Saturday

4) 10 A.M. Coffee Talk

In a brick building on a pretty cobblestone courtyard, Great Coffee lives up to its name. Run by the award-winning barista Soren Stiller Markussen, this warehouselike coffee shop focuses on the craft of coffee brewing, with a micro-roastery, brew-ratio charts on the wall, a menu of espresso options and five different filter methods. Feeling overwhelmed? Then slip inside RS28, a laid-back coffee shop where the reception is friendly, the lattes are frothy, and the knowledgeable baristas are happy to chat about the flavors of the daily brew.

5) 11 A.M. Library of the Future

Anyone who doubts the value of a physical library in the digital age ought to visit Dokk1, the new home of the city’s public library. Situated on the waterfront, this neo-futuristic heptagonal structure with walls of glass was designed by the Danish architecture firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen. Take a tour of the building — there are also spaces for cultural events, exhibitions, performances, offices, lounges and dining — before checking out the outdoor art installations, exploring the series of playgrounds on the terrace, perusing media in the library and admiring the views across the water and once-industrial harbor.

Dokk1, situated on the waterfront, is the new home of the city’s public library. Credit Mads Frederik Christensen for The New York Times



6) 12:30 P.M. Smorrebrod Supreme

When Wassim Hallal, one of the city’s top Michelin-starred chefs, turned his attention to smorrebrod, the classic Danish open-faced sandwich, Aarhusians took notice. In a prime riverside location, F-Hoj is an upscale deli serving Mr. Hallal’s refined twists on traditional smorrebrod alongside tempting cakes and chocolate confections. At lunch, snag a table in the small seating nook to try the half-dozen varieties on Danish rye, which recently included chicken salad with apples in a creamy mustard sauce topped with strips of fried chicken skin (65 kroner), and the sublime “burning love” smorrebrod with mashed potatoes, crisp bacon bits, caramelized onions and baby greens (65 kroner).

7) 2 P.M. Danish Designs

Danish design has dictated furniture trends for decades, from midcentury functionalists like Wegner and Jacobsen to the modern-day trendsetters Muuto and Hay. A visit to the Copenhagen-based furniture house Paustian, in a rambling 19th-century former railway station near the waterfront, will reveal an aspirational cross-section of Danish and international design pieces, with classics alongside soon-to-be-classics. Shop for a masterpiece, like Poul Henningsen’s artichoke lamp, or pick up packable collectibles, like a dollhouse-size Eames chair or Kay Bojesen’s hanging wooden monkey, a mainstay in Danish children’s rooms for over half a century.

8) 4:30 P.M. Culture Center

Living up to its capital-of-culture title, Aarhus has repurposed an old freight yard as Godsbanen, a center for cultural production where artists, writers, performers and creative types of every stripe are invited to use the studios, galleries, stages and workshops. Come for the packed calendar of events: street fairs, food and beer festivals, artisan and flea markets, and music performances ranging from jazz to glitter raves. On the rare occasion that nothing’s scheduled, stroll around the neighboring Institut for (X), a colorful shantytown of former railroad buildings and makeshift shipping containers housing dozens of studios and workshops for alternative and entrepreneurial projects — a graffiti supply shop, woodworking studios, a reggae grill — as well as playgrounds, a plant market, pop-up shops and a vegetarian cafe.

Restaurant Haervaerk serves local and seasonal Nordic cuisine. Credit Mads Frederik Christensen for The New York Times



9) 8 P.M. Hygge Heaven

Embrace hygge, the Danish concept of convivial coziness, over a meal at Vesterlauget Madbodega, a homey restaurant with flea-market furnishings and candles atop wooden tables meant for sharing. During the day, the space serves hearty English breakfasts and smorrebrod lunches, but in the evening, crowds come for dinner when the menu consists of one main course — perhaps porchetta with barley, peas and fennel, or Danish farm chicken with lentils, herbs and parsnips (85 kroner) – and one dessert, like a rhubarb-mascarpone-hazelnut tart (45 kroner), which change daily. Add to that an excellent selection of local beers and spirits, and your hyggelig evening is complete.

10) 11 P.M. Creative Cups

Curious about cocktails served in miniature bathtubs? Then reserve a table at Gedulgt, a lively speakeasy-inspired cocktail bar that opened in January with a discreet backyard entrance and a menu of creative libations. Inspired by the movie “American Beauty,” the frothy bathtub cocktail of tea-infused gin, double cream, lime, lemon, egg white and acacia honey is a showstopper strewn with crimson rose petals (130 kroner). For a more demure drink, try the Can Can (Pimm’s, sloe gin, lime and ginger beer; 85 kroner) served with mint in a tin can.