Aarhus

A.C.Perch's Thehandel

Perch's

A local branch of the venerable tea-house of the same name in Copenhagen with roots back to colonial times. The Aarhus café is smaller, and only a few years old, but has the same old-fashioned style as the original in Copenhagen. Slow down and take time to enjoy a well-made pot of high quality tea with more than a hundred varieties to sample. The clerks are there to guide you. Splurge with a Breakfast Plate or a Five O Clock Tea serving if you like. If you are a group, you can book a table online. No coffee here.

Mon-Fri 10:00-17:30, Sat 10:00-17:00·Pot of tea 95 kr, Breakfast Plate (including tea) 210 kr

ARoS

Aarhus Art Museum

One of Denmark’s largest museums. Apart from the art galleries and changing exhibitions, "Your Rainbow Panorama", offers a splendid roof-top view of the city inside a circular walkway with rainbow-coloured windows. It was created by Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson in 2011. "As Seen Below" is a newly opened huge underground permanent art installation from 2026 by James Turell. The museum has a café and restaurant with dining options in the lounge area at entrance level.

Mon-Fri 09:00-20:00; Sat Sun 10:00-17:00 in the summertime (check the website)·kr 200, kr 150 (under 31 and students), free for those under 18

Aarhus Aadal Golf Club

This golf club is west of Aarhus near the town of Harlev. Beautiful countryside. 18 holes. Restaurant.

Aarhus Botanical Gardens

Botanisk Have

Founded in 1873 as a research garden for students at Aarhus University, nowadays the Botanical Gardens have been repurposed as a pleasant outdoor park for citizens to enjoy during the warm months. However, for laypeople who may be interested in botany, there are still thousands of different species of plants on display throughout, all labelled in Latin and Danish. The bulk of the park is hilly open lawns, ponds, and landscaped gardens. Facilities include a large outdoor children's playground, an amphitheatre, toilets, and a big covered Greenhouse complex. At the Greenhouses you can experience plants from all around the world, including the tropics, and there's a café serving coffee, cake, ice cream, and light lunches.

Daily 24 hours·Free

Aarhus Culture Walks

Every Saturday at 11:00 and 14:00, two-hour culture walks starts off from the square outside the Central Station. Just show up or book on-line and save 15 percent. The tours covers both present and older times city life, architecture, art and local stories. Tours on other days of the week and with more personalized themes can be arranged for groups of ten or more people.

Sat 11:00 and 14:00·Adults kr 170; Seniors and Minors kr 140, free for Children under 12 years

Aarhus Domkirke

Aarhus Cathedral

The beautiful cathedral is more than 800 years old, and the longest and the tallest in Denmark. It took 100 years to build and it is the oldest building in the city, still standing. Concerts are sometimes arranged and the tower offers a good view. Behind the church is Aarhus Cathedral School, also with an 800-year history.

Daily May-Sep 09:30-16:00; Oct-Apr 10:00-15:00·Free (a fee for the tower)

Aarhus Forestry Botanical Garden

Forstbotanisk Have

Established in 1923, this arboretum at the north end of the forests is small (5 ha) but packed with over 900 species of trees and bushes from all over the world. It's a pleasant place to take a load off, but it's prohibited to disturb any of the plants, and falling tree branches are a persistent danger in windy weather.

Free

Aarhus Golf Club

Boasting a great view of the Bay of Aarhus and the excellent bistro and restaurant UNICO (which you can visit even if you're not a golfer), the Aarhus Golf Club has 35 years of experience and more than 1,000 members. 18 holes.

Aarhus Minigolf

For something different, how about a round of mini-golf on the rooftops of the inner city? Take the elevator to the top floor of the Bruuns Galleri shopping halls at the central station to access the rooftop terrace. There is a large eatery right next to this place and a small bar outside at the playing field. Closed in the winter.

kr 60

Aarhus Skøjtehal

Aarhus Skøjtehal is an indoor ice rink offering ice skating in season, including occasional "ice disco" events and hockey matches. In winter, an outdoor ice skating venue is set up in the inner city park outside the Concert Halls.

kr 45

Aarhus Svømmestadion

If swimming specifically is what you want to do, this is a better option than Badeanstalten Spanien, with an outdoor pool (summer only) to go along with the indoor one. Aarhus Swimming Stadium is only for swimmers, as you must be able to swim 200 m without aids to use the pools. Swimming is on short course (25 m) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and long course (50 m) on the remaining days of the week. There are also two associated sports halls known as Frederiksbjerghallerne. Bring your own padlock for your personal locker, or buy one at the reception for kr 30.

