LEGOLAND Billund Resort – a week exploring Jutland, Denmark

My nine year old daughter squinted carefully at the large carved stone in front of her. Trying to decipher the lines, patterns and indentations of this 10th century wonder. The markings of the Vikings who settled in this area of Denmark still very visible. It was wonderful to watch her eyes grow wide at the sight of this huge stone, standing in the place where it was discovered in the picturesque town of Jelling, 15 miles from Billund and part of the LEGOLAND Billund Resort. We were visiting as part of our week exploring Jutland, Denmark.

*AD / This post contains affiliate links and I may also have been compensated or gifted in this post. To read more please see my Disclosure Policy.

What we did – LEGOLAND Billund Resort – a week exploring Jutland, Denmark

Our trip across Jutland in Denmark was packed full of history, entertainment, experiences and fun.

It was as varied as you could get taking us from the very beginnings of Denmark with the 10th century Viking Harald Bluetooth through to the brand new LEGO House, with a Nazi bunker and African rhinos in the mix too.

If there’s an area of the world that is well placed to give families the biggest, most colourful mix of fun it’s the LEGOLAND Billund Resort. Which, despite its name, is full of many varied attractions and sights.

Starting in Lalandia

We started our time in Lalandia, staying in the sweetest holiday home on site.

Lalandia is a whole entertainment world from bowling to ice skating, crazy golf to skiing.

The real gem of Lalandia is the absolutely amazing water park though.

We spent the longest time here in the waters, none of us wanting to leave.

My six year old conquered his fear of water slides on the young children’s chutes, my nine year old discovered she was a fiend at tackling the bigger rides going on them over and over again and the 11 year old and I relaxed in the beautifully warm waters of the outside spa pool.

We loved our time at Lalandia and by staying on site we were able to wander in and out as we wanted which was absolutely ideal.

Koldinghus

The town of Billund is the epicentre of this area, with LEGOLAND and Lalandia opposite each other. Both are important destinations in any child’s trip to Jutland and the LEGOLAND Billund Resort area.

There’s so much to do within striking distance of these two big hitters though and we filled our week with some amazing sights and experiences.

First up was the Koldinghus, a 25 mile drive from Billund.

Here a wonderful castle sat majestically on the side of a lake. Beautiful spring flowers billowed wistfully in the ever-so-slight breeze and the Danish sun seemed impossibly strong as we walked through the May sunshine to the castle.

Koldinghus was founded in the 13th century and its role has changed through time from fortress to royal residence, from wartime negotiating location to a ruin, through to its new incarnation as a museum.

The building feels both foreboding and welcoming and we loved it.

It was wonderful to walk the spiral staircases, wood creaking and worn beneath our feet, peer through windows to the lake shimmering beyond and imagine fireplaces long extinguished.

Koldinghus have imaginatively re-imagined the space, in a way only the Danish can, with such design and beauty. We loved exploring here.

We sat out in the sunshine in the main castle courtyard with cold glasses of elderflower presse and blackcurrant cordial coupled with the loveliest apple pie with heavy cream and cinnamon sprinkles.

Kolding town

We then wandered back down from the castle to the streets of beautiful Kolding. A town I would definitely like to spend more time in, before heading to a really cool, arty restaurant called Nicolai.

This was the perfect location to sit back and relax in the grounds where the children could run around and play with all of the fun games around, coming back intermittently to pick at the huge buffet of food while we sat back with drinks and chatted as the sun went down. We loved it here.

The LEGO HOUSE – LEGOLAND Billund Resort – a week exploring Jutland, Denmark

The following day we decided to take in some of the LEGOLAND offerings with a visit to The LEGO House.

This is the latest attraction to open in Billund.

The LEGO House is an architecturally stunning building is in the heart of the LEGOLAND Billund Resort. It offers a whole host of fun LEGO inspired activities inside.

We loved taking part in making LEGO fish which you add to an interactive aquarium and they turn in to live digital copies of themselves and swim off. Also fun was creating our own unique minifigures and enjoying all the wonderful LEGO delights on offer.

It was particularly interesting to head to the basement where the history of LEGO is laid out in front of you. Here you can walk through displays detailing all of the many journeys of this fascinating company.

We loved stopping for lunch here too at Mini Chef where you can watch the minifigures make your food after choosing your selection by building a LEGO creation of your own.

This interactive and clever way to order was lots of fun for all the family. And it delivered up some quite delicious food too.

Givskud Zoo

After another night at Lalandia we headed off to Givskud Zoo, just 20 minutes drive away.

Givskud is a really interesting mix of part safari park and part zoo. This means you drive around areas of it, looking out warily at lions and adoringly at the alpaca before parking up at designated spots for a wander on foot to visit gorillas, barbary macaque and Chilean flamingo.

We stopped at the Baobab restaurant for yummy falafel in flat bread smothered in baobab sauce. And the children feasted on the biggest ice creams.

We really enjoyed Givskud, this is a really well maintained and cared for animal park where it’s clear the welfare of the animals is at the heart of everything they do.

