The hotel/conference center is on the beach on the southern coast of the island of Funen, in the town of Svendborg. It is an easy 2½ hours train trip from the Copenhagen airport or from the main train station in Copenhagen. The hotel is about 1 mile from the train station in Svendborg, a 25-minute walk or short taxi ride.

Travelling by Train in Europe

IYou could book a train journey a from London, via the channel tunnel to Brussels, then to Hamburg, then to Odense and Svendborg. There are a number of useful websites www.seat61.com where there are links to many train companies, or
https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Copenhagen-Airport-CPH/Svendborg

There is a train from Copenhagen airport to Svendborg, changing at Odense that runs on a regular basis.  This train also runs from central Copenhagen.

The rail timetable is available at   https://www.dsb.dk/en/  or connections by train and/or bus at the Danish journey planner: www.rejseplanen.dk

If you book a seat in advance, your ticket is good for earlier or later trains, but the seat reservation, which you also should buy, is for a specific seat on a specific train.  If you have missed your train and have to take a later one, it’s a good idea to buy a new seat ticket. Your seat ticket is lost if you miss your train, but if you can make an earlier connection, we think it can be exchanged at the ticket office.  Seat reservation costs Dkr. 30, not a fortune. If you don’t buy a seat ticket you can often find a seat somewhere else, but risk being bumped out by someone else who has bought that seat. 

Once you are on the regional train from Copenhagen main train station (or before you board), you find your seat. There are usually roomy baggage racks at one or both ends of each carriage, but often also overhead luggage racks. Don’t hesitate to ask a younger person for help with your bags. It is perfectly fine to leave your main luggage in the luggage area, but keep your carry-on and purse with documents with you at your seat.

There is also a direct bus route which takes longer and may not fit with your flight plans
https://www.flixbus.com/bus-routes/bus-copenhagen-airport-svendborg
.

Copenhagen Airport (many thanks to Mari Voipio for this information)

The train station is at the airport, just follow the signs.  The station is located at Terminal 3 and should be easy to find. There doesn't seem to be an airport map on the airport website (!), but it is a compact airport with terminals next to each other. Note that you MUST have a ticket before boarding the train, but there is a ticket office by the train station.

(https://www.cph.dk/.../parking.../bus-train-metro-taxi/train)

All passengers from outside of EU and the Nordic countries will have to go through both passport control and customs. So this applies to the residents of UK, too, now that you are no longer in EU. Customs are usually an easy thing in Europe (unless you deliberately choose the red line), but the passport control may take a while.

An important note to passengers from outside of EU, whether it be UK or USA or Japan or even Norway: You may not import plant matter from into Denmark without a certificate. This means no cut flowers, no fruit. Not even an apple for a snack.

https://skat.dk/data.aspx?oid=2249265

Then there are the usual culprits, you may not import products of animal origin like meat or milk products, including cheese, without a special permit. You can freely import things like candy and cookies and crisps and non-alcoholic beverages and even bread as long as you don't put cheese and ham between your sandwich. So if you pack yourself a snack for the trip from CPH to Svendborg, pay attention to what you take. There seems to be a 7-Eleven shop/kiosk at Terminal 3, so you can stock up while waiting for your train, so you may not need that much. (There's also a café and a Burger King at Terminal 3 before security, according to the airport website.)

There's also a limit to how much alcohol and cigarettes you are allowed to bring from outside of EU without paying customs and taxes.

Those limits are listed in plain English at

https://skat.dk/data.aspx?oid=2244292(you can bring 200 cigarettes, but only one liter of spirits like whisky). You can bring more if you really wish, but then you have to take the red line at customs and pay lots of taxes and excise duty, so it doesn't pay off.

Traveling inside EU is a breeze nowadays. Unfortunately entering EU from outside comes with a bunch of rules and regulations to adhere to.

Lost Luggage

In case of loss, you should contact the following numbers:

If your flight was handled by SAS Ground Handling, please contact: +45 3232 3260. Service hours: Daily, 09:00 am to 04:00 pm. 

If your flight was handled by Aviator, please contact: +45 3247 4725. Service hours: Daily, 08:00 am to 04:00 pm. 

If your flight was handled by Menzies, please contact: +45 3231 4176. Service hours: Dalily, 09:00 am to 09:00 pm | Contact: call.centre@menziesaviation.com

 Flight Information

This page might be useful for checking your flight information on arrival day, showing if flights are on time or delayed:

 https://www.airport-copenhagen.com/cph-arrivals

 Getting to the Hotel from Svendborg Station

We will all be staying at a lovely, beachside hotel/conference center in Svendborg, the Hotel Christiansminde.

