In keeping with my “Frequent Flyer – a how to” post… when £16 return flights to Billund, Denmark popped up I booked them. My first visit to Scandinavia was a wonderfully relaxed weekend exploring small towns, green countryside and visiting Legoland which is Billund’s main claim to fame. It was nice to go somewhere without loads to do as it meant that there was zero guilt in sitting in sunny parks, stopping for (very expensive) coffees and braving the heat of the sauna at the lodge…

Itsu for breakfast at Stanstead. 

First stop was Vejle – 30 minutes by bus from Billed Airport and a twenty minute walk to the harbour to see Bolgen (The Wave).

Lunch at Caffen in Vejle – around £15 for salad and a Diet Coke so not too extortionate for a Londoner.

Hotel options were rather thin on the ground but this lodge in Filskov was perfect – 20 minutes from the airport by taxi.

A walk around the village – aborted due to rain in favour of the lodge’s sauna.

Danish Breakfast

Holiday hauling – mistakenly thought H&M was Danish but it isn’t. Tiger is though because “tiger” sounds like the word for 10 Krone (£1) in Danish.

Legoland! Lots of Scandi recreations which was super cute. 

Cute Bakery, shame it closed 5 minutes after spotting it when in desperate need of caffeine! 

Tips:

1. Taxis in Denmark are insanely expensive. I watched with horror as the metre clicked up by ten pence every second on a 10-15 minute trip from the airport to the lodge which ended up being £32. For the trip back to Legoland, the hotel booked a Flextrafik taxi which was…£6.50. Definitely ask Danish people about this.

2. LEGOLAND – buy your tickets online for a discount if you book more than 7 days in advance. Arrive early (although opening hours vary so check online first) and you’ll probably only need half a day in the park. Queues were no longer than 10 minutes for the rides (although extreme thrill seekers will be disappointed). Food in the park is expensive (it always is) but you can take in your own food and drinks and there’s free bag storage to store heavier bags while exploring the park.

3. Billund town itself is tiny and was oddly deserted, albeit that apart from supermarkets every other shop is closed on a Sunday. The town has three restaurants which are all pizza / steak restaurants. Vejle was a better bet for shopping, wandering and dining options and is only 30 minutes by bus from the airport. If you’re visiting on a weekend, I’d recommend booking Legoland for the Sunday and getting all other sightseeing done on the Saturday as I think a lot of shops and tourist attractions shut on a Sunday. There’s a small tourist office at the airport where you can pick up bus timetables and local maps.

4. Denmark doesn’t use the Euro – Danish Krone is the currency and it’s around 10 to the pound so pretty easy to figure out. There’s an ATM at the airport and I got £150 worth of Krone out which was more than enough for two days but meant a guilt-free Clinque purchase in the airport on the way home.