Home / Denmark 7-Day Road Trip Itinerary
Road trip decision guide
7-day Denmark road trip: day-by-day route, drive times and costs
Drive Copenhagen (2 nights) → Møns Klint → Odense → Aarhus → Skagen or Billund, one night each, then back. Most driving days are 1.5–2.5 hours, the Great Belt Bridge is tolled each way, and the hire car is the first thing to book. Keep the Copenhagen days car-free.
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Updated November 2026
Quick booking picks
Book the car first. The whole route depends on it.
This is a driving itinerary. Lock in the rental car before the stays, because everything else is planned around it.
The 7-day route at a glance
| Day | Base | Highlights | Drive to get here | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Copenhagen | Nyhavn, canal tour, harbour walk | — | Don't collect the car yet |
| 2 | Copenhagen | Rosenborg, Tivoli or a food day | — | Use the metro, not parking |
| 3 | Møns Klint / South Zealand | Chalk cliffs, beech forest, optional Stevns Klint stop | ~138 km, 1h45 | Daylight decides how long you stay |
| 4 | Odense | H.C. Andersen quarter, old town | ~170 km, 2h20 (Great Belt toll) | One night is enough |
| 5 | Aarhus | ARoS, Latin Quarter, Den Gamle By | ~145 km, 1h35 | Book dinner early at weekends |
| 6 | Skagen (adults) or Billund (families) | Grenen, where two seas meet, or LEGOLAND | Skagen ~230 km, 2h20 · Billund ~100 km, 1h15 | Pick one, not both |
| 7 | Return | Drive back, or drop the car and take the train or fly | Varies by day-6 pick | Second Great Belt toll if you drive back |
Drive times are approximate and assume normal traffic. Check your own route before you set off.
Day 1: arrive in Copenhagen and get on the water
Land, take the metro into the city, and leave the car for later. Copenhagen is a walking and metro city, and parking only costs you money. Spend the first afternoon walking the harbour from Nyhavn to Christianshavn, or take a canal tour, which is the fastest way to get your bearings.
Live dates & prices
Live departures for the one-hour guided canal cruise from Gammel Strand. It is an easy first afternoon before you pick up the car.
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Where to stay: Indre By or Vesterbro. Our where to stay in Copenhagen guide matches each area to your trip.
Day 2: Copenhagen castles, Tivoli or a food day
Choose one theme. For history, visit Rosenborg and the Crown Jewels, then Christiansborg. For atmosphere, go to Tivoli in the evening. For food, follow our foodie weekend. On a wet day, pick from the best museums in Copenhagen; to see the centre on foot with a guide, compare Copenhagen walking tours. Travelling as a couple? See our hotels for couples for the two Copenhagen nights. If you're doing several paid sights, run the numbers in our Copenhagen Card calculator, or keep it cheap with what's still free in Copenhagen.
Day 3: Copenhagen → Møns Klint (~138 km, about 1h45)
Pick up the car this morning. Head south on the E47/E55, then take Route 59 onto Møn. There are no tolls on this leg. If you have an extra hour, stop at Stevns Klint, the closer, UNESCO-listed cousin of Møns Klint. Book a bed that gets you to the cliffs with at least two hours of daylight left. In winter that means arriving by early afternoon. Our Møns Klint guide has GeoCenter prices and opening hours, the stairs down to the beach and the Forest Tower stop on the way.
Day 4: Møns Klint → Odense (~170 km, about 2h20)
This leg crosses the Great Belt Bridge (Storebælt) onto Funen. The bridge is tolled per crossing, in both directions, and the price depends on your vehicle and the time of day, so check storebaelt.dk or pay at the toll station. Odense is H.C. Andersen's town: the museum quarter and the old cobbled streets fit easily into an afternoon and evening. Our Odense guide has H.C. Andersen's House tickets and hours, and how to add Egeskov Castle on the way.
Day 5: Odense → Aarhus (~145 km, about 1h35)
An easy motorway drive on the E20 and E45. Leave Odense mid-morning and you get a full afternoon in Denmark's second city: ARoS and its rainbow walkway, the Latin Quarter and the harbour. Our Aarhus in 48 hours and best Aarhus restaurants guides cover the rest.
Day 6, option A (adults): Aarhus → Skagen (~230 km, about 2h20)
Follow the E45 north to the tip of Denmark. Walk out to Grenen, where the Skagerrak and the Kattegat meet, and stay for the famous Skagen light. If you'd rather not drive the whole way back, look at a one-way rental and a train or flight home from North Jutland. Check the one-way drop-off fee first, because it can be substantial.
More: Skagen guide.
Day 6, option B (families): Aarhus → Billund / LEGOLAND (~100 km, about 1h15)
A short drive on the E45, then west to Billund. Book LEGOLAND tickets in advance on legoland.dk, where online prices are usually lower than at the gate. The park isn't open every day of the year, so check the opening calendar for your dates.