 

Hotel Christiansminde

Christiansmindevej 16

DK-5700 Svendborg

Telephone 004562219000

Email booking@christiansminde.dk

Please read more about it at https://www.christiansminde.dk/en/frontpage/. 

You can take a very short taxi ride, less than 10 minutes, or walk about 25 minutes. Taking the ferry, about 15 minutes, is just a more scenic way to arrive.You can catch the Helge ferry from the hotel Christiansminde to Svendborg at the following times.

From Christiansminde back to Svendborg when leaving on Saturday (or for the people going on their own to Odense or otherwise on Wednesday). The daily schedule from the hotel is

Christiansminde

11.35,

14.05,

16.15

https://www.svendborg-havn.dk/en/ferries/ms-helge

Taking Money to Denmark

We recommend that you bring Danish Kroner (DKK), if ever possible. Euros are unlikely to work anywhere and it can be hard to find a place to exchange them into DKK.   The sales at the Bazaar will be in whichever currency the person wishes which may be Euros or GBP (or via Paypal) but there will be Danish people who only take DKK.  

If you are converting a large amount into DKK, you may find that they always try to give me big bills (500 and even 1000 DKK), but in practice those can be hard to get rid of (just like a 50 pound bill is a bit of a problem in the UK nowadays). bThey usually have smaller bills, but I have to ask for them specifically - I am aiming at a lot of 100 and 200 DKK and maybe some 50 DKK bills for this trip. If you live in a place where you have to order the cash currency anyway, you should be able to specify that you prefer smaller bills.

For travellers from the UK or USA, you can use your card any where abroad at the moment until September. There is some sort of agreement and the bank will not charge you.  Here in UK the post office has a card, Mastercard, for travelling, you can have lots of different currencies in the same card and there is no fees at all. Very easy to use.

How it works depends a lot on your country of origin and your bank. It is true that some UK banks charge for every foreign card transaction, which is really strange to most of us. If your bank has waived it for now, enjoy that. However, check if there’s still a cash withdrawal fee or if that’s waived too (which would be even better). Apparently there are banks that have fee-less cards in general, but yours seems to have a temporary rule in place, which is very good for you!

(Information based on https://www.money.co.uk/.../how-to-use-a-credit-card-abroad)

In Finland (and Sweden, I think) control of the card usage is done in online banking. It’s a good thing to be reminded to check the settings before the trip to avoid nasty surprises. (For example the default setting for one of my cards is “Finland only”, so it didn’t do much good when I went to Estonia - I’d better check it allows Denmark now.)

Finnish cards never have a transaction fee (that would cause a mutiny, we travel abroad so much!), but mine does charge for cash withdrawals, so it’s cheaper for me to get the cash from an exchange office before the trip than to use an ATM in Denmark. Other people from other countries have cards without withdrawal fee and then an ATM at e.g. Copenhagen airport can be the easiest way to get enough cash to pay the various teachers etc. (The nearest ATM to the hotel seems to be 1.6 km from the hotel, if available online info is correct).

If one has an online bank, the list of card usage fees is usually hidden somewhere in there, but at least in my two banks it took some digging before I found the price lists when I was looking for the withdrawal fees.

You can probably use cards in most retail places but they may charge foreign exchange fees so check your cards before you leave home to make sure you are not paying large charges before you travel.   You may want to buy Danish Kroner before you travel.

I found five ATMs in Svendborg and then it turns out there’s one that isn’t listed - but they are all in the central area and the hotel is not, so expect to walk at least a mile to find an ATM.

Copenhagen center will have a reasonable number of ATMs. Århus center, too, it is a biggish city. But if Denmark is like Finland and Sweden, it’s harder to find cash in small places and outside city centers. (Not that we need cash. I only take some out when visiting Central Europe. But the conference will require a reasonable amount for various reasons.)

Here in UK the post office has a card, Mastercard, for travelling, you can have lots of different currencies in the same card and there is no fees at all. Very easy to use.

COVID 19 Information Travelling to Denmark (as of 4 July, 2022):

There are no covid-19 related restrictions on entry into Denmark. On this page, you will find information on testing and everyday precautions.

 

Official announcement from: https://en.coronasmitte.dk/travel-rules/covidtravelrules