Tuesday, 2 June 2009

Summary of a Camping Holiday in Denmark

Denmark is a lovely place. The people are very friendly and generally, English is spoken very well. The total journey time at either end of the trip was far too long and I would recommend either camping somewhere closer to Esbjerg or taking at least a 2 week holiday and breaking the journey.
Check the camping seasons. We went to Denmark to experience a Camping Holiday - Danish style, but we don't really feel we achieve that as the campsite was virtually empty until the last night when people started arriving, and consequently, most of the facilities were not operating. We also didn't really feel welcomed on the site. We arrived late, were told our pitch, given rough directions to get to it, and when we arrived, it had not been tended to and had long grass, at least 20cm long and brambles growing all over the pitch. I had to clear the brambles away with my sons beach spade. It was also very small - so confirm exactly what you are getting. We asked for a pitch to fit our large trailer tent, a gazebo and expected space for our car and a little space for my son to play. We pitched as far over one side as we could, but with the guys, it left no space front or back and about 1m on one side - no room for our car or the gazebo if we had decided to take it.
Cost of Living is high. We took a lot of things such as cakes, crisps, biscuits and much of our menus were planned so we could take rice and pasta, etc with us. If not it would be expensive. A salami was about £4, small pack of sandwich meat £4, small piece of cheese (250g) £4, ice creams (e.g. magnum) £3. Eating out is very expensive also - you will have seen some examples in my Blog, but for a family of 2 adults and 1 child of nearly 4, we would allow between £25 and £50 depending on whether we were having basic sandwiches or a 1-course basic meal. We never had a starter or dessert.
There were plenty of things to do. The beaches were fantastic (if deserted this time of year), but where we were, North Jutland, be warned, the winds could end up sand blasting you, but with both East and West coast easily accessible, if the wind is blasting one coast, you should be able to find a favourable beach on the other coast. Within reasonable reach are many attractions - Zoo's, Aquariums, Theme Parks, Gardens, and many more. There is also plenty of walking and biking to be done over there.
The roads were very good and I found driving on the right no problem. They are very deserted compared with the UK. The top speed on the motorway is 80mph, but is much less when towing (50mph). Diesel is cheaper than petrol. Petrol is about the same price or a little more expensive as the UK, but diesel seemed to range from about 80p to 105p. We didn't try public transport. The Ferry across was very comfortable, but we did have virtually wave-less crossings both ways. There isn't much to do on the boat and drinks are expensive (about £6 for a can of Guinness). Take a travel kettle (and travel plug) if you would like to make a drink in your cabin as there are no facilities (at least not in the inside cabins).
Windmills - there are loads of them - puts the UK to shame. In the first 100 miles of the journey from Skiveren to Esbjerg I counted 249 easily viewable from the road. They certainly seem to have taken to wind power.

Would I go again - I think so, but would plan it better so we were either closer to Esbjerg (and maybe Legoland) or went for longer so I could afford a stop on the journey each way.

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