Exploring the Island of Fur (Denmark)

One of the most beautiful places to find nature in Denmark is on the island of Fur, located on one of Denmark’s most serene fjords, the Limfjord. Situated in the north, central part of Denmark, Fur can be reached by a 4 minute ferry (Fur færge) from the town of Branden and offers some of the best nature to visit in Denmark.

During the days that Denmark was slowly coming out of the corona outbreak, my family and I decided that we wanted to take a nature trip in Denmark, so we looked to find the best nature spots in Denmark with landscapes unlike any that we had seen in other parts of the country. This encouraged us to spend some time on the Limfjord and to explore the island of Fur for one day.

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Preparing for the trip to Fur in Denmark

We knew that we only had one day to spend on the Fur island, so we did a little bit of preparations for our trip to make the most of our day. My husband went online to the Naturstyrelsen.dk website to download a map, which we called our “treasure map”. We made two copies, one for each of our sons, and laminated them to protect them from the weather.

You don’t have to go to this extreme when preparing for your trip, but having a map ahead of time is always a good idea. You can plan which areas you want to visit before you get there, and if you are traveling with children, it helps them to be involved. Nothing can ruin a trip faster than a cranky child who doesn’t “feel like walking”. Having a map made it feel more like an adventure, in which they were the guides.

We were really willing to try anything to make sure that we had a great day on our family, nature walk in north, central Denmark.

The Ferry to Fur Island

When we reached the ferry in Branden, a line had already started to form. We weren’t sure that we would make it on the ferry, but we weren’t too concerned since one came every 15 minutes. Normally, ferry rides for us can be a bother because our youngest son gets seasick.

That is not a good way to start a fun-filled family day if you have a sick child, but the Fur Færge was probably the best experience we have had on a ferry. You don’t have to get out of your car, and the trip is pretty motionless. We didn’t even know we were moving until we reached the island of Fur. What a relief!

A man had come up to us with a small credit card machine so that we could pay for the trip. The nice thing was that the ticket was for a round trip, so we only had to pay one time. Just don’t lose that receipt! The cost was around 120dkk, which could be your only expense if you bring your own food and drinks. Not a bad price for a day spent on an island!

There are so many great Danish islands to explore. Check out all the great things to see and do on this post for 11 Reasons to Visit the Island of Langeland!

Eating on the Island of Fur

Since we had a later start to our morning than I would have liked, we arrived on Fur at lunchtime. I was hoping for a bit more exploring of the Fur attractions before stopping for a bite to eat, but when kids are hungry, you eat! This is also true for me. “If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!” 🙂

Lunch at the Fur Færgekro

Luckily for us, the Fur Færgekro was practically the first building we saw as we drove off of the ferry. If you don’t know anything about Danish kros, you are at a disadvantage. They are my favorite places to eat in all of Denmark. I believe that we would refer to them mostly as Bed and Breakfasts in English, but they are more “a restaurant where you can stay” to me.

Many of them are very much a “mom and pop” type of place, serving local foods that give you a very “hyggeligt” (cozy) feeling when dining inside. I absolutely love them and feel that they give you the best food/experience!

I secretly had Fur Færgekro on my wish list for the trip, but sometimes, it is hard to plan everything when you have children. I was over the moon when we decided to eat at this charming kro on Fur before starting our day of walking. After all, we needed to build up our energy first, right?

A fantastic, Danish meal

The food was absolutely amazing!! I got fish, which was local, and my husband got a fish and typical Limfjord seafood plate. We also washed it all down with some beers that were actually made on the island at the Fur bryghus (brewhouse). My husband had one that was called “frokost” (lunch) and I had a “påske øl” (Easter beer). They were very delicious and very big! Hopefully, my slight buzz from the brew wouldn’t impact my ability to hike up a cliff.

Our boring kids decided to go with pizza! Typical! When on an island where you can get great fish and seafood, they decide to go with pizza. I should have never given them the menus!

Information Center on Fur

Before heading out to find some Danish natural wonders, we peeked into the very small, but informative Information Center that was directly behind the kro. We were able to find other brochures for hiking paths for the area, but we decided to stick with our original map and hope for the best!

Fur Museum

Instead of driving up the western coast of the island, which is where we were going to be doing the majority of our exploring, we drove up the eastern side towards the Fur Museum. Since museums were still closed because of the corona virus, we thought we would do a drive-by to see if there was anything interesting on the outside. We would have really liked to go inside, but we would have to come back another day.

