlier in the day than a full Legoland visit does, leaving you a calmer final evening in Aarhus.
Read more: see the Aarhus travel guide for the wider trip context, and the 7-day itinerary for the full week.