From Odense to Gilleleje

MAY 26, 2025: The plan for today was to spend the morning in Odense—including a visit to the Hans Christian Andersen Museum—before making the long drive to Gilleleje via Slagelse.

We woke up to a bright, sunny morning. In Denmark, museums rarely open before 10:00 a.m., and as early risers, we lingered over the hotel’s excellent breakfast buffet. By 9:30, we had checked out and set off to explore the historic center of Odense. The pedestrian streets were quiet, with shops and restaurants still closed. We wandered past rows of small, colorful houses that looked as though they’d stepped straight out of one of Andersen’s stories.

Han Christian Anderson stories are popular in China and consequently, this charming town gets many Chinese tourists – so much so, that some of the directional signs appear in Chinese.

The famous fairy tale author was born here in Odense on April 2, 1805, the only child of a poor shoemaker and a washerwoman. Today, two sites honor his life: the humble house where he was born, and the newer, immersive Hans Christian Andersen Museum. Being a Monday, his childhood home was closed, but the museum was open.

The first part of the museum leads visitors through a spiraling timeline of Andersen’s life, with side rooms offering deeper glimpses: one about his many failed romances, another filled with original letters and documents, and my favorite—one devoted to his lifelong love of travel.

The second half of the museum, the Fairy Tale Garden, is pure magic: an imaginative journey through the stories he wrote. Each tale is brought to life with exhibits, many of them interactive. In one room, Michal waved her arms and the Ugly Duckling flapped its wings in response. In another, for the Emperor’s New Clothes, we appeared magically dressed as we looked at our reflection in a mirror. All the classics are here: The Princess and the Pea, Thumbelina, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Little Match Girl—alongside a quiet reading area where visitors can sit and lose themselves in his stories.

Hans Christian Andersen’s life was a true rags-to-riches tale. Though he grew up in poverty, he lived to see his genius recognized and celebrated during his lifetime. In 1875, he died famous, but, like many of his characters, alone.

After the museum, we drove to the Jewish cemetery in Odense. Jewish life in Odense began in the late 18th century, with a small community forming officially in 1805, establishing a synagogue and later a cemetery in 1825 (exactly 200 years ago). The community peaked in the early 1800s with just over 100 members, but gradually declined, and by the 1920s, the congregation dissolved, with the last burial taking place in 1928. A few additional burials occurred in the 1960s for Jewish refugees who returned after fleeing to Sweden during WWII, and today only 33 gravestones remain of the 88 burials recorded.

After visiting the cemetery, it was time to begin our drive to Gilleleje. Odense sits on the island of Funen, while Gilleleje is located on Zealand, with the Great Belt strait lying between them. A few days earlier, we had crossed this same stretch of water by ferry—a 45-minute ride. Today, however, we took a different route: driving across the Great Belt Bridge, an engineering marvel that links Denmark’s two largest islands. Opened in 1998, the bridge system spans 18 kilometers (11 miles) and includes a low-level road bridge, an undersea railway tunnel, and a spectacular suspension bridge—one of the longest in the world.

Once back on the island of Zealand, we headed to Slagelse, home to what is believed to be the smallest Jewish cemetery in Denmark. Only about 20 individuals are buried there, and just 11 tombstones remain visible. The history of the Jewish community in Slagelse mirrors that of many smaller towns across Denmark: the population peaked in 1834 with 90 people, then gradually declined. The last burial took place in 1906. When we arrived, the cemetery gate was locked. A Star of David adorned the entrance gate, and the hedges surrounding the gate were so thick and tall, we couldn’t see inside.

Today, Slagelse is a lively town of about 30,000 residents. Its charming downtown surprised us with a large, modern indoor shopping mall near the historical center. We had lunch at a very good Thai restaurant in the mall and afterwards, took our time strolling through the shops, especially enjoying the beautiful Scandinavian houseware stores, with their emphasis on natural materials—think oak, wool, linen, stone—and a color palette drawn from the Nordic landscape: muted greys, forest greens, dusty blues, and creamy whites.

From Slagelse, we had about a two hour drive to Gilleleje, and with traffic, it took a bit longer. We took a rest stop at an “Only Coffee” café just as they were closing. We sipped decaf at a table outside and admired their large vegetable garden.

Finally, we arrived in Gilleleje, a picturesque harbor town on the northern coast of Zealand—known not only for its scenic charm but also for its courageous role in the rescue of Danish Jews during World War II. Tomorrow, we will explore the town’s Jewish connection, but for now, we were simply glad to have arrived. Our hotel, right in the town center, surprised us with a spacious room with a balcony overlooking the harbor and the sea—a perfect place to end the day.