Our Denmark Mini-Trip: Route, Costs & More
The ~2-month mini-trip we took with LMB to Denmark & S. Sweden this summer was probably my absolute favorite of all the excursions we’ve done in Europe so far.
Part of it was personal. Denmark is where I come from, so going back there after all these years was both deeply emotional and healing for me. We went to places I knew as a kid and hit all the high-points that I had hoped for. It was awesome.
Part of it was COVID, and the release of simply being able to get on the road again after a year+ of restrictions and lockdowns. I know many of you can relate.
And part of it was family & friends. By this I mean not only the joy of being able to see my family again, but also to share this special part of the world with Paul and with you, my blog readers.
For many travelers Denmark is merely a stop along the way to Sweden & Norway, a small country where Copenhagen is the biggest draw. I wanted to show that it’s really so much more. From wild islands to towering chalk cliffs, Royal castles to Viking museums, lighthouses to Riviera dreams. Denmark has soooo much to offer in such a small package, making it (really) the perfect destination. And yes, I’m a little biased….:)
Over the past many weeks, I’ve shared the blog posts from our adventures, but what about the nitty gritty of route, timeframe and costs? Is Denmark really as expensive as everyone says? And what’s it like to go there in summer? How far did we end up traveling? And would we go back? Well, before I move on from our summer I wanted to deep dive into those questions. Hopefully a few of you will find this interesting and useful for your own trips down the line.
Like maps? I’ve compiled our entire summer trip into an interactive map, with links back to the blog posts from each spot. Click and enjoy!
Summer In Denmark Is Awesome (Most Of The Time)
We traveled through Denmark in July and August, during the height of summer and it was….perfection!
The weather was gorgeous practically the whole time we were there with cool, sunny summer days (not too hot, not too cold), lots of light (sunset is late!) and only minimal rain (although it did get a smidgen moist the last 2 weeks of our trip LOL). In Danish we would call this a “god” (good) summer, because sometimes it can be rather fickle. This year however, was particularly nice.
We didn’t feel overwhelmed by crowds either. Part of this may be the COVID effect, but it’s also because most tourists crowd to Copenhagen and the more popular spots. In general all you need to do is a get a smidgen away from these and you’ll have plenty of nature and space to yourself. Also the campgrounds were busy (mostly with Danish families), but we only needed to book ahead for the more popular ones (the site near Copenhagen was the most difficult to get into). The rest of the time we simply winged it and had no issues at all.
Oh, and we used our bikes….A LOT! Biking trails are awesome in Denmark and are literally everywhere. Our only regret was that we didn’t have electric bikes to explore a little further at each spot.
All-in-all Denmark was just such an easy, pleasant motorhome travel experience. We really enjoyed it.
Km Traveled: ~4,920 (~3,057 miles)
Days Traveled: 56
| Category | Total Costs | Av. Costs Per Day |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | €844 | €15 |
| Road Tolls/Ferries/Bridges | €530 | €9.5 |
| Camping | €989 | €18 (24 stops) |
We Started Fast, Slowed Down In the Middle
We traveled a grand total of 4,920 km (~ 3,057) on this mini-tour, stopping in 7 different countries along the way (France, Luxemberg, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium).
It’s by far the longest single strip we’ve made in LMB since we purchased her and we didn’t travel at the same pace the whole way. Our goal was to spend max time in Scandinavia, so we did some harder driving on the way up and back, averaging 350-400km per day (~220 – 250 miles) and then slowed waaaaaaay down once we got to Denmark.
In total only ~1,240km (~770 miles) of our trip was in Denmark/Sweden and most days we were there we drove way under 100km (~62 miles). In fact our shortest drive was a mere 8km (~5 miles, from Hundested to Byaas in N.Zealand), after which we rested another 3 days before we moved on again! That’s super slo-mo, even for us, but it was sooooooo nice. Polly loved it, we loved it, and it gave us all time to properly enjoy every single stop we made.
I really recommend a super slo-mo through Denmark. You won’t regret it, my friends!
Our Average Fuel Price Was EUR 1.56 Per Liter
One thing about going north in Europe is that you have to be prepared for higher fuel prices than down south.
All together we filled up ~539 liters of diesel at a cost of ~EUR 844 (~$990) which breaks down to around EUR 1.56 per liter. The diesel price was a step higher than our two previous mini-tours to Spain (where averages were around EUR 1.30 per liter), but thanks to our super slo-mo pace it actually ended up costing us less per day overall. We only spent €15 per day on diesel during our trip, which I consider pretty decent overall.
