Cycling & sailing in Denmark and Sweden, MS ANTIGUA

Individual arrival in Copenhagen. The crew will welcome you from 5:30 p.m. on the ship, which is moored near the city center, Kastellet Fortress, and the Little Mermaid. After you have taken your luggage to your cabin, the captain, tour guide, and crew will invite you for a welcome drink. This will be followed by your first dinner on board. After dinner, the tour guides will discuss the itinerary and you will learn everything about the ship and the safety measures on board. The bicycles will be distributed in the evening or the next morning.

You leave the ship and cycle past the Little Mermaid and Kastellet on quiet cycle paths out of the city, along the Öresund, but also inland through wooded areas and beautiful villages. You may see the ship sailing. About 10 km before Helsingør is the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, which is well worth a visit. Continue on to Helsingør, where you will reach the historic city center. The harbor is dominated by the imposing Kronborg Castle, the place Shakespeare had in mind when he wrote Hamlet. Nearby, old harbor buildings have been beautifully restored and now house a street market and a maritime museum, among other things.

After breakfast, you will first cycle along the coast of the Danish Riviera with its extensive sandy beaches to the small harbor of Hornbaek. Then you will head inland through a gently rolling landscape to Esrum, where you will stop at the medieval monastery on Lake Esrum. You then cycle through idyllic wheat fields and past several castles and country houses back to Helsingør, where you reach the historic city center after a long descent. A shorter version of the bike tour allows you to visit Helsingør in the afternoon. During dinner, the ship crosses the narrow strait to reach Helsingborg on the Swedish coast. Helsingborg is a beautiful old town, but it is also considered one of the most innovative in Europe. After dinner, you can take a short walk.

In the morning, you will cycle along the coast of Skåne province to the fortified town of Landskrona. Along the way, you will pass several beaches and the former fishing village of Borstahusen with its picturesque old fishermen's houses. The 16th-century citadel of Landskrona is still almost intact. Shortly after noon, you will take the ferry to the island of Ven. Explore the tiny island (only 7.5 km in size), which has less than 400 inhabitants and is a little gem in the Öresund. You can cycle around the island and visit artists, goldsmiths, cafés, the whiskey distillery, or the observatory of the 16th-century astronomer Tycho Brahe. As the harbor is too small to accommodate the large ship, the crew will pick you up in the late afternoon with the dinghy and the ship will remain anchored off the coast overnight.

Today, you and your bikes will stay on board. The ship will sail (under sail, weather permitting, of course) from the island of Ven under the Öresund Bridge to the southern part of Zealand. Enjoy the sailing trip on the deck of the large sailing ship. Your destination is Køge, or you can sail a little further to Rødvig. The exact destination depends on the weather conditions. In Køge, the ship docks in the harbor, and in Rødvig, it anchors for the night. Between the two places lie the imposing white limestone cliffs of Stevns Klint, similar to those in Dover or on the German island of Rügen. This sparsely populated area is considered a “dark sky area”: on clear nights, you can marvel at the starry sky, which was once essential for navigation at sea.

If your bike tour starts in Rødvig, you will be taken by dinghy from the ship to Rødvig. Cycle to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Stevns Klint, where you will make a short stop to see the chalk cliffs, the small town of Højerup, and the cliff church. Continue to Køge and take some time to visit the historic center of the medieval town. If your tour starts in Køge, your bike ride will be longer. You will also visit the chalk cliffs of Stevns Klint and then return to Køge. The ship will pick you up in Køge to set sail for Malmö in the evening.

This short half-day tour takes you past various highlights in the city center and through Malmö's suburbs to a breathtaking view of the Öresund Bridge and the city. In the afternoon, you will have time to explore Malmö on your own. The longer, full-day tour on quiet country roads takes you to the lively university town of Lund, one of Sweden's oldest cities with over 1,000 years of history. Discover the historic city center and the magnificent 12th-century cathedral. On the way back to the ship, you will cycle along the beautiful coast, where you will have the opportunity to enjoy an ice cream or take a last dip in the sea! In the evening, enjoy the captain's farewell dinner.

Disembarkation and individual journey home by 9:30 a.m.