Leisure Options In Aarhus

Most of the sports and leisure in Aarhus centre on the great outdoors. Being such a small city, there aren’t any professional sport teams or major training facilities. However, the city is fantastic for biking and walking, and the sea provides plenty of recreation with many public beaches and clean, clear water. Unfortunately, the harsh winter weather lingers much longer than most people want, making outdoor excursions limited to about half of the year.

City parks

Aarhus boasts several lovely parks, most within walking distance of the old city centre, such as the City Hall Park. Clustered around this park are several important buildings like the Aarhus Art Museum and Scandinavian Congress Centre. The Old Town itself lies within the Botanical Gardens, with its wonderful variety of trees and plants, and large greenhouses filled with tropical vegetation.

The Memorial Park has a wonderful location in front of the Marselisborg Palace and leads down to the Bay of Aarhus. The park’s vast lawns, towering old trees and the Romer Garden make it a great place to stroll around. To the north and south of Aarhus, there are extensive woodland areas perfect for walking and picnics. Call: +45 87 31 50 10 for information regarding the location of the city’s parks.

Biking

Aarhus is an excellent city for biking, as it is relatively flat and compact. The city has created many cycling paths to ensure a pleasant ride and the streets in the city centre are all pedestrianised, which makes travelling by bicycle the ideal transport for touring around the city.

You can reach most of Aarhus’ attractions by bike. The Ringgaden circular road’s bike path will take you past the Old Town and Botanical Gardens, and to the south lies the Brabrandstien cycle path, which will take you out to Brabrand Lake. You can even bike to the Marselisborg Palace and enjoy all the wooded walking areas and deer parks. There is also a bike path that runs along the coast from the Hotel Marselis, all the way to the Kalovig Boat Harbour.

Beaches

There are over 20kms of beaches stretching along the Aarhus coastline. Typically, the dense woodlands come right down to the shore, where sandy beaches take over. The beaches around Aarhus are easily accessible and have calm, clean water that are ideal for swimming with the family. The most popular beaches are Moesgard Strand, Den Permanente and Bellevue Strand. Public buses can take you to all of the beaches with ease.

The bay off of the Risskov area is well-known for its excellent windsurfing conditions, while the waters at Tangkrogen are great for waterskiing. These are about the only water sports you will find in Aarhus due to the cool waters and short summers.

Inland fun

If you like fishing, you will be impressed with the number of prime fishing spots around Aarhus. Along the Bay of Aarhus, you can try for sea trout, cod, flatfish and garfish. The countryside around the city has lots of streams and lakes where you can fresh water fish for trout, roach and bream.

There are three international golf courses situated close to the city, all of which have excellent facilities. The lush green rolling hills provide an ideal topography for challenging and beautiful golf courses.

Aarhus also has a family amusement park, the Tivoli Friheden, located just a couple of kilometres from the city centre. The park offers plenty of fun and exciting rides such as roller coasters. There is a circus, arcade games and lots of food stalls to provide a great atmosphere throughout the summer.