Mols route

Arrival and check-in at the hotel in the afternoon. Or arrive early and explore Aarhus, the City of Smiles.

On your first day of hiking, you mainly follow the Mols Route, which is part of the European long-distance
hiking route E1, which runs from Italy to the Northern Cape in Norway. The first stage follows the coast
from Aarhus to Kaløvig. On the way out of Aarhus, you will pass the newly established part of the town Aarhus Ø in the harbour area. First you will find the imposing building Dokk1 that both houses the library and public offices. Then you pass the old customs house, Toldboden, designed by the great architect Hack Kampmann, and all the new residential buildings including The iceberg. Then you walk past the fishing harbour and marina with the wooden ship harbor at the far end. Below the forest Riis Skov you pass the old bathing establishment Den Permanente. Here you can take a cooling dip. You can actually do this many times during the day as you follow the beach most of the way. Along the way you have the most beautiful view of the water with Mols on the other side of Aarhus Bay. It is not uncommon to see porpoises along the coast, and it also happens that you see a seal and occasionally a dolphin, which however is a rare visitor.

After a nice overnight stay at the hotel, you continue hiking north. Most of the way you follow the coast,
though a little inland on the first stretch. First you pass the Studstrup power plant with the high chimneys, which are a landmark that can been seen from far away. Then the trip goes through the forest Havskoven on the way up towards the old manor Vosnæsgård. From here it goes down again towards the coast. It is possible to follow the beach and pass through the next little forest Pyntskoven. From here you have great views of the bay and the Mols Mountains on the other side. You will reach the little settlement of mainly holiday homes, Havhusene in Løgten Bay. You will pass the historic Gl Løgten Strandkro (Old Løgten Beach Tavern). Along the way you should take the small detour to Mågeøen (Island of Seagulls), which is not even an island anymore. The tide is constantly moving the sand, and instead of an island, here is now a small lake. You now pass the holiday homes by Følle beach's beautiful bathing water, before it goes up to Rønde - the town on the hill.

The hike today can be adjusted in length so you can walk as short or as far as you wish. The route
description will give you different options, but our suggestion is approx. 15 km. One place that you should not miss is the Kalø Castle ruin. The castle or rather the fortress was first built here by King Erik Menved in the year 1313. Shortly after it was demolished and then built up again. You get there via a long dam, the longest medieval road in Denmark. Once you have passed the moat, you are in the middle of the remains of the castle.
Viewing platforms have recently been built at the top of the tower. The view from here to the forests, Mols
Bjerge and over the Bay of Aarhus is formidable. Also look for seals, which often rest on the reef outside
Egens Vig. Your route to and from the castle ruins goes through the forests of Kalø, Hestehave Skov and Ringelmose Skov. Here you will pass old burial mounds and stone dolmens that date back more than 5000 years. At Følle Bund, at low tide you can be lucky to find flint tools from the Stone Age. The walking route also passes the manor Kalø Gods with Jagtslottet (the Hunting Lodge) and the memorial stone for the German owner Baron von Jenisch. The Jenisch family from Hamburg took over the whole Kalø estate with Manor, castle
ruins and forests in 1825 and were the owners until 1946. Another stop today is the old jetty at Nappedam, where steamships docked in the old days.

Since you have already walked parts of the Mols Bjerge Trail ́s Kalø Stage yesterday, today ́s stage has been
modified. You will pass Bregnet Church, which is located by itself at the edge of Ringelmose Forest. Like many other Danish churches this origins back nearly 1000 years. Take a look inside to see the beautiful modern art work of Arne Haugen Sørensen. Close by is the sacred spring Tobias Kilde, which is said to be able to cure eye
diseases. Just before you cross the creek Kolå, which forms the border to Mols, you pass the previous estate of the forest ranger, which today houses Kalø Folk High School and School of Organic Agriculture (the only of its
kind in Denmark). Before and after the village of Kejlstrup, you follow the edge of the moraine from the ice age, which forms the divide between the hilly Mols and the flatter Midtdjurs. You get high up, approx. 80 meters above sea level. Enjoy the view. It is great! The rest of the way towards Femmøller follows small paths through hilly terrain with forests and fields.

Today you have the longest and perhaps the most beautiful hiking stage. However, it is possible to shorten
the hike if you want a shorter and less strenous hike. From the top of Mols ́ highest "mountain" Agri Bavnehøj at 137 m.o.h. you have a view of most of the national park. Different is it when you reach the bottom of Tinghulen, which is one of the largest dry kettle holes created after the ice age. It served in the old days as a meeting place for the surrounding parishes. Disputes would be settled here and sentence witches to be burned. If you wish, you can make a short detour to visit Denmark's largest dolmen, Poskær Stenhus, which is located right on the edge of Knebel Plantation. From the top of the burial mounds Trehøje (127 m.o.h) from the Bronze Age you have a formidable view. Probably the best of the whole region. Then the trip goes back to Femmøller via the deserted villageToggerbo, Tremosegård and Strandkær, where Karen Blixen's sister Ellen Dahl and her husband had a holiday home.

Here on the last day of hiking you follow the Ebeltoft stage of the Mols Bjerge Trail. After you have left Femmøller's holiday homes behind you, you follow small forest tracks. An interesting stop in the middle of the forest is Ørnbjerg Mill, which ground grain for 400 years. You now follow the edge of the moraine from the ice age towards Djursland's largest lake, Stubbe Lake. Here you may be lucky to spot eagles. Well out of the forest you now follow the old railway path, which runs between Gravlev and Ebeltoft. Until 1968, there was a railway connection here between Ebeltoft and Trustrup. The route goes behind the small village Dråby. You can make a short detour to the village and see “The Cathedral of Mols”. Quite unusual to have such a big church in such a small village, but once the village lake was connected to the sea and ships would come in here. The last bit of path before you reach the coast at Ebeltoft is quite easy walking.

After breakfast your hiking holiday ends. We are happy to extend your stay with additional nights.