Ven island – the perfect destination for a day trip

Ven is a tiny island in the Øresund stright, belonging to Sweden. Being an island it can be visited only by ferry, and there are three possible departing points towards Ven: Landskrona (in Sweden, with scheduled departures all year round), Helsingør in Denmark, and Copenhagen (only on summer time).

Me and my girlfriend took the ferry from Copenhagen. The tickets we booked online with only a couple of hours before the departure; then all we needed to do is to get ready and show up at the ferry a bit before its departure time. There is no check in or requirements regarding any arrival time prior boarding.

The ferry is not huge, but it has a sort of a restaurant and place for bicycles, if one wants to take the bike with him/her. However, there is a 90 Dkk fee for the bikes, the same fee one pays for renting a bike on the island of Ven.

I have not mentioned that the little island of Ven is a perfect destination for tour on bike. Thus there are many tourists who take their bikes with them or rent them on the island. We decided to rent bikes on the spot, so after a ride of about one and a half hour with the ferry we arrived on Ven. There we walk for about five minutes uphill until we arrived at the shop where the popular yellow bikes are rented. There is a huge parking lot full of all kiind of bikes (tandem; with support for kids; classic etc.).

The weather was not great but the enthusiasm was high; it was the first time when I was about to start a trip on bike. So we took a map of Ven from the bike shop and we were gone. There are many tourist on bikes, and very few cars. There is harmony and relaxation because no matter the way one take there is no risk of getting lost. There are few houses, many cafes and beautiful nature. Our first stop was a little harbour, just under the old church of Sankt Ibb. There are many little shops with ice-cream snacks and possibility for picnic. After an ice-cream, we head to the church from where we took a beautiful picture and stunning sight. Then we continued riding around the island, discovering many cozy places and beautiful nature. However, due to the weather we didn’t stop for picnic, but we stopped for lunch a Pumpkin Delicatessen and Cafe. It was a very good experience: I had a great pizza with goat cheese and many glasses of organic apple juice, one of the best I have ever drunk. After the lunch the sky broke and and we head back to the harbour, not before we returned the bikes.

The ferry from Copenhagen lives at 09:15 and returns at 16:30, so it is important not to miss it. If missed, there are many camping opportunities on Ven.

There are many positive aspects about Ven, and it might be worth it to visit it for more than one day, but we didn’t have more time; yet, we want to go back there one day.

Wandering along Amager Beach!

In the last couple of days weather has been great in Copenhagen and its surroundings; a lot of sun and temperatures up to 25-28 degrees Celsius! With other words a time just perfect to have holiday, relax and enjoy a cold drink, preferably on the beach. I am not among the lucky ones when it comes at matching the perfect summer weather with my schedule, so I can only envy those out there having a wonderful time in Copenhagen, while I am just looking outside through the window of my flat.

This situation makes me remember last time I enjoyed a day at the beach here in Copenhagen! I have this experience very fresh in my mind since it happened just three days ago, when I succeeded to make a window in my schedule, and I escaped to one of the beaches in Copenhagen, Amager Strand. However, I didn’t go there for having a bath in the sea, I just walked along the beach together with my girlfriend, enjoying the views and the timeless-like atmosphere.

Our escape started at Femøen Metro Station. Around 7-8 minutes from the station is the closest point to get to the amazing outdoor swimming pool, Kastrup Søbad. It is a very uncommon swimming pool, just offshore, in the sea water! To this, its innovative and fancy design adds even more excitement to everyone visiting it. Moreover, here it can also be seen the Øresund Bridge, the only link between Denmark and Sweden, together with tehe rest of the Nordic countries!

Kastrup Søbad seems to be aslo the southern end of Amager Beach.

Kastrup Søbad!

Øresund Bridge!

From there we walked north. The weather was nice, with clear sky and good temperature, although the wind blew quite hard at that particular time. The beach is wide, clean and with sand; yet, the water has plenty of stones, seaweed and it is pretty cold. But, we are in Denmark, not in an exotic destination, famous for the best beaches; although if you don’t consider sea’s characteristics, the view is close to what one may have seen in other destinations with nice beaches.

Apart from the beaches, there are also parks, where people come to enjoy their spare time without getting wrapped in a sand layer.

As a negative side of beaches in Denmark, and so of Amager Strand  as well, I have notices that there are not many bars, coffee shops or other kind of shops around the beach; but this might be due to the proximity of the city streets with their shops. However, there are some places with drinks and ice cream, and we even discovered a cafe. It is called Allehånde Cafe (http://www.allehaandecafe.dk/).

Salmon sandwich!

Fadøl with view!

Allehånde Cafe!

