Middelfart

Middelfart lies on the route between Flensburg and Copenhagen, at the narrowest point of the Little Belt. With a population of just under 14,000, the town has plenty of surprises in store for families holidaying in Denmark. It has far more secrets than first meet the eye, and even its artistic side is wonderfully diverse.

Middelfart is on the island of Funen, right at the gateway to Jutland. The newly built bridge, with its towering pylons, can make it easy to overlook the town. But Middelfart is well worth a stop, a short trip or a weekend break. The panorama from the cliffs above the town is breathtaking.

The small town stands out for its whaling history and, above all, the success story of the mobile—a creation born on a whim that now adorns children’s rooms all over the world. The royal family, too, has left its mark on the wooded peninsula by Fænø Sund, with an unassuming red-brick castle. Several half-timbered houses grace the historic old town. Behind their doors, you’ll find holiday apartments as well as fascinating museums and exhibitions. One particularly surprising attraction is the Middelfart Museum, which houses a collection of women’s hats from various centuries—perhaps the only collection of its kind in the entire Baltic region.

The sea, the Baltic and the Little Belt are also celebrated at Fyns Sommerland amusement park and Fyns Aquarium. In Middelfart, you can head far out into the Baltic on one of the deep-sea fishing trips. For a more leisurely pace, take a boat trip winding through the Little Belt.

For a change of pace, visit the Grimmerhus Ceramics Museum. It opened in 1994 and today showcases works by modern Danish ceramic artists in a series of engaging temporary exhibitions.