Have your evening pilsner on the bank of Odense River with the sun on your face and surrounded by unbusy people on blankets. Leap between water lily petals on the Fairy tale playground, sail to the ZOO with a riverboat, or jump in the water on your last day of school.

The park is the southern bastion of the Latin quarter where the best of city and nature is gathered in one place; water, trees, grass, duck feeding, aafart (sailing), art exhibitions, sculptures, and playground. A nice place to hang with your friends, with disposable grill and beers in the summer time. And a place just as suited for swinging your ponytail and flashing your gravity-defying sporno body in a neon tracksuit.

On sunny days, there is always at leas tone silver ghettoblaster, releasing tunes from past decades. On the playground: kids. In the open lawn areas: drunken people. So, a good opportunity to hear a truth or two.

• Mon - Sun: 0.00 - 24.00

Summer on a budget? Maybe you should go on a hike to the former wasteyard, now recreational area, Stige Ø. Pull the plug, take your tent, your camping stove and a (warm) sleeping bag on your back and go camping with your favorite bottle of booze on the top of Stige Ø, where the view over the city is quite good.

Stige Ø is Odense's Amager Fælled. Space and kilometers. A big and hilly recreational area. Here you can escape the city and enjoy the wildlife. This is where the good jogging happens. This is where the mountainbike-people do dirt jump. This is where we go out and lay in shelter and make bonfires and ride our bikes and run on the hills and fly kites and get wind in our hair and look out to the water - this is the good life. Whatever it is you might want to know about the island, you can find it here: http://www.stigeoe.dk (in Danish).

Have you used up your entire vacation budget buying ridiculously expensive cold beer at Roskilde, or do you just want to test your survival skills within a convenient (bike) radius, then I recommend that you pack your camping gear and take a trip to our own little "trash island". Here you will find free shelters and great outdoor experiences waiting for you - whether it's catching your own dinner on the island's fishing spots, pretending to be an amateur ornithologist looking for white-tailed eagles, patting the wild horses, or just enjoying the evening while the silence descends - there is plenty to see for those who think nature is awesome. And if you do not feel quite SO adventurous, or simply do not have the time, then you could still just spend a couple of hours exploring the hills and the many activities that the island has to offer.

But I have also just heard that Stige Ø is the place where junkies that can't pay their debts get their fingers cut off. "When a drug addict is told to get into a car, late at night, and driven out to Sige Ø, (s)he knows perfectly well what's going to happen."

This undeniably adds a little extra suspense to our shelter tour. This is - also - Odense. See you on Stige Ø.

• Mon - Sun: 0.00 - 24.00

In my younger days, I often strolled through the ZOO; potential lover in one hand and a flask of heartening spirits in the other. Now my visits are with my daughter and a self-indulgent ice cream.

But it is no less enjoyable. Because, even though Odense ZOO in 1930 was the tamest ZOO imaginable – a peacock, two monkeys, a deer, a mole, and some guinea pigs were what was on show – the attraction is now truly attractive and in both 2013 and 2015 it won the award for Best European ZOO in its category (with up to 500,000 annual visitors - only awarded every second year).

This is mainly because the ZOO has managed to make cages into more than crates of containment: The enclosures have become narratives. The rocks and roaring waterfall in the lions’ enclave eccho Pride Rock from The Lion King; the ring-tailed lemurs romp in an abandoned vanilla-warehouse; and the noise of wings whistles overhead in the largest aviary in Europe.

Still, the favourite is the manatee, which bobs about in its jungle swamp bassin with the appearance of an inept kid’s drawing – strange proportions and short of details. Yet, I find myself forgetting time and place watching this big, grey beast hovering in the water, chomping on lettuce. It is absolute, peaceful bliss.

Remember that Odense ZOO serves both very bad and very expensive food, so it is worthwhile preparing lunch befoerhand and enjoying it on the savannah with a view of grazing zebras.