Most of our fill-ups were done in France on the way up & back, but a couple were done in Germany and two were done in Denmark. Surprisingly our cheapest fill was actually in Denmark in a smaller town off the highway, where we paid only DKK 10.19 per liter (which translates to around €1.37 per liter). A staggering price for Scandinavia!
Oh, and for those curious LMB consumption is holding steady at 9 km per liter (= ~21 mpg for my American readers). We’re pretty happy with that.
Savings Tips For Fuel: Throughout our trip north we noticed that fuel costs are always ~ €0.1-0.3 per liter higher at highway/motorway stations versus off-highway in the smaller towns. So, if you want to save on fill-ups just drive a little off the main motorway and you’ll be sure to get a better deal.
We Averaged EUR 18/night For Camping (Well, Kind Of…..)
When you do a longer trip like this exact camping costs get a little complicated to explain.
On a top level basis it’s pretty simple. We spent a total of €989 ($1,150) on camping with 24 total stops along the way. That averages out to just under €18/night (~$20/night) if you take all 56 nights into account. Of course that includes 20 nights parked with family or friends (where we paid nothing), plus a mix of camping types (free, marina camps, full-service campgrounds etc.) through several countries, so it’s actually a bit misleading all by itself.
Breaking the number down makes it way more useful IMO.
| Country | Type Of Camping | Av. Costs Per Day |
|---|---|---|
| France | Campground (full-service) | €16 |
| Luxemburg | Campground (full-service) | €24 |
| Germany | Stellplatz | FREE |
| Denmark | Campground (full-service) | DKK 300-400 |
| Denmark | Marina (services extra) | DKK 140-185 |
| Sweden | Campground (full-service) | SEK 210 |
| Netherlands | Marina (services extra) | €13 |
In France we stayed mainly at municipal or full-service campgrounds, where we paid an average of €16/night. That’s pretty in-line with our usual French camping costs.
In Luxemburg we stayed at a full-service campground which cost €24/night. I’ve no idea if this is typical of Luxemburg prices, but it seemed reasonable.
In Germany we stayed mainly at Stellplatz (the German equivalent of Aires in France) which are super low-cost parking areas for motorhomes, so we either paid nothing, or a very small fee (e.g. €3). Stellplatz tend to be pretty basic and may or may not have electrical hookups, but if you’re OK with this they’re are a wonderfully cheap way to travel through Germany.
In Denmark everything went up a notch LOL, but we were expecting this. Danish camping is generally pretty expensive and we wanted to do it in style so we didn’t really hold back that much. That said, there’s a few key ways to save.
There are over 500 full-service campgrounds in Denmark and their costs tend to run between DKK 300-450/night (€40-60, or $47-70/night). The way that price breaks down can be complicated. For example when you reserve a campsite there will usually be a “base” cost for your site (e.g. DKK 120), plus an extra cost for each person, plus (sometimes) electricity, plus even an extra cost for a dog. On top of all this water use for showers (for example) may be an extra, extra charge that’s not included in your reservation price! It’s a bit overwhelming when you first look at it, so DKK 300-450 is a good, general number to keep in mind when you plan your travels. Note/ In low season you can get a discount at around 60 campgrounds with the super-useful ASCI card. There are also several Danish-specific camping clubs such as FDM, or DCU which offer 10-30% discount on select campgrounds throughout the season.
IMO a much cheaper & simpler camping option is marinas, which are literally everywhere along the coast and one of my absolute favorite ways to camp in Denmark. Most marinas have dedicated areas for motorhomes (called “autocamper” in Danish) and will typically charge between DKK 140-185/night (€19-25 or $22-29/night). There is sometimes an extra charge for electricity and showers which may add another DKK 20-40/night to the price, but it’s still a superb deal compared to regular campgrounds. As an added bonus marina camps often stay open post-season when most regular campgrounds close. Camp by the water, walk to restaurants, castles and bakeries…what’s not to love?
In Sweden there are tons of places to stay for free (thanks in part to allemansrätten), but we did opt for one full-service campground on the southern coast that cost a very reasonable SEK 210/night (€21 or $24/night). No extra charge for showers here either. For our next trip to Sweden we’ll definitely be taking advantage of all the free camping (especially at lakes) there.
