Welcome to Aalborg

Aalborg is a multi-faceted city - full of contrasts. It is also grand on a manageable scale. All the major city attractions are concentrated within easy distance. Lively pedestrian streets, peaceful green oases, theatres, foaming draft beer and sublime gastronomy are all part of Aalborg’s charm. Attractions range from the Viking era through the Middle Ages to modern art. As an added attraction, the countryside around Aalborg is inviting and beautiful.

Aalborg houses architectural masterpieces designed by world-renown architects such as Elissa & Alvar Aalto, who together with Jean-Jacques Baruël designed the museum of modern art “Kunsten” in Aalborg in 1972. The building is famous for its unique use of natural light. A newer waterfront masterpiece is the Utzon Center. It is designed by Jørn Utzon, the architect behind the famous Sydney Opera House, whom grew up in Aalborg. The Utzon Center is an active and dynamic public venue for the display, development and discussion of architecture, design and art. It houses the Utzon café & restaurant, architecture & design library, university auditoriums and changing art and design exhibitions.

A new ground-breaking building in Aalborg is the completely renovated former coal-fired power station Nordkraft. It has been converted into the central cultural centre in the city with theatre, music venue, cinema, sports centre, art exhibitions, restaurants and much more. The architecture is unique, as the original heavy industrial expression has been preserved.

On the energy front, Aalborg is also on the forefront, and is able to offer its citizens cheap district heating and at the same time ease the amount of industrial flue gases emitted to the atmosphere. This is done through an agreement between the cement producer Aalborg Portland and the City of Aalborg, whom in the early 1990s developed a plant where waste heat from the flue gases was used for district heating and at the same time the gases were being de-sulphurised. The plant has since been updated and enlarged to increase the heat recovery as well as make the cleaning of flue gases more efficient. Today Aalborg Portland supplies the City of Aalborg with 388,000 MW of heat, corresponding to the heat consumption of around 30,000 households.

Shopping

In the centre of Aalborg, a broad range of speciality shops lies side by side with large department stores. There are two large pedestrian streets – Bispensgade and Algade – as well as smaller by-streets that also offer excellent shopping opportunities.

Normal shopping hours are from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., however, certain shops and supermarkets stay open until 8 p.m. On Saturdays, shops tend to close earlier. Banks are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. Please note that banks are closed on weekends and most shops are also closed on Sundays.

Payment

The majority of international credit cards can be used in bars and department stores and are accepted at most hotels, restaurants and shops as well. Personal cheques issued by foreign banks are very rarely accepted, but Travellers Cheques can be cashed in every bank and even in certain department stores.