Funen and the islands of the South Funen Sea

Route description

Start in Odense, Denmark’s third city and the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen, whose museum sits in the old quarter. Then head south on route 9 through a gentle landscape of fields and manor houses to Egeskov, the most famous of Funen’s castles.

Detour west to Faaborg, a small harbour town with cobbled streets and a good art museum, and follow the coast road through the hills of the Svanninge Bakker to Svendborg. Svendborg is the sailing capital of the South Funen archipelago and the port for ferries to Ærø.

Route 9 continues over the Svendborgsund Bridge to Tåsinge, where Valdemars Slot and the village of Troense look across the water, and then over the Langeland Bridge to Rudkøbing. Langeland is long and quiet, with beaches, wild ponies in the south and easy cycling.

All the islands on this route are linked by bridges, so no ferry is needed unless you add Ærø. Distances are short, which leaves time for a swim, farm stalls selling strawberries and new potatoes in early summer, and a sunset at the water.