We were really glad that we decided to check it out anyway! On the outside grounds of the museum and across the street, we found quite a few dinosaurs. If you have read about our time in the USA, you would know that we love going to “dinosaur places”, and it was very neat to see dinosaurs in Denmark! Right away, we were able to start our tour of the island with a fantastic discovery. The boys were in high spirits and ready for more! YES!

Read about our time at the Burpee Natural History Museum in Rockford, IL. (USA) for more adventures with dinosaurs!

Driving to the Fur Bryghus and Parking

We made our way towards the Fur Bryghus, but we decided not to drive all the way to the actual building. Before you get there, you’ll find a parking lot that appears to be in the middle of nowhere. This is the best place to park, in my opinion. It was also free. That is another nice thing about being out in nature. Free parking! We were the only ones in the parking lot, and we felt it was nice to be able to explore alone. It made it more special that way.

The weather was starting to change. The clouds came in, and the wind started to blow. We knew that we were in for a wet day of walking, but we were ready. After all, it is Denmark. We were used to a little rain! We made sure we had on our raincoats, and headed to an information sign in the parking lot before starting out.

Information on Hiking Paths on Fur Island

At this information post, there was a map of the area and more information of animals that lived nearby and things to look out for. There was also a little, metal pocket that had brochures in it with hiking paths and other locations worth seeing. We took one of these as well, which you can find HERE (in Danish)! We didn’t want to miss out on any “nature” things to do in this part of Denmark, so we held on to it for further reference! It had all you needed to know if you were traveling by foot, bike or car!

Have you ever thought of taking a biking trip across some of the Danish Islands? Check out this post about our trip to the island of Ærø to see how it can be done!

Hiking on the Island of Fur

We left the parking lot for the main road on the way to the Fur Bryghus, but we found the nature trail before reaching the entrance to the grounds. The trail started out as being very flat and gave us great views of the water, since it was along the coastline! The path was nice and wide, and easy to follow.

It looked like it had recently been mowed, which made it very comfortable to travel upon. About 10 minutes into our walk, it started to rain! If you are traveling to (in) Denmark, be sure to have your raincoat handy at any point in time. When we left our house, it was sunny. You just never know!

Taking our time to see it all

We took our time walking and stopped to look at all of the interesting plants and flowers. We had our eyes open for any nearby animals! It was a very relaxing experience in nature.

Then, almost all of a sudden, we noticed our first cliff! It was quite amazing to see since we had been in a very flat area before. Now, we were facing quite a large hill that looked like nothing I had seen in this area of Denmark.

Lille Knudshoved

This cliff was called Lille Knudshoved (Little Knot Head), the most western point of the island. My boys saw this as an opportunity to climb, so up we went!

The view from Lille Knudshoved was quite nice. Not only could we see the path we had just taken, but we could also see the next cliff, Store Knudshoved (Big Knot Head), that laid out in the distance. It looked more like something you would see in Washington state in the USA, not something in Denmark. It was truly breathtaking!

The boys were still in good spirits, so the hunt was on for more “treasure”!

An Unexpected Pit Stop on our Hike

It was about this time of the trip that the very large beer was starting to weigh on my bladder. Hiking is great when you are male, but not so easy for a mom who has “got to go”! Luckily, we were alone on the path, and I’m not as shy or as picky when it comes to answering nature’s call! My seven-year-old son was my lookout while I made a short visit to the bushes! It is nice to have support!

The hike continued!

Experiencing the Natural Landscape of Fur, Denmark

There were spots during the walk that turned into a hike. We were on somewhat flat lands, but then, all of a sudden, we had to go straight up a cliff. The boys loved it! They can be somewhat whiny little fellows when asked to go for a walk, but if the walk turns into an adventure, they don’t seem to say too much in the ways of negative comments. We were glad for the hills and paths that took us into the trees, the cliff’s edge or on the shore. Every place was different, and we were happy to explore.

I love how my oldest son and my husband bond when we take walks in nature. They are truly a good pair, who enjoy each other’s company! Like two old men out for a stroll! My little one and I like to tell jokes and explore things in nature that just don’t make much sense. We point them out and laugh at them! It is an acquired art! 🙂

These are my happy moments!