More: Denmark with kids and family-friendly Denmark.
Day 7: back to Copenhagen
Driving back from Jutland means crossing the Great Belt Bridge again, so a second toll. Leave plenty of buffer if you have an evening flight from Copenhagen Airport.
Arriving by car from Germany, or adding Sweden or Bornholm
Plenty of Denmark road trips start south of the border. Instead of the long motorway via Padborg, consider the Baltic ferries: Puttgarden–Rødby takes about 45 minutes, and Rostock–Gedser takes about 2 hours (Scandlines sails both) and suits drivers coming from Berlin. From either harbour it is roughly 150–160 km and just under 2 hours on the motorway to Copenhagen, so you can start the loop on day 1 as planned.
If you want a taste of Sweden on the way, the Helsingør–Helsingborg ferry (Øresundslinjen) takes about 20 minutes and leaves several times an hour from right below Kronborg. Bornholm needs more than this week allows, but with two extra days Bornholmslinjen's fast ferry from Ystad takes about 80 minutes; compare Ystad–Rønne sailings or read our Copenhagen to Bornholm guide first. Our driving in Denmark guide has the toll and road rules for all of these.
The Direct Ferries links are affiliate links: if you book through one, NordGuide earns a commission at no extra cost to you. Crossing times checked 20 October 2026.
Car or train?
Take the train if you're only doing Copenhagen, Odense and Aarhus. Rent a car if you want Møns Klint, small coastal hotels, Skagen, LEGOLAND or a family route. Denmark is easy to drive, but parking in Copenhagen is the tax on laziness. For countryside nights, our guide to hygge hotels in Denmark separates the real thing from the marketing.
Minimum age
Most Danish rental companies require drivers to be at least 20 with a licence held for a full year. Under-25s usually pay a young-driver surcharge, which isn't always included in the headline price.
The bridge toll
The Great Belt Bridge is tolled per crossing, in each direction. This loop crosses it on day 4 and again if you drive back on day 7. Prices: storebaelt.dk, or see driving in Denmark for the 2026 tolls, road rules and parking.
Automatic vs manual
Manual is still common in Danish rental fleets and usually cheaper. If you need an automatic, filter for one and book early.
One-way fees
If you plan to finish in Jutland instead of driving back, check the one-way drop-off fee before you book.
Car vs train, leg by leg (costs checked 18 October 2026)
The clear answer depends on the leg, not the country. The table below uses only prices we could check today. Bridge tolls are the official 2026 prices. Everything else is deliberately shown as a basis for your own quote, not as a made-up fixed price: rental and fuel or charging change by date, car class and how far you actually drive, and Danish train fares change by ticket type and how early you buy.
| Leg | By car | By train (and bus where needed) | Our verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copenhagen → Møns Klint ~138 km, about 1h45 | No bridge toll on this leg. Cost is rental days + fuel/charging + parking, from your live quote. | No station at the cliffs. Train towards Vordingborg/Stege, then bus or taxi for the last stretch — the awkward last leg is the problem, not the train itself. Fare per person: check Rejseplanen for your date. | Car wins. This leg is why most people rent. |
| Møns Klint → Odense ~170 km, about 2h20 | Great Belt Bridge (Storebælt): DKK 235 one way by card/cash, DKK 205 with Bizz or number-plate payment for a car 3–6 m (official Storebælt 2026 price). Plus rental + fuel/charging. | Backtrack by bus/train to a main-line station, then InterCity towards Odense. Workable, but slow with luggage. Fare per person: check DSB/Rejseplanen; advance and flexible tickets are priced differently. | Car wins if you are already on Møn. Train wins only if you drop Møn. |
| Odense → Aarhus ~145 km, about 1h35 | No bridge toll (the Little Belt crossing is not tolled). Cost is rental + fuel/charging + city parking. | Direct main-line trains, station to station, no last-mile problem. Fare per person: check DSB/Rejseplanen for your date and ticket type. | Train wins for city-only trips. Car only if your stops are outside the centres. |
| Aarhus → Skagen ~230 km, about 2h20 | No bridge toll. Cost is rental + fuel/charging; useful for Grenen and small coastal stops. | Train with a change (usually via Aalborg/Hjørring direction), then local transport in Skagen. Fare per person: check Rejseplanen end-to-end, not just the main line. | Car wins for Grenen and coastal stops. Train is fine for Skagen town only. |
| Aarhus → Billund / LEGOLAND ~100 km, about 1h15 | No bridge toll. Easiest family leg by car, door to door with bags and tired children. | Train to a nearby station (for example Vejle) plus bus to Billund. Fare for the whole party: check Rejseplanen; multiply the per-person fare by everyone travelling. | Car wins for families. Train+bus suits a light-packing day trip. |
