Aalborg, Denmark

IN SEARCH OF VIKINGS

Denmark’s fourth-largest city, and its most northerly, has undergone a renaissance while maintaining its historical feel in the cobbled streets and half-timbered buildings of the old town. Aalborg is not largely known to tourists, yet, but it’s a small, charming place that will have you marvelling from the moment you arrive in the city.

Home to a symphony orchestra, an opera, and the Aalborg Museum of Modern Art, the city will keep its most cultured visitors well entertained. If you’re seeking a slower pace, take a walk by the waterfront dotted with little fishing boats docked to tiny red boathouses. The city is also home to the Aalbord Akavit Distillery, which you can tour and have a taste of the “water of life.”

If you’re in search of Viking territory, Aalborg is home to Scandanavia’s largest Viking burial site. Visit early or later in the day to catch the sunlight glinting off the burial stones.