Fall fun for everyone at the Kildebrønde Frugtplantage in Greve, Denmark

Creating fall traditions in a foreign country

When we first moved abroad, we embraced the local holidays and traditions and didn’t make much effort to impart ours on this place. It isn’t hard to do in Denmark, the ritual and relishing of special days is something easy to adopt. Especially around Christmas.

But autumn in Denmark never really filled my bucket. Don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful here in fall, but the autumnal activities we associated with the season weren’t as well known here. We’ve made Halloween work and taken days off for our Thanksgiving to share with Danish and international friends.

So in a year that has been the opposite of traditional and thwarted our trips to homelands, it has been especially important to create our own sense of ritual. And this weekend, we found as close as they come to our favorite fall outing. Right here in Denmark.

Off the beaten track fun for your fall break exploring

FIND SEASONAL FLAVORS, COLORFUL ART AND WILD ANIMALS

It’s almost week 42 here in Denmark. Don’t work in weeks? Neither did I until I moved to Copenhagen, but the Danes definitely do. And week 42 is always fall break – or efterårsferie in Danish. Historically, this was a scheduled time off from school, so the kids could go home and help with the annual harvest. Nowadays, not as many families working on farms, but we still get the autumn pause.

For many living here, fall break is a brilliant time to travel abroad – when prices are off-peak and places less crowded. But this year, exploring looks decidedly different with ever evolving safe travel recommendations and changing border restrictions. With lots of us locals staying in Denmark for most of this year, maybe you’ve run out of creative ideas about what to do around here.