How Fur can be a Rainy Place

The rain decided to take a break, which was helpful since our shoes were getting wet. Note to self: invest in some waterproof, hiking boots! We were very close to the next cliff, but something off in the distance caught our attention. It was a group of three men in the water down below. One of them yelled in delight when he caught a fish! Luckily, we had our binoculars, so we could be a bit nosy! It was all a part of the adventure!

Store Knudshoved

We walked right up to Store Knudshoved and took a peek. It was crazy how much of a decline there was in certain spots. I guess I hadn’t done much hiking in high places lately, because it was surprising to see. If you take little kids, be sure to watch them. My oldest wanted to slide down and asked if he could multiple times. This is where a child’s leash would have come in handy. He’s crazy! Apparently, my fear of heights hadn’t been passed down to that one.

Just as with Lille Knudshoved, the view from Store Knudshoved was also quite spectacular. I loved the perfect blend of rock and plants. Denmark is a very green place, which is one of its charms!

Knudeklinterne

We were able to see the next cliff in the distance. This one was called Knudeklinterne (focal cliffs).

What was with all the Knuds??? I know for a fact that Knud is a man’s name in Danish. I kept thinking that the cliffs had something to do with a guy name Knud, but if you look it up, there is another meaning, which is what I gave you in parenthesis. Still…I found it strange that there was a guy out there whose name meant “knot”! Wow…really?

Knudsklinterne / Even More Cliffs on Fur

It didn’t take us long to go from Store Knudshoved to Knudsklinterne, but I felt it was the dangerous section of all. Not because of the path, but because of my crazy kid yet again trying to find a path down the side of the cliff. He wasn’t asking anymore. He was now on his butt about to scoot down! AGGHH!! Get me off this cliff!

Luckily, we found some weird metal platform at the very top of the cliff to distract my son and to give me a few minutes to steady my breathing and heart rate!

I had read a bit about Knudsklinterne and learned that it was very well-known for being a cliff filled with fossils. There actually was an area were you could go on a fossil hunt during the summer weeks, but we were there in the spring. We would have to remember the fossil hunt for another time.

Observation Path Away from the Cliffs of Fur

I was very happy when we saw a sign for the Fur Bryghus. We had a way to take a break from these beautiful, temptresses to see something else. We double-checked with the map and decided that going back towards the brewhouse was the way to go. The next places on the map could be reached from another parking lot, so we needed to make our way back to the car.

As we were walking down (the safe way) from Knudsklintere, we saw a very interesting ramp that was made of a rust-colored metal. We chose to check out the ramp, which was very short but led to an observation platform. We were able to see a different side of the Knudsklinterne, which had some very beautiful flowers growing out of the rock. Fur flowers are quite remarkable, and it was nice to have a moment to enjoy them!

We left the ramp and followed the path to the Fur Bryghus. This also offered some extra adventure, since it was aligned with many large boulders. The boys thought they were fun to play on and hide behind! 🙂

We reached the end of the path and found a rather old-looking train engine just sitting on the side of the small, stone road. It seemed very out-of-place, but also quite interesting. We, of course, had to check it out!

Fur Bryghus

It was very weird to arrive so quickly from Knudsklinterne to the Fur Bryghus! I could see why many people might park in their main parking lot and walk to see just one of the cliffs if their time was limited. We agreed that we were glad to have taken the path that we did. Otherwise, we would not have seen the cliffs from the right direction and hence, losing sight of their wonder. If you have time to spare on your trip to Fur, take the path in the direction that we did! You will be glad you did!

When we reached the brewhouse, it was much larger than I had expected. This is mostly because it wasn’t just a brewhouse/restaurant, but it was also a full-fledged bryggeri (brewery)! We had seen the Fur beer where we lived in Midtjylland (central Denmark), so we knew that the beers weren’t just sold locally. I can imagine that the selection might be a bit more varied here, though.

The restaurant had just opened a few days before, since it was closed due to the corona virus, but they were sitting people on the outside patio. We were very full still from our meal at the Fur Færgekro that we didn’t have any need to get anything there, so we decided to spend some time on the playground instead.

You can imagine how surprised we were to see a playground. What a fantastic addition to a place that was famous for its beer! Many times have I thought about adding a place like this to our family’s itinerary only knowing too well that my kids would get stir-crazy! A playground would be just what they would need to entertain themselves while we relaxed with a nice beer! On that day, however, we all just enjoyed the playground instead! 🙂

Fur Camping and the Fur Lighthouse

When we made our way out of the area of the brewhouse, we were surprised at how close our car actually was. We arrived to it just as a huge, downpour of rain started! That was luck!

