Esbjerg can offer its guests beautiful art and architecture, exciting museums, and, not least, unique nature thanks to the city’s location right next to the Wadden Sea National Park. Esbjerg is Denmark’s fifth largest city, and the city has Denmark’s longest pedestrian street, which contains more than 200 specialist shops. On a shopping trip in Esbjerg, you are guaranteed a large selection of restaurants and cafes as well as a varied selection of shops, so there is something for everyone.
Kongensgade is the name of the city’s pedestrian street, where most shops are located. There are often activities in the town square. In the winter months, you can take the skates under your arm and spend some wonderful hours on the square’s skating rink. The harbor has always been central to the city, and it is also one around which the entire city has been rebuilt. After the war in 1864, when Denmark lost several important cities in Schleswig and Holstein, there was a need for a new major port city in Southwest Jutland. That is why Esbjerg was built. Let’s enjoy together the list of things to do in Esbjerg Denmark.
1. Wadden Sea National Park
The Wadden Sea is basically just outside Esbjerg, and it is therefore easy for you to get to the distinctive sea, which is not very deep, but where there is still a big difference between high and low tide. In the area, for example, you can go on a guided tour, where you go out and look at seals, collect mussels or see black sun when the starlings migrate in spring and autumn. This is one of the places to see in Esbjerg Denmark.
2. The Fisheries and Maritime Museum
Since 1968, the Fisheries and Maritime Museum has told the story of the fishermen who sailed from Esbjerg, and for a period helped make the town Denmark’s largest fishing port. In addition, at the museum you will also find a number of aquariums and the large sealarium, where you can study the animal life in the sea at close range.
3. The giant sculpture Man by the Sea
The enormous sculpture Mennesket ved Havet was erected in 1994, when Esbjerg could celebrate 100 years as an independent municipality. It was created by Svend Wiig Hansen and shows four enormous people sitting on the beach and looking out to sea. The idea is that travelers coming from the lake side are welcomed by the statue.
4. Esbjerg Museum
At Esbjerg Museum, they deal particularly with the occupation period. There you can, for example, enter a home as it looked back then. You enter both the living room and the kitchen and down into the basement, where the family sat when there was an air raid alarm. Perhaps you will find out yourself that there is an air raid warning while you are at the museum.
5. Esbjerg Art Museum
At Esbjerg Art Museum, they regularly organize various forms of exhibitions of modern art. They have 5-7 exhibitions a year, so even if you have been to the museum before, it is far from certain that it is the same exhibition. Their goal is to show the latest modern art and to produce new theses with art as a visual argument.
6. Fanø
It only takes 12 minutes to sail from Fanø to Esbjerg. It is therefore obvious to take a day trip to the island, where you can not least experience the long, beautiful beaches. In addition, the island offers cozy small houses in the towns on the island.
7. World War II in Esbjerg
Esbjerg was a strategic hub for the German occupying power. Esbjerg had the only port that could be used in the event of an allied invasion on the Danish west coast. Therefore, Esbjerg and Fanø were one of the most fortified areas in Denmark during the Second World War. Around 1,200 bunkers were erected here.
8. Our Savior’s Church
In 1928, the church was mainly restored and decorated with pictures by Ole Søndergaard. Also in 1928, a new organ (Marcussen) was built with carving work by Erik Pedersen. The church was thoroughly restored in 2000. In 2001, a new 43-voice organ was inaugurated.
9. Sjelborg Beach
It is located in the recreational Marbæk area, only 600 meters from Ho Bay with a child-friendly beach. The site has modern facilities, a large playground and 14 well-furnished cabins. Good opportunities for nature walks and cycling tours. In addition, there is a fishing lake on the square in a scenic area surrounded by Sjelborg Plantage.
10. The port of Esbjerg
Esbjerg Harbour is an attraction in a special class, here you can get up close to the large drilling platforms from the North Sea when they are docked in Esbjerg. Here they are towed in for preparation and repair.