Sunday 9th July 2017 – Koge, Denmark

It is a very sad day as we are leaving the best campsite that we have ever stayed in – and we have stayed in hundreds. We really felt at home here. The attention to detail was incredible, the flowers, the olive trees, citrus trees, the candles and oil lamps, the excellent cooking and dining facilities and the immaculate shower block. But none of this felt artificial, it just felt as if we were sharing a friend’s house. To top it all off, this morning, as it was Sunday, free coffee had been put in large thermos flasks on tables outside reception and the shower block with a notice wishing everyone a good morning. This is typical of the campsite, just a wonderful touch. If you are coming to Denmark and camping, you must put Hillerod Camping on your itinerary.

We headed on back roads to the Lejre Iron Age and Viking site, stopping first at the low-key museum. Here there was an explanation that the Lejre Kings figured highly in the Viking chronicles but were dismissed as myth. From 1980 to 2000 archaeological digs revealed very high status buildings backing up the stories of the Lejre kings. There are also considerable Iron Age remains close by with many barrows, so this was an important site for many hundreds of years.

We downloaded an app that burst into life when we approached any feature of significance on the site. This was interesting but there was no map available showing the location of the features either in leaflet form, on a notice board or even as a static display in the museum. An oversight I think as those without access to tablets or smartphones would struggle to find their way around.

We couldn’t investigate the whole site as we needed to get to Sagnlandet Lejre or Lejre Land of Legends just a few kilometres away. A rather OTT name but actually a serious reconstruction of Stone Age, Iron Age and Viking features. At approx. £18 per person, it is not cheap but it does entitle you to 12 months of visits and, given that we didn’t manage to get around the whole site, we may well take advantage and visit again next week. The Viking market was just starting and we inspected the wares available and chatted to one of the stallholders. He said that there are 50 Viking markets each year in Denmark alone and many people earn a living by moving around from market to market with their stalls. I also chatted with one of the few staff on duty about the ovens that they used in the Iron Age and he showed me two different types of oven and a pottery kiln that they used. We also visited the pottery where the lady was making replica Iron Age pottery using the Iron Age method of coils of clay which were then smoothed using a pebble. She had a very large pot that she had been making for over a week. Once the pot had reached a certain height, it had to be left for a while to dry to give it the strength to support further rings of clay. She also explained that 40% of baked and ground granite was added to the clay to help it resist the heat of firing and give it extra strength. The granite had to be baked a number of times before it could be crushed and added to the clay.

The reconstructed buildings where amazing and one group of Iron Age buildings is set aside for use by families who pay to stay for six days, living as Iron Age people. This is the real thing in that they eat Iron Age food, which they prepare themselves, wear Iron Age clothes and they sleep on straw in the buildings. We chatted to some who had been there for just one day and they were having a great time. During the day they took part in typical tasks such as weaving, woodworking and rowing dug-out boats – great fun!

We drove on to Koge Vallo Camping, which being sited close to a very good beach, was much busier that the other sites that we have stayed at. We took a walk to the sea and then settled down for dinner.

Photos: One of the Hillerod Camping seating areas with olive trees, citrus trees and flowers; A model of one of the Lejre Viking long halls, at over 500 sq. m. this is the largest known in Denmark; One of the Iron Age barrows at Lejre; I had to have a go at grinding wheat to make flour; A view across the marshland to the Iron Age village where visitors stay to experience life at that time; The interior of one of the houses where eight people sleep; The potter making an iron age pot with a partially made very large pot on her left; The beach close to Koge Vallo Camping – from here we could see on the horizon the bridge from Denmark to Sweden.