Denmark has a lake district. Nobody outside Denmark knows about it. Most Danes don't actively think about it. Between Aarhus and Silkeborg the country quietly piles up its biggest lakes, its tallest hills and its longest river — and the slowest, gentlest Denmark you will find.
Last updated ·Verified 2026-05-25
Most international visitors to Jutland get as far as Aarhus and stop. Forty-five minutes west the landscape changes — beech forest closes over the road, lakes start showing up one after the other, and you cross from "city break" into the kind of slow, green, water-laced Denmark most foreign guidebooks skip entirely. This is Søhøjlandet — "the lake highlands" — and it deserves more than the half-paragraph it usually gets.
Søhøjlandet is loosely the region around Silkeborg, Ry and Skanderborg in central Jutland, about 45 minutes west of Aarhus. The name means "the lake highlands". It is not a national park or any official designation — it is just what Danes call this collection of lakes and the slightly-elevated terrain around them.
The key features:
“Danes are not embarrassed that their highest 'mountain' is shorter than a fifteen-storey building. They are quietly proud of it — and after a day in Søhøjlandet, so are we.”
— Blazenka & Bo
"Sky Mountain" is 147 m tall. There is a parking lot near the top, so the "climb" is really a 10-minute walk through beech forest. At the summit: a panoramic view over Julsø and the surrounding forest, and the Himmelbjerget Tower — a 25 m brick monument built in 1875 to commemorate King Frederik VII\'s signing of the Danish constitution. Pay a small fee, climb the spiral stairs, look out.
The whole experience takes one to two hours. Touristy in the sense that everyone goes, but the views are genuinely worth it — and the wooded walk down to the lake afterwards is the part most day-trippers skip.
The Hjejlen has been running on the Silkeborg lakes since 1861 — it is the world\'s oldest operating coal-fired paddle steamer, still original boiler, still hand-shovelled coal. Yes, you read that right. The boat is the experience as much as the view. Take a trip from Silkeborg harbour up Julsø to the foot of Himmelbjerget and back, around 90 minutes each way.
It runs roughly May to early September. In high summer book ahead — the boat is small, and the schedule is built around a single vessel that needs to be coaled, fired and turned around.
The Gudenå is Denmark\'s most popular paddling river — gentle current, lots of access points, sheltered camping at designated wild sites along the bank. The classic trip runs from Tørring to Randers, around 110 km in 4–6 days. Day trips out of Silkeborg or Ry are easier and need no experience.
Outfitters worth knowing:
Book ahead in June, July and August — these are summer holidays for Danish families and the popular boats go first.
The beech and oak woods around Silkeborg and Ry are among the prettiest in Denmark — Vesterskov, Sønderskov, Klosterkirken-Ø Bakker. Trails are marked, terrain is forgiving, and there is almost always a lake just visible through the trunks.
The villages themselves are small but each has a flavour:
Compare hotels: Silkeborg area on Booking.com · Ry hotels on Booking.com
The Søhøjlandet sits in the middle of Jutland, off motorway E45. From Aarhus it is 45 minutes by car or train. From Aalborg, 1 hour 45. From Billund Airport, 1 hour.
For EV drivers: the Skanderborg Supercharger on E45 is the closest fast charger. CCS networks (Clever, IONITY) at most service stations. Driving distances inside Søhøjlandet are short — 50 km of touring usually covers everything, so a single charge before you arrive is plenty for two or three days of slow movement.
If you are bundling this into a longer Denmark trip, see our 7-day Jutland road trip — Søhøjlandet slots in cleanly as a one- or two-night detour off the main route. And the city most people pair this with is just east: our Aarhus weekend guide for what to see in town before you head into the hills.
Easiest path: fly into Billund (1 hour) or Aarhus (45 minutes), rent at the airport, drive the loop. Skip Copenhagen unless you want the capital first — for a pure central-Jutland trip it adds 3 hours of driving for no reason.
A region in central Jutland between Aarhus, Silkeborg and Skanderborg. It contains Denmark's most concentrated lakes, the country's highest hills (Himmelbjerget at 147 m, Yding Skovhøj at 173 m) and Denmark's longest river, the Gudenå (158 km). It's not a national park but it functions like one — and yes, those really are the country's "mountains".
Yes — the Gudenå is Denmark's most popular paddling river. The classic multi-day kayak/canoe trip runs Tørring to Randers, around 110 km in 4–6 days. Outfitters in Silkeborg, Ry and Skanderborg rent gear by the day or week. Wild camping is allowed only at designated shelter sites along the river — book at udinaturen.dk.
Yding Skovhøj is technically the highest natural point at 173 m, but Himmelbjerget (147 m) is the famous one — it sits dramatically above Julsø lake with a 25 m observation tower on top. Either way: these are hills. Denmark is famously flat. Smile politely when a Dane points up at one.
Two to three days minimum for a real visit. It's day-trippable from Aarhus or Aalborg if you only want Himmelbjerget plus the Hjejlen paddle steamer. Add days if you want a multi-day canoe trip on the Gudenå or to actually slow down in a sommerhus by Julsø.
Excellent. Calm lakes, easy walking trails, the Hjejlen paddle steamer for non-paddlers, swimming areas at Almindsø and Slåensø, ice cream in every village. The complete antidote to a busy city visit — and the kind of place Danish grandparents take grandchildren.
Roughly May through early September, with the densest schedule in July and August. It runs from Silkeborg harbour to the foot of Himmelbjerget, around 1.5 hours each way. Check current departures and book ahead in high season — the boat is small and well-loved.