Finally, in the Netherlands we stayed at a marina that was a very reasonable €13.20/night (showers + electricity extra). Although we didn’t explore the country extensively, from what we gather marina motorhome parking is quite common along the canals her, and can be a very good deal.
Lower-Cost Camping Tips for Denmark: Wild camping is not permitted in Denmark the same way it is in Sweden & Norway, as there is no “allemansretten” on Danish soil. That said, you can legally overnight in most public parking lots as long as you fit within the parking lines (i.e. standard car-size, around 2.3-2.5m wide and 5m long), and you can also park up in many other spots as long as you don’t bother anyone (for example non-demarked parking lots, and side pullouts on roads). We even found a free waterfront site (in Gilleleje) while we were there! Lastly, some farms and inns allow overnights (legally they can offer up to 3 motorhome spots). So, there are some options. Two good map resources for free/low-cost camping (in Danish):
- Autocamper Spots in Denmark: https://pladser.altomautocamperen.dk/
- Free & Overnight Camping in Denmark: https://www.outdoor-camping.dk/overnatning-for-autocamper-campervan/
We Paid EUR 530 In Tolls/Ferry/Bridge Costs
For tolls, ferries and bridges we ended up paying around €530 in total. All of this was spent in only two countries; France (road tolls) and Denmark (ferries & bridges), since the other countries on our route don’t charge them.
The France portion of this was €165.60* (~$195), €90.30 of which we spent on our way north via Luxemburg, while €75.30 was spent coming back home via Paris (a different route). We could easily have cut this down by driving smaller roads (off the Autoroute), but frankly we were simply looking to zoom as quickly as we could through to Scandinavia and back. We knew all these prices ahead of time thanks to our go-to planning websites, autoroutes.fr and ViaMichelin.
In Denmark it all went up a notch again LOL.
In total we spent DKK 2,713 (€356 or $429) on ferries and bridges in Denmark, the biggest portion of which was a walloping DKK 930 (~€125 or $150) each way to drive the Øresunds bridge from Denmark to Sweden (and back again). The rest of the money went towards ferries (mainly getting on and off the island of Ærø) and the Storbelt bridge. There are a several ways we could have saved big here, but sadly we didn’t discover them all until later {{facepalm}}**
*Toll Tip: For regular travelers I recommend getting an electronic toll transponder, as it makes life so much easier. Just stick it to your front windshield and you can speed through the automatic lanes on Autoroutes and bridges from Italy to Scandinavia.
- For France we have Bipn’Go, which also works in Italy, Portugal and Spain. We can transfer it from car to motorhome, and we can also use it in parking lots all across Spain and France. We love it.
- For Denmark we got BroBizz, (which also works on toll roads in Norway). We had to order it a few weeks ahead of time, but it worked flawlessly on all the bridges.
**Ferry & Bridge Savings in Denmark: There are several key ways to save money on ferries & bridges in Denmark
-
Many smaller ferries are free to pedestrians in summer Stay off-island & go pedestrian: In summer most of the smaller Danish islands offer FREE ferry rides to pedestrians (plus dogs) and cyclists, so an option is to stay on the mainland and simply ferry in to see the smaller islands.
- Go In The Off Season: ferry prices go waaaaay down in the off-season. As an example the ferry from Fynshav to Søby that cost us DKK 426 in July would only cost DKK 31 now! Crazy right? Even a month out of the summer season makes a massive difference.
The bridge to Sweden is HALF price if you sign-up to Bropas - Sign-up for bridge discounts: Did you know you can save 50% on bridge costs by signing up for online discounts??? Honestly we didn’t either, initially. For Øresund Bridge simply sign-up for BroPas (costs €44) and you’ll pay HALF of what we did (I wish we’d known this)!! For Storbelt Bridge, if you have a BroBizz transponder like us you simply need to enter your motorhome info HERE and then you pay HALF the regular price. This one we DID figure out in time, thank goodness & got the discount.
Eating & Drinking Was Fine
I know many travelers lament how expensive Scandinavia is when it comes to groceries and (especially) alcohol. Honestly we didn’t find it that bad and spent about the same we usually do at home, with only a marginal increase.
We did eat out, but only at lunch and we stuck to simpler restaurants (nothing fancy) often sharing a massive single portion of fish & chips. We loaded up on alcohol at the German border town of Flensburg right before we entered Denmark (although we supplemented our stash in Denmark & Sweden too), enjoyed plenty of Danish bakery products (morning bread/rolls are a DEAL folks!) and cooked a bunch in the motorhome (which is usually our preference anyway).
