A mini adventure in Legoland, Denmark

Sunlight glints gently on red-tile roofs, while cyclists make their way along canals, passing barges laden with cargo. In the distance windmills turn gently in the breeze. It can only be one place: yes, it must be Amsterdam. But, wait, what’s that? The Statue of Liberty... Mount Rushmore... the Taj Mahal?

A walk around Legoland is a voyage of discovery in miniature. Never mind Around the World in 80 Days – here you can do it in 80 minutes. And it’s endlessly fascinating – if a little surreal.

“Look!” says Danny, aged eight, a self-declared Lego nut, who is more excited than I’ve ever seen him, “That’s New York! And that’s Luke Skywalker’s planet Tatooine... and there’s Han Solo’s spaceship The Millennium Falcon. And that’s Denmark! This place is so cool!”

Of course, ‘Miniland’ doesn’t claim to be accurate – but with intricate scenes from the Star Wars movies next to faithful reproductions of Copenhagen, Scotland and Bangkok, Legoland Billund is surely the most entertaining way to discover our world – and others.

Sitting squarely in the middle of Jutland, the long finger-like peninsula of the Danish mainland which seems to jab its giant Scandinavian neighbours on the other side of the Skagerrak, Legoland is more than a theme park – it is the soul of Denmark.

The kingdom’s best-known attraction sits in the town where carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen first made his interlocking plastic brick construction sets in 1949. His factory still turns out 70 per cent of the company’s products – exporting them to every corner of the globe (and even to the International Space Station) – most of them faithfully reproduced in plastic bricks in the theme park launched by his son Godtfred.

The word Lego comes from the Danish phrase ‘leg godt’ – meaning ‘play well’, and it’s educational, creative and educational nature is utterly Danish in all its bright, healthy, clean-living glory.

And even though young British Lego nuts now have Legoland Windsor in which to indulge their love of those little plastic bricks, there’s nothing like heading to the place where it all began. Bigger and more engaging than its English counterpart, it is, if you time your visit right (Danish school holidays are different to ours) also a whole lot quieter – with next to no queueing. And forget about Scandinavia’s fearsome reputation for high prices. Danish prices are much on a par with ours, and entry tickets are cheaper than at Windsor.

While Miniland is impressive, Legoland is not all wholesome and improving. Thankfully. This is a theme park, after all, that ranks with the world’s best. Some of the rides are too terrifying for words. Like the X-treme racers rollercoaster – which reaches speeds of nearly 40mph – or the Polar X-plorer: one of only three free-fall rollercoasters in the world, and the only one, I am sure, to have real penguins living under it. The ride is only for the strong-hearted, and you may well regret that pickled herring you had for breakfast. I did.

The views over the park, and the rolling Jutland countryside, however, are jaw-dropping. Though you can soak up the panorama in more sedate style by taking a ride up the Legotop observation tower – and hold on to your stomach contents.

The park is divided into themed areas – the watery stuff in Pirate Land – where one can splash about under waterfalls, battle it out with water jets, and, if you are a naughty eight-year-old (or old enough to know better, cough!) squirt water cannons at total strangers sailing sedately along on Pirate Lagoon.

There is more soggy fun to be had on the Jungle Racers (individually steered hovercraft which spin across the water) and the Viking River Splash. More beautiful is the dragon roller coaster, which takes thrill-seekers through a castle, jewel-studded treasure house and rat-infested dungeons all built entirely out of Lego.

The park’s proudest attraction is The Temple, an Indiana Jones-style ride in which you scoot along in individual jeeps while shooting interactive targets with a lightgun. The ride prides itself on being 4D, with heat waves, odours and water bombs along with the obligatory sound and light effects. It’s also huge fun, and will bring out the competitive parent in even the calmest of adults.

“This is supposed to be for kids!” I was reminded by 11-year-old Eddie, as we competed to shoot Egyptian mummies, bats and assorted baddies. It’s easy to get carried away. But then, that’s the point. One attraction, Falck Fire Brigade, actually pits families against each other in a race to power a pump-action fire engine to a ‘burning’ house where more pumping is required to douse the flames, and yet more pumping to return the fire engine back to base. I don’t mind admitting, it’s muscle-burning work. But even in the face of strapping Scandinavian opposition, our three-man British team won the day. Okay, maybe we were trying to hard but, hey, there was national pride at stake!

Always growing, this year sees the opening of the park’s new Legends of Chima area – just one more aspect to a mini city built with more than 60 million little plastic bricks, which, if placed end-to-end would stretch from Billund almost to Oxford.

It’s all wonderfully bonkers – from the towering sculpture of Mount Rushmore (made from one-and-a-half million Lego bricks) to the tiny birds in Miniland (made of just four).

And it’s testament to an enduring toy manufacturer which has produced enough Lego to supply 52 bricks to every person on the planet.

