The eurozone is expected to remain the most popular destination for UK travellers this year, with almost 22 million people set to visit countries across the region.
The littlest and southernmost of the Scandinavian countries, Denmark offers a beguiling mix of lively cities and rural countryside. Ancient castles, ring forts, jazz festivals, the sleekest modern design you'll ever see and the people who invented Lego - who could ask for more?
Danish Vikings once took to the seas and ravaged half of Europe, but these days they've filed down their horns and forged a society that is seen as a benchmark of civilisation, with progressive policies, a commitment to free speech and a liberal social-welfare system.
In Denmark, great honour is paid to traditions and festivals but without great ceremony. The Unceremonious Danes For example, it is characteristic that a survey made in the spring of 2002 showed that the majority of Danes believed Christmas to be the most important religious festival. From the standpoint of the church, this is not true – Easter is the most important – but Christmas in Denmark is surrounded by many more traditions - being together with the family and the eating of traditional meals - than is Easter. The Traditional and the Modern Moreover, in Denmark the traditions observed – and in particular eating traditions - vary greatly between the countryside and the major towns and cities. This is quite clear when one compares what is considered traditional Danish cuisine with dishes based on minced meat, gravy and potatoes to more modern Danish cuisine with its emphasis on simplicity and fresh and locally produced high quality ingredients.
