Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Funen
Why Go?
Funen (Fyn in Danish) is Denmark's proverbial middle child. Lacking Zealand's capital-
city pull or Jutland's geographic dominance, it's often overlooked by visitors, who perhaps
make a whistle-stop visit to Hans Christian's Andersen's birthplace and museum in the is-
land's capital, Odense.
Sure, the master of fairy tales is a worthy favourite son, and Odense is a lively cultural
and commercial centre. But there is much more to Funen: thatched farmhouses, picture-
book coastal towns and grand Renaissance castles dot the island's patchwork of fields and
woods.
Rolling southern pastures and orchards grow some of the country's best produce (Funen
is called 'Denmark's garden'), while handsome harbour towns give access to a yacht-filled
archipelago and idyllic seafaring islands like Ærø. It's not hard to understand why many
describe this region as a microcosm of the very best of Denmark.
