Aarhus: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Aarhus is Denmark’s second city, founded by the Vikings in the eighth century at the mouth of a river — its first name, Aros, means river mouth. The medieval town grew around the cathedral, and much of it is still there in the narrow streets of the Latin Quarter. Ninety minutes on foot.
A short history of Aarhus
In the 8th century the Vikings founded a settlement here called Aros, "river mouth", surrounded by an earth rampart. A bishop is first mentioned there in 948, and work on the cathedral, the longest in Denmark, began at the end of the 12th century. For centuries the city was a modest trading port, and only in the 19th century, with the railway and the new harbour, did it grow into Denmark's second-largest city. In 1914 the museum "The Old Town" opened here, to which old houses were moved from all over the country, and in 1928 the university was founded. In 2017 Aarhus was European Capital of Culture.
The ten best sights in Aarhus
1ARoSAn art museum crowned by a rainbow walkway
2Den Gamle ByOld Danish town houses moved here, with a street of 1974
3Moesgaard MuseumThe Grauballe Man, a body from the bog
4Aarhus CathedralThe longest church in Denmark, covered in frescoes
5Church of Our LadyA crypt church of about 1060 under the floor
6Occupation MuseumThe old police station, used by the Germans
-
7Women’s Museum
Denmark’s museum of women’s history, in the old town hall
8Latin QuarterThe oldest streets, of cafés and small shops
9ÅboulevardenCafés along the river that was uncovered again
10City HallArne Jacobsen’s marble town hall of 1941
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Aarhus →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Aarhus:
Free walking tours in Aarhus
Aros at the river mouth
Aarhus is Denmark’s second city, founded by the Vikings in the eighth century at the mouth of a river — its first name, Aros, means river mouth. The medieval town grew around the cathedral, and much of it is still there in the narrow streets of the Latin Quarter. Ninety minutes on foot.
- Aarhus Cathedral · At about ninety-three metres the longest church in Denmark, with the tallest tower. Its walls are covered with medieval frescoes — the largest area of them in the country — that were whitewashed after the Reformation and uncovered again in the nineteenth century.
- Occupation Museum · Denmark was occupied by Germany from April 1940, and this building, the old police station, was used by the German police during the occupation. On the last day of October 1944 British Mosquito bombers flew in at rooftop height and destroyed the Gestapo headquarters at the university, with its files on the Danish resistance.
- Latin Quarter · The oldest streets of the town, named after the Latin school beside the cathedral. Its cobbled lanes of low painted houses are now filled with cafés, vintage shops and small designers.
- Church of Our Lady · In 1955, during restoration, a small stone crypt church of about 1060 was found under the floor of this church — among the oldest stone churches in Scandinavia. It has been restored and can be visited down a stair beneath the choir.
- Åboulevarden · The river that gave Aarhus its name was covered over with a road in the 1930s. Between 1996 and 2008 the city tore up the road and opened the river again, and its banks became the most popular strip of cafés in town.
- Den Gamle By · Opened in 1914 as the world’s first open-air museum of town life, with about seventy-five houses moved here from all over Denmark. Besides the old town it has a street of 1927 and a neighbourhood of 1974, with the shops and flats of those years.
Rainbow, library and the harbour
Aarhus was the European Capital of Culture in 2017, and its modern face is bold: an art museum with a rainbow on its roof, a harbour library and new housing on the old container docks. Two hours; best on a clear day.
- ARoS · On the roof is Your Rainbow Panorama by Olafur Eliasson, opened in 2011: a circular glass walkway about a hundred and fifty metres round in all the colours of the spectrum, through which the city changes colour as you walk. Inside stands Ron Mueck’s Boy, a crouching boy about four and a half metres high.
- City Hall · Built by Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller and finished in 1941, under the German occupation, clad in grey Norwegian marble with a tall open tower of concrete grid. Jacobsen also designed its furniture, clocks and lamps, and it is now a listed monument of Danish modernism.
- Salling Rooftop · The roof of the department store on the main shopping street is a free public terrace, with a glass walkway jutting out over the street below and views of the cathedral and the bay.
- Dokk1 · The main library, opened in 2015 on the harbour front. A huge tubular bell hangs in its hall, and it rings whenever parents press a button at the city’s university hospital to announce the birth of a child.
- The Iceberg · Apartment blocks of white and blue-glass peaks on the old container port, finished in 2013, shaped so that every flat gets a view of the bay. They are part of Aarhus Ø, a whole new district built on the docks.