I’d estimate our grocery bill went up by ~10% while our entertainment bill stayed about the same. IMO if you limit how often you go to restaurants, there’s no reason to be particularly worried about Danish food costs.
Denmark Was Wonderfully Dog Friendly
One of the positive experiences we had in Denmark was how dog friendly everything was.
Polly went everywhere with us (as she usually does) and was warmly welcomed at every restaurant (on the terrace), in all the parks (on the trails) and on almost every beach. She was even allowed inside the lounge on all the ferry rides, and would have been able to take the bus and train with us too, if we’d chosen to do that.
The only exception we ran into were the “blue flag” beaches which are protected and thus do not allow dogs (you can find a map of blue flag beaches HERE). We only encountered ONE of these on our trip. Other than that Polly had a very positive time and gave Denmark 4 paws up!
We Want to Go Back!
I know all my regular blog readers know this, but our summer in Denmark was simply sublime and we only nipped the edge of what there is to see.
Our travels focused on the smaller islands in the south, then around the north of Zealand, but we didn’t see any of the famous sand beaches of Jutland, nor did we make it to the point of Skagen where the two seas of the North meet. There are lighthouses on rollerskates here, more outstanding towns, Viking Runes and a few modern marvels too. I sense another mini-tour on the horizon….
Overall we had a wonderful trip with very reasonable costs & one I would definitely do again. Vi ses igen! (I’ll see you again)
Blog readers -> DO me know if there’s any questions I missed or something you’d like to know about Denmark. Just fire away in the comments & I’ll do my best to respond!
Finally -> a link to every single blog post from the mini-trip for those folks who like to see things in order 🙂
- A Bumpy Start Through France
- Moien From Luxembourg
- A Zoom Through Germany
- We Made It To Denmark, Finally!
- The Amazing Island Of Ærø, Denmark
- The Wild Chalk Cliffs Of Møn, Denmark
- Childhood Memories (& Marina Camping) – Kalvehave, Denmark
- Sweet Family Time – South Sweden
- Royal Splendor, Hamlet & Rainbows – Kronborg Castle, Helsingør, Denmark/a>
- The Dreamy Danish Riviera
- Roskilde, Royals & Vikings – Fjordlandet, Denmark
- Farvel Denmark (and Germany), Until We Meet Again
- Little Venice Of The North – Giethoorn, Netherlands
- The Cliff City Of Rocamadour – Dordogne, France
I just read this post for your wonderful pictoral images of a place I’ve never been. (budgets and money things aren’t for me – I’m all about visuals!) You all look very happy, sound very happy. I know you’ll definitely be back to this magical place. We’ll be happy to ride along….
Honestly I don’t think many folks are interested in the budget numbers LOL, but I do enjoy going through the process. Very happy to have you along for the ride 🙂
Nina
On the other hand, I read your posts not just to enjoy the travel in my mind but also now with the thought that I will follow in your footsteps in the (hopefully) not too distant future when the pandemic is history. That being the case I appreciate your covering costs so I know from a real world perspective how much I should budget for my trips. Even your mentions of how much pastries/breads/coffees cost is interesting to me so thanks so much for your writing and most particularly for your attention to detail including the costs. It was so nice to follow along during your trip to your childhood lands. Your stories made me want to hit the road again more than ever!
Speaking as one who enjoys both the visuals and the data, thank you very much! The data helps turn the dream of the visuals into reality for other folks who want to follow in your footsteps. Please keep it up!
Nina,
Thanks for getting back to your roots in blogging. You do such a great job of over viewing all the costs and what to expect. I can see myself now doing such a tour, if only we lived in Europe…. Sadly, we are stuck at home and even after being vaccinated received the gift of COVID. Hunkering down for a couple weeks to ride this out. Loving this post and especially the photos and personal notes about how much this means to you. It just brings it all alive. Thank you.
Oh noooooo Laura! I wish you the best of healing. Hopefully your immune system does what it should and you only have a mild case. Polly sends kisses.
Nina
Thanks for all of your efforts. Such a contrast to your travels in “The Beast”. Glad you’re safe, back at home.
What an amazing story! Your summary of the last few months was extensive, thorough, and completely interesting. After reading each of the blogs in turn as you posted them, I loved seeing the overview of the entire trip. Great jog, Nina. I don’t imagine I will even manage an RV trip through this part of Europe, but if I ever get there I will still want to read your posts again to be sure I see some of the most special spots that you wrote about.