| The main city of north Jutland and the fourth largest in Denmark,
AALBORG hugs the southern bank of the Limfjord and boasts a nightlife
and music scene to rival Copenhagen's. The most obvious place to spend a
night or two before venturing into the wilder countryside beyond,
Aalborg is the main transport terminus for the region, and boasts a well-preserved
old centre dating from its seventeenth-century trading heyday. The era
is perhaps best exemplified by the Jens Bangs Stenhus opposite the
tourist office, a grandiose five stories in the Dutch Renaissance style,
which has functioned as a pharmacy since it was built. The commercial
roots of the city are further evidenced by the collection of portraits
of the town's merchants that hang inside the Budolfi Domkirke (May-Sept
Mon-Fri 9am-4pm, Sat 9am-2pm; Oct-April Mon-Fri 9am-3pm, Sat 9am-noon),
behind: a small but elegant specimen of sixteenth-century Gothic, built
on the site of an eleventh-century wooden church, from which a few tombs
remain, embedded in the walls close to the altar. Outside, across the
square, the Aalborg Historical Museum at Algade 48 (Tues-Sun 10am-5pm;
www.aahm.dk; 20kr) has fairly routine displays, apart from an impressive
glasswork collection. Behind here, just off Gammel Torv, the fifteenth-century
Monastery of the Holy Ghost can be viewed by way of guided tours (mid-June
to late Aug Mon-Fri at 1.30pm; 25kr), which take in the monks' refectory,
kept largely unchanged since the last monk left, and the small Friar's
room, the only part of the monastery in which nuns (from the adjoining
nunnery) were permitted. Most interesting, however, are the frescoes
that cover the entire ceiling of the chapel.
On the other side of Østerågade, the sixteenth-century Aalborghus Slot
is worth visiting for a trip round its severely gloomy dungeon (May-Oct
Mon-Fri 8am-3pm; free). Outside the centre of town, the North Jutland
Art Museum located on Kong Christians Allé (July & Aug daily 10am-5pm;
Sept-June closed Mon; tel 98.13.80.88, www.nordjyllandskunstmusem.dk ;
30kr), close to the junction with Vesterbro (buses #5, #8, #10 and #11
or a fifteen-minute walk), and housed in a building designed by the
Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, is one of the country's better modern art
collections, featuring, alongside numerous Danish contributions, works
by Max Ernst, Andy Warhol, Le Corbusier and Claes Oldenburg. After
leaving the museum, you can get a grand view over the city and the
Limfjord by ascending the Aalborg Tower (daily: July to mid-Aug
10am-7pm; April-June & mid-Aug to Sept 11am-5pm; 20kr), on the hill just
behind. The Aalborg Maritime Museum (daily: May-Aug 10am-6pm; rest of
the year 10am-4pm; www.aalborgmarinemuseum.dk ; 60kr), 2km west of the
centre at Vestrefjordvej 81 (buses #2 and #8), recalls the city's time
as an important shipbuilding port. The highlight is inspecting the tight
working and living conditions in "Springeren", the 54-metre-long
submarine which now forms the museum's centrepiece.
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from $117.49
USD