All week

Aarhus Theater

If older times architecture is more your thing, you will love to study the Aarhus Theatre building inside-out. Built around the year 1900 in the Danish version of Art Nouveau (known as skønvirke), the building is crammed with architectural details from the history of theatre and the interior is even more lusciously decorated than the outside facades. Guided tours (in Danish) on some Saturdays.

Aarhus Theater

The city's main theatre. A luscious outstanding art nouveau interior design. Guided tours of the interior are scheduled every week, but they are in Danish exclusively.

Aarhus University

Aarhus University Campus

Designed by famous Danish architects C. F. Møller, Kaj Fisker, and C. Th. Sørensen (the latter of which designed the landscaped garden), this is another noteworthy piece of architecture. The first buildings were finished in 1933, but construction is still going on today, all adhering to a common characteristic design-code in yellow brick. Here you find the Det Kgl. Bibliotek, the library which includes the iconic book tower, a landmark high-rise for the city. In the University Park you also find a cluster of museums (the Museum of Ancient Art, the Natural History Museum, and the Steno Museum) that you can read more about in the "Museums" section above. As well, the park is worth a visit, no matter the time of year.

Aarhus University Park

The University Park at the university campus is a soothing spot of greenery in the city centre and it is open year round. It is a celebrated piece of landscape architecture with rolling hills, open lawns, large old oak trees and a couple of duck ponds. If there, be sure to visit the southern section as well, known as Vennelystparken; it is the oldest park in Aarhus, dating to 1824, and is a bit different from the main park.

Aarhus Viking Museum

Small Viking museum located across from the cathedral in the basement of the Nordea Bank. The museum focuses on local history during the Viking Age and most of the displayed items were excavated on site. If you are interested in Viking Age history in general, visit the large Moesgaard Museum (MoMu) south of the city.

Mon-Wed Fri 10:00-16:00, Thu 10:00-17:00·DKK 30 for adults

Aarhus Volume

Aarhus Volume is a cultural association of young entrepreneurs who create and facilitate cultural undeground events, mostly music and small festivals. The venues changes, follow their website for upcoming events across Aarhus. In 2022, they founded the Volume Village beneath the Ringgadebroen city bridge, as part of the DIY commune Institut for (X). Here they operate a permanent headquarters with a music stage and cultural center. Visit Volume Village, volunteer, or follow their website for coming events.

Aarhus Watersports Complex

Kabelpark i Aarhus

Aarhus Watersports Complex is a voluntary organisation at Bassin 7, Aarhus Ø, offering watersports activities with focus on wakeboarding, waterskiing and SUP. A cable system similar to a ski lift serves as a replacement for the speed boats traditionally used for wakeboarding, water skis etc.

Alberts

Alberts is a bar in a historic 14th-century monks' cellar at the cathedral. Quality beer, wine, and spirits with free open-mic stand-up comedy; Monday-Thursday in Danish, Sunday in English. You can play dice here too. On weekends, this places turns into a high quality cocktail bar, where the bartenders really shows off their skills. Tapas can be had Friday and Saturday evenings as well, but you need to pre-order and book a table for that.

Every day. Outdoor serving at the big square in the summer Mon-Sat from 12:00·Cocktails from kr 100, drinks and wine from kr 60

AmoRomA

Tasty Italian food served in romantic surroundings. Vitello Tonnato, traditional pasta dishes, Saltimbocca alla Romana, and of course Tiramisù. For lunch you can have excellent stone-oven-baked pizza, which can also be bought as take-away. The restaurant is located in an old preserved timber-framed house, and AmoRomA's owners draw on experience from their Italian-style specialty store Il Mercatino in Mejlgade, with top-quality ingredients imported from Italy.

Daily·3-course evening dinner from kr 295. Pizzas are kr 90-110

Asia Restaurant

Large Chinese-style family-friendly restaurant, with room for 250 guests, situated in the ground floor level of a hotel highrise. Nice, Chinese-inspired traditional decor and good all-you-can-eat buffet with plenty of options. The buffet includes sushi, and in the evening also Mongolian barbecue and soup. A la carte menus are also offered.

