Southern Danish Islands: Chalk Cliffs, Vikings and Trails

Fossils of animals that lived in a sea more than 65 million years ago can be found in the chalk cliffs of Møns Klint. At the beach near Møns Klint, visitors can take part in guided fossil hunts.

Nature

Stevns Klint extends down to the boundary between the Tertiary and Cretaceous periods. The Faxe Limestone Quarry offers good opportunities to find fossils. Clear descriptions of geological sites worth seeing in Zealand, Lolland-Falster and Møn are available for the Zealand region.

Related destinations in this travel area include Dundagas Novads, Skåne, Östergötland, North Ostrobothnia, Liepāja, Stockholm, Saint Petersburg and Södermanland.

Trails

The Roskilde Fjord stretches 36 kilometres south from its mouth at the Isefjord near Lynæs into central Zealand. The Fjordstien is a marked 230-kilometre cycling and hiking trail and includes a 47-kilometre section between Roskilde and Holbæk. National Cycle Route N7 runs for approximately 231 kilometres around Zealand.

The Sjællandsleden is a coastal hiking trail that allows you to walk around Zealand. It includes the three distinctive trails Camøno, Trampestien and Lagunestien. The western section passes through the municipalities of Slagelse, Sorø, Kalundborg and Holbæk and is marked with red dots and arrows. At several points, this section crosses public transport routes. During the season, a free bus connects Slagelse railway station with Trelleborg.

Culture

Roskilde Cathedral was Scandinavia’s first Gothic brick cathedral and has served as the mausoleum of the Danish royal family since the 16th century. Trelleborg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and combines a museum with authentic Viking excavations, the ramparts of the ring fortress and the Slagløse Viking village.

The Viking Ship Museum displays five original Viking ships. At the museum’s boatyard, visitors can watch ships being built; at the museum, they can row out onto the Roskilde Fjord in replicas of Viking ships.

The cultural sites each focus on different aspects: the cathedral combines sacred brick Gothic architecture with the history of the Danish royal family, Trelleborg presents the ring fortress, excavations and Viking village, and the Viking Ship Museum complements these stops with five original ships, boatbuilding that visitors can watch and rowing in replicas on the Roskilde Fjord.

Experiences

GeoCenter Møns Klint offers more than 20 indoor and outdoor experiences. During the main season and at selected times, there are open guided tours to the fossil beach, through the forest and by mountain bike. The 45-metre-high Forest Tower can be reached via a raised walkway through Gisselfeld Forest that is 3.2 kilometres long in total. Camp Adventure’s adventure park has twelve courses that run through and above a beech forest.

Knuthenborg Safaripark is Northern Europe’s largest safari park.

Wine

Dyrehøj Vingaard offers guided tours of the winery and wine tastings as visitor experiences. At Dyrehøj Vingaard, visitors were able to take part in a grape harvest held in October.