Arranging your own bike tour can be daunting; many riders use a tour operator to handle travel arrangements and to haul luggage between hotels. A more casual option: Several regional Danish tourist offices will build an itinerary for you, reserve hotels, secure bikes and saddlebags, and provide maps detailing the way and marking places of interest (a geographic index of regional tourist offices is available at visitdenmark.com). My husband, teenage daughter, and I settled on a trip from the Limfjord district to the far north of the country because it would take us from the interior fjords to the international North Sea Cycle Route, where the wind would be at our back. We were lured to our second route—around Bornholm—by a congenial climate and the fact that in June we would be ahead of high season. We contacted the tourist offices in both places and told them what we were looking for, and they did the rest. We were responsible for all meals, but that was part of the adventure.

The country code for Denmark is 45. Prices quoted are for August 2009.


In the center of Mors, at the harbor, the Pakhuset Hotel is in what was an early-nineteenth-century warehouse, with sloping floors and timbered ceilings that sometimes require ducking. The rooms are utilitarian and fine, although the ones that face the town square can get a bit noisy on weekend nights (97-72-33-00; doubles, $168). In Klim, the family-run Klim Bjerg is off the beaten path in an agricultural area, with spacious rooms and a dining room that features regional specialties. The owners speak limited English but are very welcoming (98-22-52-42; doubles, $131; entrées, $20–$26. On a rise above the beach in Lønstrup, the Hotel Marinella has a delightful courtyard that's open for breakfast. It's quaint and old, but the rooms are renovated in Scandinavian modern (98-96-07-00; doubles, $135-$215; breakfast, $16). Far enough away from the bustle of Skagen to be relaxing, Badepension Marienlund is a quick bike ride from the harbor. The rooms are bright and comfortable, and there are common areas on the grounds for sunbathing and afternoon tea (98-44-13-20; doubles, $186).

On Bornholm, the Hotel Romantik, as the name implies, is the sort of place where you may want to extend your stay just to gaze out its picture windows at the Baltic Sea. Although the place appears quite ancient from the outside, the rooms were recently renovated (56-48-03-44; doubles, $191). One of the older hotels on the island, the grand Stammershalle Badehotel is on a bluff and has huge rooms with window seats that overlook the water. Fill up on the dining room's regional specialties, made with local produce, and then cross train in the heated swimming pool—Bornholm's first (56-48-42-10; doubles, $194–$288; entrées, $28–$32). The Hotel Siemsens Gaard is near both the main shopping district and the harbor, and has one of the nicest patio restaurants on Bornholm. With rooms that are Scan­dinavian modern and a kitchen tuned to local and fresh, the whole place feels elegant but unpretentious (56-49-61-49; doubles, $190-$270; prix fixes, $56–$84). Dueodde Badehotel may be unprepossessing and motel-like from the outside, but this beach hotel is just steps from the long boardwalk leading to some of the softest sand in the world. Bright and airy rooms have high ceilings, big windows, and patios overlooking a peaceful grassy lawn (56-95-85-66; doubles, $287).


On Bornholm, we followed a simple rule: If we saw a sign that said røgeri, we went there. Røgeris are smokehouses, and on Bornholm they turn out the island's famous smoked fish. Most also have a restaurant attached where they serve smorgasbord. You'll find smokehouses in the Bornholm towns of Allinge, Dueodde, Gudhjem, and Svaneke.


Bring your own helmet—the notion that bike accidents can cause head trauma is only now catching on in Denmark. It's easy to get something in your eye when you're riding, so sunglasses or non-tinted safety glasses are a good idea. Pack two pairs of fingerless gel gloves, which absorb road shock, and keep one pair in reserve for when the other gets wet. Cycling shoes are not crucial—especially if you're using a rental bike, which is likely to have clunky plastic pedals. (And bike shoes could be dangerous if you walk around on cobblestoned streets.) Denmark is notoriously moist, so you'll want a cycling jacket that is waterproof and breathable. The Elite 2.0 jacket and eVent rain pants, both made by Showers Pass, kept us comfortably dry after an hour of pedaling in a raging downpour (showerspass.com). Our other essential rain gear was Pearl Izumi neoprene shoe covers, which have a micro-fleece lining and keep your feet warm even when damp. If Lycra and chamois aren't typically in your wardrobe, you'll appreciate them mightily if you spend hour upon hour, day after day, in the saddle. We like the Pearl Izumi UltraSensor shorts (pearlizumi.com).