Aarhus (Denmark)

Aarhus is Denmark's largest seaport and city on Jutland Peninsula's eastern coast. It is located approx 187 km (116 mi) northwest of Copenhagen (country's capital) and approx 290 km (180 mi) north of Hamburg Germany. The city has population around 275,000 (metro around 340,000), ranking it Denmark's second-largest (after Copenhagen).

Among the well-known tourist attractions are ARoS Art Museum, Old Town Museum, Tivoli Friheden (amusement park), Moesgård Museum, Kvindemuseet (Women's Museum), The city is also a great shopping destination. Most foreign tourists are from Norway, Sweden, Germany and the UK. Overall annual tourist spending in the city is around USD 540 million. The average hotel stay is 3 days.

Port Aarhus

Port Aarhus (locode DKAAR) is Denmark's largest and also one of northern Europe's biggest cargo ports (ranked 1st among the 200+ Baltic Sea cargo ports). It has the country's largest containership terminal handling over 1/2 of the country's container shipping traffic, 60% of the bulk cargo traffic and capacity to berth world's largest boxships.

The port is located at the mouth of Aarhus River in Kattegat Sea, facing Helgenæs peninsula (east), Samso Island (southeast) and Riis Skov forest park (north). The seaport is self-governing and financially independent company managed by the municipality. Here are handled around 9,5 million cargo tons per year. The principal export is grain. Main imports include stone, cement, coal.

The port has all 6 terminals - containership, multi-use, for bulk carriers, for oil tankers, ferries and cruise liners.

• Container Terminal has pier length 1,300 km, water depth (max draft) 14 m and is served by 8 gantry cranes (3 Post-Panamax, 4 Super Post-Panamax and 1 Panamax).
• Multi-use Terminal serves bulk carriers (shipping mainly coal and feedstuffs), also project cargo (wood, windmills).
• Bulk Terminal serves loose cargo carriers shipping mainly grain, sand, gravel, cement.
• Tanker Terminal serves ships carrying mineral oils, gasoline, molasses, also chemical tankers.

Aarhus Ferry Terminal is used mainly by MOLSLINJEN ferries, serving annually ~1 million vehicles and ~2 million passengers. Aarhus Cruise Terminal serves cruise ships with Baltic Sea itineraries, operated between March and November.

The Container Terminal is operated under concession by APM Terminals Aarhus - part of APM Terminals (2001-founded, The Hague Holland-based port and terminals management company, one of the world's largest). In 2020, APM Aarhus handled 593,670 TEU-containers (13% increase over 2019). APM Aarhus handles ~60% of Denmark's boxship traffic.

In 2016 was inaugurated a regular flight service (via floatplanes) from Aarhus to Copenhagen, with fly time ~40 min (train travel time is ~3 hours).

Aarhus Ferry Terminal is currently the only alternative to Storebæltsforbindelsen (Great Belt Fixed Link) that crosses the strait between the islands Zealand and Funen. The route is served with regularly scheduled ferries since 1830. The current main ferry operator is MOLSLINJEN, with annual traffic ~2 million passengers and 1 million vehicles. Ro-Ro ships (cargo ferries) link Aarhus to Kalundborg and Finland (regular weekly service).

Aarhus is also becoming a cruise port destination for companies operating on Baltic Sea itineraries. In 2010, it was visited by just 2 ships and ~4300 tourists. In 2012 it handled 18 ship calls and over 38,000 passengers. In 2013 were handled 13 cruise calls. In 2018 were booked 41 cruise ship berthings with estimated nearly 100,000 passengers.

In March 2022, Port Aarhus contracted Shore Link OU (Tallinn Estonia-based engineering company specializing in port shorepower solutions) and PowerCon AS (Hadsund Denmark-based manufacturing company specializing in wind turbines) to design, supply and install a shore-power system. Shoreside power capabilities allow berthed vessels to turn off their diesel engines and instead use the city's power-grid electricity for onboard operations and services. The new system (inaugurated in 2023) has a separate "CMS Cruiser"/smaller capacity unit designed exclusively for cruise liners. The other Danish cruise port with shore power capabilities is Copenhagen.

Aarhus cruise terminal

Aarhus tours, shore excursions, hotels

City Tours and Shore Excursions

The Old Town: or Den Gamle By can be described as a museum at open air. It comprises 75 buidings with rich historical heritage. The belong to 20 different Danish towns and have been rebuilt in this village. Some of the houses date from the 15th century. The best time to visit Den Gamle By is at Christmas.

Aarhus Cathedral: Århus Domkirke is the longest Danish cathedral. Its length is 93 m and has seats for 1,200 people. Originally, the Aarhus Cathedral dated from the 12th century by fire destroyed it in 1330. The current building dates from 1449 and has a stunning decoration.

The Natural History Museum: or the Naturhistorisk Museum. It houses collections of stuffed and preserved animals and hominid skeletons from all over the world.

The Steno Museum: the Steno Museet is an unique place to visit if you are interested in medicine. You can discover the development of the medicine science or visit the garden where you can explore over 350 plants used as a medicine form.

The Customs Chamber: the Toldkammeret is located near Aarhus’s old inner harbor. Its designer is Hack Kampmann and the building dates from the end of 19th century.