DENMARK - Europe by Eurail 2015: Touring Europe by Train - page 108

Day Excursion to
Aarhus (Århus)
World's Smallest Big City
Depart from København H. Station
Distance by Train: 139 miles (223 km)
Average Train Time: 2 hours, 36 minutes
No city code required
Tourist Information Office: Welcome Center, Banegårdspladsen 20, DK-8000
Aarhus
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]
www.visitaarhus.com
E-mail: [e-mail]
Hours: September-June: Monday-Friday 1000-1700; July-August: 1000-1800
Monday-Friday, 1000-1500 Saturday; closed Sundays
Notes: To reach the tourist office, exit the station and cross the street. Turn left and
cross the street.
The Great Belt Tunnel decreased the travel time between Copenhagen and Aar-
hus from 4 hours to 2 hours and 36 minutes via express InterCityLyn service.
And travel aboard the Danish Railways (DSB) InterCity trains is comfortable and
a pleasant way to see the Danish countryside. When you arrive in Aarhus, disem-
bark and follow the signs to the main rail station, where you mount stairs leading to
the station's main concourse. Lift (elevator) service and escalators are available.
After turning left, walk to the end of the corridor. The train information office is to
the left at the end of the corridor. Hours: 0900-1900 daily.
People have lived in Aarhus ever since the Vikings settled at the mouth of the
river, where it meets the bay. There the Norsemen constructed a harbor, built
houses, and erected a church. During the 1960s, contractors excavating under a
bank in Aarhus came upon the remains of a semicircular rampart that the Vikings
of a thousand years ago used to protect their small community.
Today the site is a museum where you can see the reconstructed ramparts with
a typical house of that time with tools and other belongings used by the first in-
habitants of Aarhus. There is also a collection of 75 historic buildings that have
been transferred there from every region of the country to re-create an entire 17th-
century Danish market town, complete with narrow cobbled streets, shops, pub-
lic squares—even a millrace. Known as The Old Town, it is the largest museum