| Return to Copenhagen from Skagen or Billund | If you drive back across the Great Belt, budget a second DKK 235 (card) / DKK 205 (Bizz/plate). So this loop has DKK 470 in Great Belt tolls by card (about US$71), or DKK 410 by Bizz/plate (about US$62), before rental and fuel. Add a one-way drop-off fee if you do not drive back. | Long but simple from Aarhus/Odense; from Skagen/Billund allow changes. Or drop the car in Jutland and fly/train — compare the drop-off fee against the extra rental days, toll and fuel you save. | Do the maths both ways. One-way drop + train can beat driving back, or not — the drop-off fee decides. |
| Side trip: Copenhagen → Malmö (not part of the 7-day loop) | Øresund Bridge: DKK 470 one way at the toll station, DKK 420 online, DKK 182 with ØresundGO (plus its annual fee) for a car up to 6 m, official Øresundsbron prices from 14 September 2026. A return by car doubles the one-way toll. | Direct Øresund trains Copenhagen–Malmö, no toll and no parking. Fare per person: check DSB/Rejseplanen/Skånetrafiken. | Train wins for a Malmö day trip. Drive only if you are continuing into Sweden. |
Estimate basis — read this before comparing totals. Car total = your DiscoverCars (or other) rental quote for your dates, car class and pickup point + fuel/charging for your real kilometres + the bridge tolls above + parking and any one-way fee. We do not quote a fixed rental or fuel price here, because none exists until you enter dates. Train total = the per-person fare shown by DSB/Rejseplanen for your date and ticket type, multiplied by your party. Advance, flexible, child and pass fares differ, so a single “train costs DKK X” line would be invented. Tolls checked 18 October 2026 on Storebælt official prices and Øresundsbron official prices.
Airport pickup or city pickup?
For most readers of this route: city pickup on the morning of day 3. Copenhagen Airport desks can suit a late arrival, a need for a specific automatic car, or a route that leaves the city straight away — but on this itinerary days 1–2 are in Copenhagen, where the car only adds rental days and parking. A central Copenhagen city pickup on day 3 avoids paying for a parked car. Airport pickup still makes sense if city desks are sold out of automatics, your flight lands and you drive out the same day, or the airport quote is lower once every fee is included. Compare the total quote — rental days, pickup/return times, deposit, mileage and any extra-driver or young-driver fee — not the headline day rate. Returning to the airport can also be handy if your flight leaves right after day 7.
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Best time of year for this route
April to September works best: long daylight, and the cliff paths and Skagen's open-air draw are at their best. In winter, Møns Klint's paths can be icy and days are short, so slow the pace or anchor in fewer bases. In December, add the Copenhagen Christmas markets.
Short on time? Variations
- 5 days: drop Møn and do Copenhagen (2) → Odense (1) → Aarhus (1) → back.
- 10 days: add Bornholm as a separate island leg.
- No car: stay in Copenhagen and do day trips to Kronborg, Roskilde and Louisiana, or take the train to Odense for a longer day. See all day trips.
Quick questions
Is 7 days enough for Denmark?
Yes, for Copenhagen plus three or four other bases. Seven days covers Zealand, Funen and East or North Jutland at a comfortable pace. It isn't enough to add Bornholm or the whole west coast as well.
What is the best 7-day route in Denmark?
For first-timers: Copenhagen (2 nights), Møns Klint (1), Odense (1), Aarhus (1), then Skagen for adults or Billund/LEGOLAND for families (1), then back. Most driving days are 1.5–2.5 hours.
Do I need a car in Denmark?
Not in Copenhagen, Odense or Aarhus, which trains connect well. For Møns Klint, Skagen, small coastal towns and LEGOLAND, a car is far easier. Pick it up on day 3, not on arrival.
Are there tolls on Danish roads?
Ordinary motorways are free. The Great Belt Bridge (Storebælt) between Zealand and Funen is tolled per one-way crossing, in both directions, so driving this loop and back means two crossings. Prices vary by vehicle and time; check storebaelt.dk. The Øresund Bridge to Sweden is also tolled.
What's the minimum age to rent a car in Denmark?
Most companies require drivers to be at least 20 with a licence held for a full year. Under-25s usually pay a young-driver surcharge, so check it in the comparison before you book.
Can I drive in Denmark with a US licence?
Yes, if you live outside Denmark. The City of Copenhagen's guide to foreign driving licences says you may drive on your own licence if you permanently reside outside Denmark; a translation is only needed when the licence is not in the Latin alphabet. Rental companies set their own conditions (minimum age, years held), so check them before you book.
Skagen or LEGOLAND on day 6?
Choose Skagen for landscapes, art and the light. Choose Billund if you're travelling with children, which is also the shorter drive from Aarhus. Pick one, not both.
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Planning the wider trip? Use the full Copenhagen travel guide for where to stay, what to book and what to skip.