We drove down the road to get to the Fur lighthouse (Fur Fyr), which was on the north end of the island. This drive took us directly past the Fur Camping campground, which we almost stayed at for the weekend before deciding that we would just spend one day on the island instead. From what we saw from the car, the campground seemed to have a lot of things for kids, so we would really need to consider staying there on our next trip to Fur.

As we approached the very small space for parking, we were surprised to meet the three fishermen that we had seen from the top of the cliffs. It was a father with 2 teenage sons, and we had a nice chat about their fish!

The path up to the lighthouse was easy to find and easy to hike. We chose to take part of the way on the beach so that they boys could look for interesting rocks and shells to add to their collection.

The lighthouse was not what I was expecting. It didn’t look like a house at all and looked more like an oddly shaped silo with a light on the top. I had never seen anything like it. It is always interesting to see how different lighthouses can be from each other!

The walk back to the small parking lot where we parked our car gave us even better views than the direction we took to the lighthouse. It was still very shocking to see this type of view in Denmark. I loved it!

Bispehuen Rock on the Island of Fur

The next stop on our tour of Fur was not far from the lighthouse. We drove a little farther east and found a rather impressive rock called Bispehuen. It was odd to see such a rock in the middle of grasslands, but since we had seen so many cliffs during the day, it decided that it was a bit more in-place than if we were to find it in another part of Denmark. I thought that the lines on the rock made it look like a man’s face with a foo man chu mustache.  I was the only one who thought so, which led me to believe that I am the one with a good imagination. Go figure! 😊

Den Rødsten on Fur in Denmark

The path that the rock Bispehuen was on lead us a bit farther down the road to Den Rødsten. We weren’t sure that we were going to be able to find this one to be quite honest. We parked in a very small parking lot that had space for maybe 6 cars, and we went down a hill in the trees to the bottom where we would find a large stone that is said to be the home of a dragon. This was reason enough for us to take the long path in the trees. We wanted to see the dragon!!

When we reached the stone, we saw the very small opening in it and thought that it was very unlikely that a dragon really lived there. Instead, we thought it could be some type of small troll or gnome that lived in there, but perhaps, it was something more wild like a raccoon. I was pretty sure that there were no raccoons on the island, but we liked to think that something furry lived there.

Den røde Sten and Østklinten on Fur

We got back in the car and decided to keep driving towards the coast. We saw a sign for a beach, which sparked our curiosity. The weather was too cool and windy for swimming, but we still wanted to see what the beach looked like. The beach looked secluded and ideal for a perfectly warm and sunny day. We would have to remember it for when the weather got nicer. The views from this area, however, were well-worth the drive. We were at a point on the northern part of the island where you could see Den røde Sten (not to be confused with den Rødsten) to the left, which was at the bottom of a cliff on the beach. This was a very large, red rock, that I’m sure my boys would have loved to climb.

To the right, was Østklinten, another cliff. I loved the variety of cliffs that were on this island. They really were interesting to look at and offered great vantage points on the island.

In the middle between the two cliffs was a stairway that lead down to the beach. What an perfect area for a day of relaxation on the island of Fur.

The Old Harbor on Fur and Fru Jensen’s Shop

It was at this point in time that we were ready to head back home. We decided to drive directly south to the bottom of the island to see the area where the old harbor was located.

Then, we stopped to look at all the treasures at Fru Jensen’s shop, which has to be one of the cutest shops I have been at in Denmark! It made me wish for a bigger house, because I could have bought everything in sight!

We were only a few minutes away from the ferry and decided that it was time to head back to the main part of Denmark and leave the island of Fur. The ferry was still traveling every 15 minutes, so we didn’t have long to wait until it was time to board and head back to the mainland.

Overall, we really loved our day on Fur. I wasn’t sure what to expect on this trip, and we were all pleasantly surprised at how many wonderful views we had of landscapes that were much different from anything we had ever seen before in Denmark. Though it proved to be a very rainy and cloudy day, we had one of the best days out as a family in a long time! If you want a relaxing day in nature in one of the most unique places in Denmark, head over to the island of Fur! 

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