• Mon - Fri: 10.00 - 17.00
• Sat - Sun: 10.00 - 18.00

Den Fynske Landsby (Funen Village) is arguably the cultural institution in Odense I have the closest relationship with - I have visited the place uncountable times during my upbringing, under quite different circumstances. Here I have fooled around both during and outside of opening hours when my father worked on the realization of “Svinedrengen” (The Swineherd); here I had the authentic My-Funish-Childhood-experience that time I wore real clogs and all too little sunscreen (thanks Dad); here I was an extra in some play about local hero no. 2, Carl Nielsen. It was also here that I saw for the first time Jeppe på Bjerget in a stunning setup, where you followed the poor protagonist around the village -- from the farmhouse where he was beaten up by his wife with Mester Erik, to the pub, where he would drink all his money up, and over to the manor house, where he would wake up to a new (and unfortunately short-termed) reality.

I COULD be harsh and describe Den Fynske Landsby as Dansk Folkeparti’s dreamland: a seemingly historical time warp, where only people with money and interest in the Danish cultural heritage are allowed. But that’s not (entirely) true: the village just outside the soon-to-be mini-big-city is a fantastic escape destination for families, because here is where grandmom's childhood stories blend with tales from Emil of Lönneberga, talks about animal welfare, agricultural policy and village communities as well as an interest for animals and machines. And if neither you nor your family are equipped with fun facts about the Denmark of the 1800s, there are luckily living stories (link in Danish) and guided tours during opening hours.

So even though there are way too few buttons to press and the whole thing smells a bit old, Den Fynske Landsby is just a crazily cozy place to have a picnic at, and spend a few hours together across generations.

• Mon - Sun: -

Is it still summer? Still sunny, still warm? Still time for cold beer, summer reading and skinny-dipping? Then there's nothing better than jumping in - whether it’s in beer, in literature, or in the water! 

While we would normally take a trip out to Hasmark, Kerteminde or - if anything - a lazy swim in the open-air pool, I’m going to suggest a somewhat obscure and definitely overlooked alternative: Davinde lake! 

The lake has long been one of Odense’s hidden gems and I myself have only recently found out about it. The area is a former gravel pit, which has been transformed into a series of lakes surrounded by the purest nature - green and leafy. 

More precisely, the area is called Tarup-Davinde and it’s situated on the road to Ørbæk. You can easily ride your bike there, but if the kids are not totally bike-ripe yet, or you have packed all 24 volumes of Grimberg’s world history in your backpack, then it might be a little too far. Odense Kommune has prepared an info-page about the area with various route suggestions, so it’s easy to plan the trip in advance.  

Read more about the lakes here.

• Mon - Sun: 0.00 - 24.00

If the weather ends up warm enough that you begin considering heading off to Odense Friluftsbad (that is never going to happen, you say? Wouldn’t anyone choose the beach over the pool anyday? Not necessarily. There are in fact people out there who dislike getting sand between their toes. My friend Hakon would rather stand up all day than sit down in the sand. When his daughter got a sand box as a present the other day, and he was obligated to touch the expensive Toys”R”Us sand in order to signal enthusiasm, I saw him wipe his hand on his thighs afterwards with a distinct shiver. AND the sunfish is on its way to Denmark, which means that the great white shark is just around the corner, and some people just don’t care for white sharks in their water), you should instead consider Allerup Gamle Have. A bathing institution with heart, soul and gymnastics.

Dating back to 1929, the gardens have been sports- and festival grounds for nearly a century, and in 1934 Odense Amts Gymnastikforening hoped to secure the salvation of Denmark through gymnastics and a “fine and tough-fibered youth”. I wonder when that idea was thrown overboard. Today, Allerup Gamle Have is home to a workshop run by local volunteers and you can dangle your legs over the pool-blue water and suck a Sun Lolly till the paper dissolves on your lips.

I admit I haven’t actually been there since I was much, much younger and correspondingly shorter and smaller, making the scale of its grandeur a questionable thing. But i my memory, the sunny glory of the old gardens is nothing short of grand. A half-timbered farm with a pool where the cobblestone courtyard should have been, dug by 158 fine, tough gymnast in the upright 1930s.

Apart from the pool, there is also a playing field, kongespil, a jungle gym, basket hoops, volley nets and the chance to buy a sticky-sweet Capri Sonne for 8 kr. and a bag of pork rinds for 15. And if you want to dine on rissoles with new potatoes and gravy and peas at the neighbouring inn, you’ll have to bring your own wine as the place has no liquor license.

The old garden has room for those of us who do not enjoy sharks, sand between our toes or summer crowds. The gardens are 12 km south-east of Odense C. A dash for both cyclists and motorists.