- Harbour Bath · A free outdoor pool and diving tower in the harbour water, with a sauna, where people of Aarhus swim even in winter, going straight from the sauna into the cold sea.
The bog man and the forest by the sea
South of the centre a forest runs along the bay past the royal summer palace and a deer park to a museum built into a hillside, where the most famous of Denmark’s bog bodies lies. Half a day; by bike or bus.
- Tivoli Friheden · A small amusement park in the woods, opened in 1903, with roller coasters and a lake — smaller and quieter than Copenhagen’s Tivoli.
- Marselisborg Palace · The people of Aarhus gave this palace as a wedding present to Prince Christian, later King Christian the Tenth, and it was finished in 1902. It is still the royal family’s summer home; when they are in residence the guard changes at noon, and the park is open when they are not.
- Deer Park · In this fenced corner of the Marselisborg forest, sika and fallow deer roam free and come up to eat carrots and apples from visitors’ hands — bring them in a bag, bread is not allowed.
- The Infinite Bridge · A circular wooden bridge about sixty metres across, half on the beach and half over the water, built in 2015 for a sculpture exhibition by the sea. People walk round and round it, looking back at the city and out over the bay.
- Moesgaard Museum · The Grauballe Man was found by peat cutters in 1952 in a bog west of Aarhus. He lived around two thousand three hundred years ago, had his throat cut and was laid in the bog, where the acid water preserved his skin, hair and nails. The museum, opened in 2014, has a sloping grass roof that visitors climb.
- Moesgård Beach · Below the museum the forest runs down to a sandy beach on the bay, the favourite of Aarhus families in summer. A path through the woods, the Prehistoric Trail, links it to the museum past reconstructed ancient houses and graves.
Getting to Aarhus and getting around
- Aarhus Airport · Small and far — forty-five minutes by bus; Billund is often the better airport
- Aarhus Central Station · About three hours by train from Copenhagen
Cheap eats in Aarhus
Denmark eats at the counter: smørrebrød, open sandwiches on dark rye bread piled with herring, egg and shrimp or roast pork; a hot dog from a pølsevogn, the sausage wagon, with crispy onions and remoulade; and the pastries the rest of the world calls Danish. Street-food halls are the cheap meal in an expensive country.
- Aarhus Street Food · Stalls in the old bus garage
- Latin Quarter · Smørrebrød and bakeries
- Åboulevarden · Coffee on the river
- Godsbanen · A bakery in the old freight yard
- Aarhus Central Station · A hot dog from the sausage wagon
Museums in Aarhus
Aarhus has some of the best museums in Scandinavia: modern art under a rainbow, an open-air town and the bog man.
- ARoS · The rainbow and the giant boy
- Den Gamle By · Old houses and a street of 1974
- Moesgaard Museum · The Grauballe Man and the Vikings
- Occupation Museum · Aarhus in the war
- Women’s Museum · The history of Danish women
Nature and day trips near Aarhus
Aarhus lies on a bay, with beech forests running along the shore to the north and south of the city.
- Deer Park · Deer in the forest
- The Infinite Bridge · A round walk over the sea
- Riis Skov · Beech forest on the bay
- Botanical Garden · Tropical glasshouses
- Moesgård Beach · The forest beach
Things to do in Aarhus with kids
With children: deer to feed, an amusement park, an old town to wander, and a library built for play.
- Deer Park · Bring carrots
- Tivoli Friheden · Rides in the woods
- Den Gamle By · Old shops and horses
- Dokk1 · Play areas in the library
Holy places in Aarhus
The churches of Aarhus span a thousand years, from a crypt of the eleventh century to the great Gothic cathedral.
- Aarhus Cathedral · The frescoes
- Church of Our Lady · The crypt church
Nightlife in Aarhus
With some forty thousand students, Aarhus is one of the youngest cities in Denmark, with bars along the river and in the Latin Quarter.
- Åboulevarden · Bars on the river
- Latin Quarter · Small bars in the old lanes
- Godsbanen · Concerts and the culture yard
Frequently asked questions about Aarhus
What is there to see in Aarhus?
The top sights in Aarhus are ARoS, Den Gamle By and Moesgaard Museum. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Aarhus?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Aarhus without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Aarhus?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Aarhus, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Aros at the river mouth.
How do you get to Aarhus and get around?
The main ways are Aarhus Airport and Aarhus Central Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Aarhus, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Aarhus that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Aarhus for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.