Iteranti
A broad gravel track running towards woods between a hay meadow and grass verges, with a rider stopped at the roadside in the distance.

Sondrup Strand to Aarhus (day 5)

Ridden · Jamie Brammer

Sondrup Bakker and Hou

First order of the day is getting out of Sondrup Strand with some great off-roading through the forests. You’re then on to some gravel and other minor roads bypassing Hou.

fru Møllers Mølleri

A special mention needs to go for our slight detour today: a restaurant, ice cream shop, butcher and farm shop called Fru Møllers Mølleri. Top class ice cream, we didn’t stay for the rest.

The Aarhusiansk Riviera

The 40km of coastline south of Aarhus are a series of small towns and hundreds of summer houses with a final 10km of coastal forest extended almost into the centre of Aarhus itself. We followed the main coastal road which has dedicated cycle paths and then as we got closer to the forests we could take gravel tracks through some of the main summer house areas such as Norsminde and Ajstrup Strand.

We stopped for a quick lunch at Restaurant Himmel og Hav, and had a good moules marinière; the restaurant seemed known for its pizza but apparently doesn’t do them at lunch.

Beaches and forests into Aarhus

The last 10-15km into Aarhus were great: 100% gravel and almost all forest tracks. Things even got a little busy around the main beaches such as Moesgård Strand.

Overnight: Aarhus, Hotel Villa Provence

Since we’d now had 4 nights under canvas eating dry bread and ham, we felt we were owed an upgrade and what an upgrade it was: Hotel Villa Provence is a very smart boutique hotel right in the middle of town.

  • A sandy forest track climbing between pines, with a freshly cleared and churned strip of ground alongside.
  • A pale long-horned Highland bull standing in rough pasture, with red-brown Highland cows and calves grazing behind.
  • A bright high-key black-and-white portrait of a bearded person in a bucket hat drinking from a bottle at an outdoor table.
  • A weathered wooden bench on a grassy coastal clifftop path, looking out over a calm sea to a distant headland.
  • A broad gravel track running towards woods between a hay meadow and grass verges, with a rider stopped at the roadside in the distance.
  • A flat white in a dark ceramic cup with a leaf pattern drawn in the crema, seen from above on a white marble table.