Jelling – LEGOLAND Billund Resort – a week exploring Jutland, Denmark

Then we were off again, just a 15 minute drive down the road to the quaint little town of Jelling.

Jelling is home to Kongernes Jelling. This free-to-enter museum mixes amazing artifacts with the latest in interactive technology.

If you have a fan of Vikings in the family this is a must-visit location (and if you don’t have any Viking fans you will have after a visit here).

It was wonderful to learn about some of the Viking finds in the area and about the history of those who lived and fought here so many years ago.

The children thought the interactive body with weapons you could push in which told you how long it would have taken to die from each method, was perfectly grisly and fascinating.

It was outside that there was a real sight to make us gasp though.

Two large Viking rune stones, in situ, in what is now the churchyard of the local Jelling church.

These are considered Europe’s finest Viking monuments and it was absolutely amazing to see them up close. Being able to look at the carved letters and patterns and to wonder at the centuries that have passed since.

As evening fell we had one last night at Lalandia, the children jumped high on the trampoline set in the grounds for guests to use.

We sat out on our little terrace at the back of our apartment as the sun went down and wished we could capture that feeling of contentment forever.

Man Meets Sea

The next day we packed up and headed west. Still within the LEGOLAND Billund Resort area, we headed to the sand dunes and wild coastline of western Jutland.

Here long willowy reeds bent effortlessly in the breeze. The countryside dotted by picture perfect farms and tall flag poles proudly bearing the Danish flag in nearly every front yard.

We couldn’t resist a stop at the enigmatic Man Meets Sea, the sculpture by Danish Svend Wiig Hansen which greets visitors who arrive by boat.

There is something captivating about these characters, seated and weather ravaged yet absolutely stoic.

Tirpitz

Then it was further up the coastline to Tirpitz. A Nazi bunker nestled amongst sandy mounds and absolutely reinvented, again by beautiful Danish design (in this case the amazing Bjarke Ingels Group).

Tirpitz was eery and absolutely captivating. A Nazi scar on the beautiful Danish landscape it tells such an important story of the history of Denmark in the Second World War and we and the children were entranced.

The bunker itself contains so many marks and clues about its past. The experience is led by audio packs which you take around with you to tune in to the information as you go.

We thought it was the most fascinating place and again the interactive display in the West Coast Stories room, which tells the story of 20,000 years of Danish West Coast history, was so incredibly done.

It was beautiful and felt very emotional to be swept up into it.

We stopped for lunch in the cafe here which was perfectly Danish and packed full of flavour and looked down over the exhibits.

Ribe

Then we were off again, this time further down the coastline to Ribe and the Viking Centre here.

We arrived a little too late to see it all working completely so this is one place we will absolutely be bookmarking to return to.

A reconstructed Viking village, this is an experience to get caught up into and have a unique insight in to what life must have been like over a thousand years ago.

The buildings were beautiful and just wandering around the whole site felt like such a special experience.

We checked in to our last hotel, the Ribe Byferie which is set just slightly out of centre of the town. It’s a beautiful little resort with a sweet river running through it.

Once we’d dropped our luggage we walked into Ribe which has to be the most picturesque Danish town around.

Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark and we loved soaking up the atmosphere here. Just wandering the streets was a feast for the eyes.

As the sun began to set we joined the night-watchman on his walk through the town.

This is a free tour which takes place every day through summer. It has been running since 1932 after it was revived (having ceased in 1902 when the modern police took over the role).

It’s a fascinating insight into the history of the area and made the kids gasp when our night-watchman told them the mound of earth they were playing on was where half of the town’s plague victims were buried.

LEGOLAND Billund – LEGOLAND Billund Resort – a week exploring Jutland, Denmark

As our final day in Denmark and the LEGOLAND Billund Resort dawned we packed up for one last time and headed back to Billund town.

No trip to this area would be complete without spending time in LEGOLAND itself and the children were looking forward to this so much.

We arrived full of excitement for our time exploring the world’s first LEGOLAND which opened in 1968.

It was so much fun to enjoy the rides from the big splash in the LEGO Canoe to the family favourite Atlantis by Sea Life. And to wander through the amazing miniland.

LEGOLAND is still very much at the centre of this region’s family offerings and certainly doesn’t disappoint.

Our wonderful week in Jutland, Denmark and the LEGOLAND Billund Resort was as jam-packed as they come. It is something and somewhere we will remember for the longest time.

The sun shone as we explored the history of this beautiful region from castles and Vikings to Nazi occupation alongside some traditional childhood fun in the wonderful parks of Lalandia, LEGOLAND and Givskud Zoo.

We absolutely loved it and can’t wait to return.

Check out our film of our visit to the LEGOLAND Billund Resort and Jutland, Denmark here. And read all about our 7 day itinerary for Jutland so you can recreate this trip and follow along with these travels.

Staying at the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel, Billund, Denmark

Itinerary for a week in Jutland