History
H.C. Andersen – The Old Odense
Take a walk through the old part of Odense and see the beautiful well preserved houses, visit the fresh food market at Sortebrødre Torv (Blackfriars Square), or visit the 16th century merchant house Kramboden where you can shop antiques and historical artifacts.
In this part of town you also find the H.C. Andersen House. The old house has been expanded to a museum where you can learn about the life and work of the famous author, and experience his many fairytales.
www.museum.odense.dk/en/museums/hans-christian-andersen-museum
North Atlantic House
North Atlantic House is a cultural center, which acts as a platform to raise the profile of Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland in Odense and Southern Denmark. The house features lots of activities focusing on culture, experiences, information, local associations, food and fellowship. Here you will also find Restaurant North Atlantic where you can get a taste of Scandinavian cuisine.
Danish Railway Museum
Experience the history of Denmark’s railways in the authentic roundhouse with 21 tracks featuring iconic engines and carriages. Look inside the royal carriages, experience travelling first class and see Denmark’s oldest preserved steam engine from 1868. You can enter many of the museum’s engines and carriages.
The Funen Village
In The Funen Village, you can discover how most Funen dwellers lived in the olden days. Nineteenth-century society was awash with change, especially in the fields of politics, technology, and science. This was felt by quite ordinary people – even in the countryside, where peasants adjusted to the changes in society and moved with the times. A visit to the Funen Village allows you to gain a glimpse of what everyday life was like in the country in the 19th century.
www.museum.odense.dk/en/museums/funen-village
The Iron Age Village
The village is a Historical Workshop, where you, through theory and practice, obtain/achieve insight into the living conditions of the inhabitants of the area, our ancestors, app. 2000 years ago. The houses of the village are active workshops, where you experience the everyday life of the people of the Iron Age through working with ancient crafts and doing the daily chores.
www.jernalderlandsbyen.dk/engelsk
Churches
Many of the churches in Odense are over 700 years old, with gothic architecture and stunning decorations inside. Religious or not, the churches are open for everyone to come and visit the old historic buildings.
Nature
Odense is filled with green oasis that invite guests and locals alike to take a break and relax. The river flowing through Odense create an amazing landscape with pathways and parks around it. Walk, run or bike alongside the river through the parks. Maybe take a riverboat ride with Odense Aafart, or on your own with a pedalo.
Odense ZOO
Odense ZOO offers unique, adventurous moments for the whole family. Fill your day with great impressions, knowledge, play and learning. Look, listen and learn a lot when the animals fed and exercised. Discover fascinating lions and Siberian tigers. See chimpanzees swing in the trees and follow the giraffes and zebras walking on the Savannah. Let tropical rain falls lead you to South America and meet the tapirs and giant manatees. Finish the adventure accompanied by the penguins’ call sounds in the Antarctic cold.
Odense ZOO was elected Europe’s Best Zoo in 2013-15.
City Island
At the harbor you can get your pulse racing at the many exercise possibilities. Try Parkour, Crossfit, Roller Derby, Beach Volley or just relax by the waters edge. The space is open to everyone, and most of the facilities are free to use.
Art
Odense has a vast number of art museums, galleries and sculptures throughout the city. The biggest art museum is BRANDTS, Denmark’s first museum of art and visual culture, with more than ten exhibitions a year of new and classic art side by side with today’s popular images. Besides the main museum they have the departments BRANDTS13 and The Danish Media Museum.
Shopping
Odense is an ideal shopping city with many different shops – small ones as well as big ones. Kongensgade and Vestergade, which are situated in the city center and are the city’s pedestrian streets have the highest concentration of shops in Odense. Here you will find shops that offer the best in Danish as well as international clothes brands, beauty, interior design and much more.
Here you will also find the Latin Quarter, full of atmosphere and authenticity, and epitomizes the creative and quirky part of the city gathered under the open sky. Urban life with cafés, lifestyle shops, fashion and design mixed with art and culture.
A short ride from the city center you also find the shopping mall Rosengårdscentret, the second largest in Denmark with more than 150 shops.