Perfect Itinerary for a Relaxing Weekend in Samsø (and How to Learn from My Mistakes!)

While I was studying in Aarhus, Denmark, I took a lot of awesome day trips from Aarhus, and Samsø had been at the top of my list of places to visit for a while. But it was too complicated and far away to make it a day trip, so I used it to break up my trip from Aarhus to Copenhagen for my flight home and spent a weekend in Samsø. I did not plan this trip very well, so if you want to see more of the island, you should learn from my mistakes. But I did love having a slow and relaxing weekend in Samsø, and I’ll definitely be back to see more 🙂

Getting to Samsø

You can take a ferry from Jutland and Zealand to get to Samsø. I took the ferry from Jutland to Samsø and the ferry from Samsø to Zealand to get to Copenhagen. If you’re coming from Aarhus, you’ll take a few buses to get to the ferry port (it was a lot easier than I was expecting to figure out), and if you’re coming or going to Copenhagen, you can take a regional train. Easy peasy!

Getting around Samsø

Traveling around Samsø was what I did NOT plan well, but there also wasn’t much I could have done. The easiest way to get around Samsø is by car or bike. Since I was starting in Jutland and ending in Zealand, it would have been really expensive to get a rental car and drop it off in a different location. It rained the ENTIRE time I was in Samsø, so it would have been difficult to bike around the island (and I didn’t have the best rain gear packed since it was hot and sunny the rest of the time I was in Denmark that summer).

So I had to rely on the buses. Which wouldn’t have been too bad if Sunday hadn’t been the main day I was exploring the island and the buses weren’t running as frequently as other days! So I made the most of my restricted travel around the island and just explored Besser and Nordby extensively. I wanted to visit another town before I left Samsø, but with the bus schedule, I wouldn’t have made it back to Besser and go to the port in time to catch my ferry. So if you can, I definitely recommend traveling around Samsø by car or bike so you can visit wherever you want!

Since the buses weren’t running very often, I almost missed the last bus out of Nordby and got stuck there thanks to a Google Maps error, and you can read about the story of how I chased after the bus and learn from that mistake on my post about Nordby!

Staying in Besser

For my weekend in Samsø I stayed in a town called Besser, and I loved the bed and breakfast I stayed in! The rooms were so cute, and I had an entire breakfast spread all for myself. I chose to stay in Besser because the town looked so pretty, and it was close to a beach and long sandbar, Besser Rev, to get awesome views of the ocean. If you need a place to stay in Samsø, I definitely recommend Besser!

Besser is a pretty small town, so you can see it all in an hour. There are a couple of cafes and shops that you can check out, too. If you want to see Besser Rev, you can take a long stroll through the countryside (or drive or bike if you’re more prepared than I was!).

The bed and breakfast in Besser was so cute!

Visiting Nordby

I wanted to see more of Samsø during my trip, but because I was limited to the bus schedule, I was only able to visit Nordby. But I’m happy I was able to go because it’s such a cute town! Nordby is known for its the half-timbered houses dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries, and they are so well-preserved that Nordby was named the best-kept village in Denmark.

There are only 214 inhabitants, but there are more shops, cafes, and restaurants than Besser, and there’s even a brewery! I just wandered around Nordby taking photos of all the beautiful half-timbered houses, and I hung out in the brewery to escape the cold rain. If it’s a nice day, you could spend a couple of hours leisurely walking around the town and seeing all the historic houses.

Leaving Samsø

Like I mentioned before, I left on the opposite port that I arrived. I took the bus from Besser to the ferry (and accidentally got off one stop early because no trip with me is perfect!), and it was pretty easy to find. There isn’t much around, so you can’t miss the ferry! We boarded and left on time without a hitch.

So that was my weekend in Samsø! If you prefer to have a relaxing itinerary and just leisurely stroll around to see beautiful towns and landscapes, I loved exploring Besser and Nordby at a slow pace (even in the rain!). If you prefer to see more of the island, learn from my poor planning and bring a car or bike to get around Samsø easier. But no matter what your plan is, you can’t go wrong with anywhere you go on Samsø! 🙂

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