• Mon - Fri: 13 - 18:30
• Sat - Sun: 12 - 18:30

Don’t be fooled by its name – at Eventyrhaven (literally, The Fairytale Garden) there is neither amusement park nor tourist trap in sight; instead, you’ll find a green slice of heaven perfect for sunbathing in the middle of the city. Its official name might be H.C. Andersen’s Garden and sure enough the poet himself stands tall in superhuman size on its hills, yet this river valley park is never called by any other name than Eventyrhaven, and old H.C. is nothing but a dash in the mind of dreamers (and the occasional tourist) here. Instead, the key figures of the place are the soulful nymph Echo on the hill (Aksel Hansen, 1888) and the waterborne iron sculpture Papirbåden/Paper Boat (Erik Heide, 1985), each stirring the imagination of grown-ups and children in their own way.

Despite a playground and a salsa corner with a small café, Eventyrhaven maintains a rather more refined, even secret aura than any other park in the city. Perhaps it stems from the fact that the park is really an island in the Odense River; perhaps because of its history – once a convent garden, it was later turned into an exclusive haven for the bourgeois patrons of the city’s Reading Society and it remained so until 1942, when the whole area was opened to the public, including the herb garden of the cloisters.

Today its gentle hills are open all year round to promenaders, sunbathers and playing children. Yes, hills – in Odense! The steps leading down towards the river are steep and veritably beg for a death-defying bicycle dash. But if you turn around halfway down and look back up, you’ll see the cathedral and the city hall take on unexpected grandeur and height above you. Even after the nearby Albanigade has been closed for traffic, you can always hear the hum of city in the park, but it is white noise under the sound quacking ducks and the reggae music that a group of school kids are sure to be playing at any given sunny day as they set up camp with blankets on the lawns.

Watch the changing seasons in the circular flower garden, surrounded by an overgrown archway providing shade for lovers and beer drinkers alike, no matter the time of day.

• Mon - Sun: 0.00 - 24.00

At the cheap end of the river lies a botanical garden, which with its 9000 species is Denmark's largest collection of living plants. 

I recommend biking to Kulturbotanisk Have and swallow in the gorgeousness of nature. And if you can't resist making the experience into a cultural one, then you can couple nature with some knowledge and categories — we humans are so good at classifying! — by reading all the thousands of signs about what the different species are called, how old they are, which other plants they are related to etc. etc. You can book a guided tour by calling this number: 66102723.

But you can also just lay down in the middle of everything. Flowers are too cool. If everyone looked at flowers, the world wouldn't be in flames.

Address: Ejbygade 75, 5220 Odense SØ

Always open.

• Mon - Sun: 00.00 - 24.00

Run, dammit, run! I myself never run for the sake of running, but I know that a lot of people do. So why not do it on a prize-winning track?!

The University of Southern Denmark's athletics facility are the best in the world. The International Olympic Committee has, together with the Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities, nominated the facility as world's best outdoors sports center.

Boom. We can't help but recommend something so big. It's also really cool to run on it. It's not as you imagine/fear. It's a track for both competitions and play. And the latter is particularly important. Running should be fun, otherwise there's a whole lot of other disciplines that inspire more fantasy and amusement.

But running is definitely a sport of the people. Unbelievably many people run. Either for health reasons, or to win something — maybe even to win on themselves. It's all good. There is a perfect running track for all this — and it's right in Odense.

So on with your shoes, down to the University of Souther Denmark, take your kids with (if you have any) and run! Run so that you sweat it all off, and your legs rejoice in acid and oxygen!

• Mon - Sun: 00.00 - 24.00

Sankt Jørgens Park is the shit. Still. Even though it has become a scooter inferno in the daytime - but more about that later.

A skate area located at the poor end of the creek. Weed (illegal), beer, sun, fire, asphalt, curbs, hips, banks, eurogabs, ledges, flatbars, big host, manual pads, rails ... it's a bit of a lie, you must go to Fælledparken in Copenhagen, if you want it all. But Sankt Jørgens Park forever. Skate or Die.

'Skate or Die' is more than a poem for teens to ride on board. Skateboarding is an existential choice. It's To Be or Not to Be. It's a way to use the world. Where the surroundings are not limitations, but possibilities. To get results you must believe in yourself and keep on until you succeed. Each fall is just one step closer to the goal. Slam, hard! There is only one restriction and it’s your own ability. It’s human condition, The Human Condition.