Mind you, following a visit to the Legoland shop (the biggest in the world) I am fairly sure most of them are scattered across my carpet.

FACTFILE

Getting there
DFDS Seaways operates the only ferry route from the UK to Scandinavia with its Harwich to Esbjerg route to Denmark.
Prices start at £127pp one way based on two people sharing an ensuite sea view cabin including carriage of a car
There are three restaurants, a bar, shop, Kids Club and live music onboard. Ferries depart Harwich three-four times per week, depending on the time of year
www.dfds.co.uk or call 0871 522 9976

Legoland
Legoland is in Billund, less than an hour’s drive from Esbjerg. Entry is 254 krona (£29) adults or 237 (£27) children if booked in advance. +45 7533 1333. www.legoland.dk/en

Stay
Hotel Legoland: If you’ve come this far, there’s only really one place to stay. It may not be the cheapest place in town, but the Legoland Hotel is the most special. For fans of the little bricks it’s paradise – an attraction in its own right, with play areas, tubs of pieces, treasure trails, a mini-cinema and Lego shop.
An extension of the park itself, everything that can be made of Lego is – down to the portraits hanging on the walls, pictured, the life-size mariachi band in the corridor and giant dragon in the lobby.
The rooms are also themed, with guests taking their pick from knights, princesses, adventurers or pirates’ rooms – each decorated in suitably medieval/tropical/ nautical style, with great attention to detail (down to Lego snakes and spiders).
Packages offer savings on joint Legoland tickets and meals in the buffet restaurant, which, as you might expect, is also fun. +45 7533 1244. www.legolandbillundresort.com/en

Information

The surrounding area, including the towns of Ribe, Kolding, Jelling and Veijle, with their rich Viking heritage, great museums, pretty towns, traditional inns, sopshisticated shopping and wonderful family attractions, go to   
www.VisitDenmark.com
 

Explore Viking Denmark

Denmark this year marks the 1000th anniversary of the Danish Viking invasion of England by Viking King Forkbeard and the start of our two countries' long shared heritage. And the area around Billund is the focus for a series of events - which will appeal to adventure-loving children as well as history buffs and those with a healthy curiosity in the image of the Norsemen.

The best places to get an authentic taste of Viking life close to Billund and Legoland are the town of Ribe and the UNESCO World Heritage site of Jelling.

• Jelling

About 30 minutes from Billund and close to the town of Veijle is the UNESCO World Heritage town of Jelling. In the 10th century it served as the royal seat of Gorm the Old, a Viking warrior who conquered Jutland, Funen and Sealand and established a royal dynasty that continues to this day.

The town is now remarkable for being home to two ancient rune stones. These hold special significance for Danes as the one erected in AD 983 by the Viking King Harald Bluetooth is often known as ‘Denmark’s birth certificate’, being the first recorded mention of the word ‘Denmark’. It was during the reign of King Harald that two mighty royal barrows and a church where also constructed. Now considered the most important such monuments from the Viking Age in Europe they were declared a World Heritage site in 1994.

• Ribe

Following the coast road south from the ferry port of Esbjerg to the ancient town of Ribe, visitors will be rewarded with an array of Viking attractions.

Famed as the oldest town in Denmark, Ribe's Viking Museum displays archaeological find discovered along its riverbank. Beyond the town’s medieval cobbled streets is the Viking Centre just outside the city. Be transported back 1,000 years to the sounds, smells and taste of the Viking era inside the magnificently recreated long house. Then explore the lively and vibrant atmosphere of a recreated Viking market, farmyard and bustling craftsmens’ workshops.

Rounding off this authentic Viking adventure what could be better than the freedom of riding a true Viking horse along the vast expanse of the North Sea beaches from Ribe to the tiny Wadden Sea Island of Mandoe, past huge banks of sand rich in wildlife and little-changed since the fabled time of the Vikings.

• History: Swein Forkbeard

Swein Forkbeard was the King of Denmark and England. Swein was also the father of Canute, the famous early King of England best known for, according to legend, getting his feet wet by showing that he could not hold back the sea.

In 988 Swein overthrew his father Harold Blue-Tooth Gormsson the King of Denmark. Swein led a large number of raids along the east and south coasts of England - which was rich but offered little resistance. Much of the time the English paid the Danes to leave. This money became known as Danegeld.

In 994, with a huge fleet of 94 ships, Swein sailed into the Thames estuary along with the Norwegian Olaf Trygvasson by his side to plunder England. London put up a lively defence and drove the Vikings back so Forkbeard moved his forces south to attack the south east coast to plunder whatever he could find.
Swein's attacks on England continued for 10 years until 1013, when he invaded England with his son Canute and took control of the country.
The English King, Ethelred the Unready, along with his wife and sons were forced to flee to Normandy for their own safety.

For further details and special events, go to www.VisitDenmark.com