The Collings go to Denmark

You might remember back in August we disappeared off to Denmark for a holiday - as guinea pigs for VisitDenmark. Here's a video we made about our trip!



If you want to follow what happened in more detail, here's the links to the blogposts we wrote at the time:

12 August 2010: The packing begins
15 August 2010: Ferry-tastic
15 August 2010: Denmark! (Grenaa Strand campsite)
16 August 2010: Denmark day 2 (Grenaa)
17 August 2010: Denmark day 3 (Kattegatcentret)
18 August 2010: Denmark day 4 (Dansk Landbrugsmuseum)
19 August 2010: Denmark day 5 (Jambo Feriepark)
20 August 2010: Denmark day 6 (Saltum Strand, Aalborg)
21 August 2010: Denmark day 7 (Aalborg Zoo)
22 August 2010: Denmark day 8 (Faarup Sommerland)
26 August 2010: Denmark - the verdict

Denmark - the verdict

We had a fantastic time in Denmark, despite the rather rainy weather. We especially liked the Baltic coast - the beaches are lovely (and very family friendly), and it's slightly less windy than the North Sea side. (Although, if you're into kites or action sports, the wind and North Sea beaches would be right up your street).

But whatever the weather, there's acres of things to see and do, and endless Danish pastries and ice creams to feast upon. We may have come back about a stone heavier than when we left.

Would we go again? Yes, definitely. We rather like the idea of travelling to Esbjerg and then driving across to Roskilde and Copenhagen, stopping at some islands en route. Although I'm not sure we'd camp again. That's no reflection on Danish campsites, which were staggeringly clean, well looked after, and packed to the ginnels with facilities. It's more the fact that we've rather fallen in love with the idea of staying in a little log cabin on the edge of a pine forest...

Huge thanks must go to Visit Denmark who arranged our trip, and to DFDS Seaways for the ferry crossing. Look out for our video on the Visit Denmark website shortly....

Ferry-tastic

So we set off, in the pouring rain from Gateshead.

Quite a lot of time later, we were in glorious sunshine at Harwich docks, ready to board the DFDS ship, the Dana Sirena. It looked huge on the dockside...until we noticed the enormous container ships and tankers nearby.

The crossing itself was surprisingly fun. I say that because I just don't do boats - I hate crossing the Channel, and the thought of 18 hours between Harwich and Esbjerg filled me with horror. But actually, it was great. Calm seas, a lovely cabin (really comfortable bunk beds, nice shower/bathroom and a sea view), and a dinky sun deck to soak up the evening sunshine.


Captain Jack liked it too...


By 2am, the ship was rocking and rolling about ('bumpy' was the technical term the Captain used), which was a little unnerving. It all made for a rather more exciting stroll on deck this morning, when the spray was shooting up all over the place, and the wind made your hair stand on end.

Our top tips for the crossing:

• Plan ahead for food for your evening meal (the ship leaves Harwich at 17.45). Both the buffet and the a la carte restaurant options are frighteningly expensive (c.£26 per person for the buffet, although you can get it slightly cheaper by booking ahead), so most families (including us) took a picnic. There's a Morrisons very handily placed (for food and petrol) just before you hit Harwich port.
• However, the breakfast buffet is brilliant - still expensive (c.£25 for all three of us - that's two adults and one child) but all the bread, Danish pastries, cereals, fruit, cheese, pate, ham, cooked breakfast, tea and coffee that you can eat (or smuggle out for lunch, ahem).
• There's a children's entertainer on board, doing magic, balloon tricks etc etc. Ours was toecurlingly terrible in an unreconstructed 1970s manner. The kids loved it.
• If you're planning on taking anything that plugs in on board (travel kettle, nightlight etc), you'll need a travel plug. The Dana Sirena is a very Danish ship!
  

Anyway, we're looking forward to the return leg. And I never thought I'd say that...thanks DFDS!