Daily: lunch buffet 11:30-15:30, evening buffet 17:00-21:30·Lunch buffet kr 118, evening buffet kr 178

Atelier 33

Bistro with great quality French cuisine and a recommendation in the Michelin guide. The menu changes with the seasons here, and includes many top-notch Danish ingredients, yet never strays far from its dedication to the French cooking tradition. Oysters, Vol au Vent, Poisson en Croûte, and Crème Brûlée are among the many classics here. Reasonable prices, in view of the quality, with some splurge options.

Mon-Sat 12:00-14:00 and 17:30-21:00·Two-course prix fixe lunch special kr 350, four-course evening dinner kr 495. Many options for cheaper à la carte

Badeanstalten Spanien

The pool at this renovated historic bathhouse from the 1930s hosts many families and children on weekends, but Badeanstalten Spanien is so much more than just swimming: there's a luxury co-ed wellness section (Grossererbadet) with saunas, steambaths, spas, infrared heat lamps and other facilities. Sauna infusion sessions (Sauna Gus) at regular intervals and occassional events. The building also houses a private fitness centre.

Mon-Thu 08:00-20:00, Fri-Sun 08:00-16:00·Adults kr 88 and up for the all inclusive wellness section

Ballehage Beach

This lovely stretch of white sand south of town benefits from a stunning location nestled against the hilly greenery of the Marselisborg Forests, yet within easy walking distance of popular sights like the Varna Palace, the circular pier Den Uendelige Bro, and the Marselisborg Deer Park, as well as a number of restaurants. Popular with swimmers, sunbathers, and picnickers, Ballehage boasts calm and clean waters, as well as amenities such as toilets and changing areas.

Bar' Hapla

This place markets itself as a bar with dining options, just how the Spanish love it. Don't hesitate to book a table for dining though, as the food is great and the place is often packed with guests. At Bar' Hapla, the food will arrive sporadically at the table, whenever the kitchen has it ready, so there will be ample time to enjoy your wine and drinks. Fed up with the overuse of the term 'tapas', Bar' Hapla call their small Spanish-style servings 'bites', but they are just as tasty and with purely vegetarian options as well.

Kitchen is open daily 17:00-22:00, Fri Sat 12:00-16:00·'Bites' servings kr 65 and up. Expect three servings to make a full meal

Barstart

A short walk away from the riverside, you'll find this small and easy-to-miss place clustered among a handful of similarly busy nightspots. Barstart's constantly changing drink menu encompasses many innovative specialty cocktails, but the experienced bartenders here could most likely make any classic drink you would like.

Tue-Sat from 18:00·Craft cocktails from kr 100

Bazar Vest

An international bazaar of 110 small shops where you can buy all kinds of imported items and ethnic food. Get yourself a meal, a haircut and your shoes fixed or what about a hookah, a real Persian carpet and a specially designed Arabian perfume? Many cuisines, from Greek and Turkish to Somalian and Indian. Good shawarmas, falafel and sweet Arabian delights. Sometimes events such as market days with special discounts or concerts with Middle Eastern artists or world music. Large parking lots.

Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00·Free

Bellevue Beach Park

Probably the most popular Aarhus beach in a verdant yet often crowded setting. You will find Bellevue Beach on the northern outskirts of town, past the Riis Skov forest, facing Aarhus Harbor in the distance. Bellevue's sands are delightfully white and powdery, and the water is shallow and balmy, but notably less clean than other beaches listed here, especially after heavy rains. Amenities includes public toilets, drinking water, trash bins, and a small kiosk. You can get a meal at the café in the adjacent Bellevuehallerne sports complex and there are several small eateries in the immediate neighbourhood.

Bodegaen

Located right at the river, this hip and popular place is only a few years old, but fully equipped as an iconic old fashioned bodega, hence the name. Enjoy a beer and a game for a bit of fun. Games on offer includes darts, dice, pool (bob), or foosball (a quite popular "sport" in Denmark for young people).

Daily·Ceres TOP kr 25

Bone's

American-style barbecue in two floors. Bone's is a family friendly Danish restaurant chain with eateries across the country. Lunch options every day.

Daily 11:00-21:30