It is a very nice one, on a boat, at shore and with view to the sea. There I served a cold beer -the popular Danish fadøl– and a salmon sandwich. They have a pretty diverse menu for both drinks and food, and the prices are not higher than in the city, although the view is better I would say; so, I do recommend this place if you found yourself wandering around Amager Strand.

I mentioned some rows above that day was quite windy, and that it created the unpleasant feeling of having the sand in your eyes, properly. Yet the wind seemed not to bother everyone; this is because that day was like gold for the kiteboard lovers. There were many of them enjoying the very good wind, which is actually not rare to Denmark, but as one of the kiters told me, to have good temperatures, a perfect clean sky, and such a great wind, it is yet not something they have every day. We enjoyed a lot this on site show, and took a lot of pictures with our phone cameras!

We wouldn’t have gone from there, unless the evening was coming and we had to follow other plans as well. Thus, from there we walked to the Øresund Metro Station, from where we took the train back to the city center.

It was a great walk along the Amager Strand beach, and I think this can be a very nice activity to do in these very nice and hot days in Copenhagen; I refer here especially to tourists, because I am sure the Danes and the others living in Denmark for some time know about this beach and they will take it over.

My advice: enjoy it at its max!

Visiting Sofiero Castle or the Schönbrunn of the North (as I would call it)!

It has been almost three years since I arrived in Denmark and I decided to settle her for a while. But despite this fact I haven’t travel to much into the nordic countries, although there are now very accessible to me. To this has contributed in a very high degree the weather which is not very welcoming, and which has driven me to more sunny and warmth destinations. However, recently I was accepted as an exchange student to Lund University, in Campus Helsingborg. This event has just put Helsingborg on my mind’s map, as a destination of high interest. Therefore, few days ago, in one of my free days from work I decided to travel and see what this city looks like.

However, before hitting the road I made a bit of research about what I can do/see and where and what I can eat – since I call myself a foodie, this is a must! As an outcome of my research I set as first priority to visit Sofiero Castle, together with its gardens, and to have the lunch there.

With this in mind, the next day -was a Monday- early morning I took the Øresund train, from Copenhagen Central Station, to Helsingborg. It was a one and a half hour trip. Once arrived in Helsingborg train station I got just enough time to buy tickets for the bus who supposed to take me to the castle, n to board it. The Castle is not so far away from the city center, especially for the ones who enjoy walking; there are circa five kilometers to there, most of the time walking along the shore, which may be a very pleasant walk. As an alternative it can be taken bus number 8, which run that direction twice an hour, and the trip takes circa 17 minutes. Although I love walking, I opted for the bus because I considered I would arrive to late for lunch at Sofiero Castle; beside I was a bit concerned about the route I have to follow to the castle. 

As I said, not after a long ride, I saw myself in front of the Sofiero Castle. There is a visitor fee to be paid at the entrance in the garden, and then it comes the splendid view; a view which seems to me pretty similar to the view one have at the Schönbrunn Palace, in Vienna, although in the case of Sofiero Castle, the distance from the entrance to the building it is filled by nice cut grass, the temperatures are a lot lower, and the tourists are not so many, so it becomes easier to enjoy the visit. Yet at the first sight the way everything is found (big and imposant castle in sight, flowers garden on the right, beautiful and multitude of flowers, nice view over the sea and castle, the little forest etc.) made it easy for me to recall the famous austrian castle.

Yet in spite of the beauty opened in font of my eyes, the first thing I did was to go streight to the restaurant and book the lunch. After I happily left the restaurant I allowed myself to be emerged in the beauty of the gardens.

The view based on a natural beauty, touched each and there by a human hand focused on details, made me feel so easy and excited. I started with the flowers part of the garden, where there where a lot of different plants and flowers, all blooming, and having from spot to spot benches which are placed perfectly to the right points in order to take te best pictures. However the gardens are not huge: it takes about one, one and a half hours to make the whole round of the gardens, but the beauty is at its home. Among others there are two small mazes, japanese garden, melon garden…it look a lot better than the botanical gardens from many european cities.

After I made the whole round I arrived just in time for the lunch I had made reservation, and which was also an important target of the day for me. I spent in restaurant about two hours, and I got out of it excited, very satisfied and full. It was an absolutely feast for my palates, and more details about this you can read in my review I made to it on TripAdvisor, at the following link: http://www.tripadvisor.dk/ShowUserReviews-g189836-d1042543-r294112495-Sofiero_Slottsrestaurang-Helsingborg_Skane_County.html#REVIEWS .

  

After the lunch I decided it was time to go, although the view and the fresh impressions didn’t let me go easily.

However I will not forget, and neither you the ones who want to visit this place should forget that it is quiet, green, with a lot of fresh air and flowers, knowledge through the little info that’s available about each plant/flower…it is absolutely a piece of heaven.