About the scooters: Who would have thought it was going to be cool to have a scooter?! Big boys running around on these children's toys?? I have a theory why: this generation is obsessed with the thought that nothing must hurt. Skateboarding hurts. Scooters don’t. It's easy. It works from the start. See how easy I can get up and down and over ramps, I'm cool right away ... No. You are not cool. No Pain No Gain. You cannot achieve anything without paying a price.

Odense has some skateboard legends. First this guy, from the time of the VHS, a flying Silas Eriksen with alias Kill, from the Wrong Team's Make It Or Break It: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQR66UGinms.

And from the next generation, an even wilder dancer, Flex Sebastian O'Connor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbeRBtQHv98. No one has surpassed him since, he is a European phenomenon.

Once you have thrown your scooter in the harbor, bought a skateboard and hurt yourself 10,000 times at Sankt Jørgens Parken, and in the wintertime in the indoor-hall on Grønløkkevej, and you have become skilful, you may get to Fucke's secret pool.

"Use the City", "Odense plays" - and all those terrible municipality slogans - nobody listens to those better than the skaters. But nobody is as excluded from municipality's 'Leisure and Culture' budgets as much: Odense's outdoor skate areas are under-financed like nowhere else. From Skagen to Bornholm, municipalities are buying setups for large concrete-bowls. And it is only because the owner of the skate-concrete company FSR, Claus Hermansen, an old skater from Odense, financially supported his childhood hobby, that now one-tenth of Sankt Jørgens Park is now worth skating.

• Mon - Sun: 00.00 - 24.00

Odense has a sculpture park. Not a lot of people know this, but at Hollufgård there is a park of sculptures for everyone to enjoy under the open sky. Some are made especially for the site while others could not stay where they were before.

During the lockdown I went there a lot. It is really great in the blooming spring. On a grey winter day it might lessen the charm a bit, but the sculptures are as enjoyable as ever. I am epically fond of the plaque by Gunnar Aagaard Andersen, which was earlier situated by Odense Concert Hall, as part of the halls comprehensive decoration, also courtesy of Aagaard Andersen.

“Outside of the hall there will be double sculpture. As two symmetrical chords, that are not facing each other. Each sculpture consists of 4 Bent plaques, that together forms their own vault, the two vaults are almost meeting each other as a gate, a gate that is made up of fragments from different epochs….as if they were there before the buildings or perhaps after them, like the music that is to played here can be old, or new, or not yet written." - Gunnar Aagaard Andersen, 1982

The sculptures are therefore rather specific to the concert hall and no matter how beautiful there is at Hollufgård sculpture park, this is a very different environment from that for which they were originally created. My personal opinion is that they should be brought back to town, where they best serve their purpose, but until then (or perhaps forever) they can be seen in the lovely forest garden at Hollufgård.

• Mon - Sun: 00.00 - 24.00

The Albani brewery is located between Albanigade and Frederiksgade, like a massive uncompromising giant enclosed by tall red walls. Undoubtedly, they ensure the whole city’s pilsner supply, but the building has not given much back to Odense – at least until recently.

Since 2016, the Albani brewery has exposed one of its corner, the furthest one down to the river. And, on the high wall next to the brick arches – old inheritance from bygone days – one can meet five high forms, composed by white and black triangular tiles. Once in a while, the triangles somehow stick out into the air, from the underlying insipid brick wall. These small grips run in zigzag through the five large panels, and if you are standing up in front of the artwork, you can actually grab some of them.

The installation on the back of the Albani brewery is indeed both a sculpture and a climbing wall. The artist behind this climbing wall, Jacob Skov, has developed the different wall elements in collaboration with local climbers, thus creating an artwork, on which you can have fun.

In addition to opening the back wall of the brewery for artists and climbing enthusiasts, the small green area beside the wall has also been cleared, and a small playground has been added. The enormous brewery organism opens up beautifully for other urban creatures, and the little green area between the walls and the river has become a tiny oasis in the middle of the city.

The next step could be to tear down the wall underneath one of the arches and open a small bar that sells bottles with manufacturing defects to young people, who relax in pallet-based furniture in the sunshine. Hear me now, Albani!

• Mon - Sun: 00:00 - 24:00