| Denmark | Legoland and beyond


Jo Fletcher-Cross extends a family trip to Denmark’s home of the brick


“A


gain! Can we go on again?” comes the cry, even before the rollercoaster has come to a stop. It’s easy to appear magnanimous to our excited


daughter as far as repeating rides is concerned; our trip to Legoland may be during the UK half-term holidays, but the Danes are still in school and it’s incredibly quiet in the park. There’s a smattering of British, German and American visitors — just enough for a nice atmosphere but not enough to cause a queue for anything. For a small girl who adores Lego, this is the perfect day, and the lack of waiting makes it pretty good for the grown-ups too: it’s nice not to have to jolly along a six-year-old in a long queue. Also, we don’t even have to hang back to let small kids play with the Lego; there’s plenty for us all. Bonus. We’re staying in one of the park’s new Ninjago cotages


— based around the martial arts-themed Lego series, the small wooden cabin has a mural of the central characters on the wall of the main room, Lego throwing stars embedded high up above the sofa and, best of all, a pair of glowing ninja swords as kitchen lighting. The cotage is small but our daughter adores the bunk beds with Lego


50 ABTA Magazine | August 2017


nightlights and the TV channel showing Ninjago episodes. Theoretically, it’s possible to self-cater — it’s fine for breakfast, but with just a litle fridge and a hotplate, we decide to try the buffet dinner at the Pirate Inn. Despite slightly dreading this, it actually turns out to be prety good. It’s hard to be churlish when there’s unlimited ice cream and chips in the shape of Lego bricks. We’re in the park from opening to close, and we


manage to do everything we want, repeat our favourite rides a few times, and choose some new toys in the fantastic shop — one of the biggest Lego stores in the world. It felt like the perfect amount of time, and it would be perfectly possibly to fly into Billund and do a quick weekend in the kingdom of bricks, then fly home again. But an extended trip here is ideal with kids. Legoland is on the island of Jutland: we fly in to the


main city of Aarhus, 2017 European City of Culture, which is just an hour from the theme park. Aarhus is a university town with an industrial edge. While the cobblestoned Latin Quarter is packed with beauty and history, the redeveloped harbour area is exciting and


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