Nyborg

Nyborg guards the eastern gateway of Funen, where the island meets the waters of the Great Belt, and few Danish towns carry so much history in so compact a space. For roughly two centuries in the Middle Ages this was, in effect, a capital of the realm: from 1183 the Danehof, the assembly of the king, church and nobility, met at Nyborg Castle, and it was here in 1282 that King Erik Klipping signed Denmark's first constitution, the Coronation Charter, that bound even the monarch to the law. That heritage still defines the town.

At its centre stands Nyborg Castle (Nyborg Slot), one of the oldest royal castles in northern Europe, its great red-brick tower and banqueting hall recently and ambitiously restored to tell the story of the medieval kingdom. Around it survives something rarer still: the layout of a whole royal fortress town. The ramparts, moats and the disciplined grid of streets — laid out by royal order in the sixteenth century — make Nyborg the best-preserved fortified town in Denmark, and you can still trace the earthworks on a walk around the old defences. The handsome Vor Frue Kirke, the merchants' houses and the timber-framed Mads Lerches Gård, now the town museum, fill in the picture of a prosperous provincial capital.

Beyond the history, Nyborg is a relaxed and appealing place to spend a day. The old town gives way to a lively marina and waterfront, where sailing boats crowd the harbour in summer and restaurants spill out along the quay. The vast Great Belt Bridge, one of the engineering wonders of modern Denmark, sweeps across the strait just to the north — a striking counterpoint of the ultra-modern to the town's medieval bones, and best appreciated from the shore paths east of the centre. Families make for the beaches and the parkland along the coast, while the surrounding countryside of eastern Funen offers gentle cycling among manor houses and fields.

Nyborg has worked hard to bring its story to life, and in summer the castle and town host historical festivals, markets and re-enactments that fill the streets with colour. Yet even out of season the place rewards a wander: the scale is human, the sea is never far, and the sense of standing in a town where the shape of Denmark itself was once debated is palpable.

Getting there could hardly be easier. Nyborg sits at the Funen end of the Great Belt crossing, on the main railway between Copenhagen and Odense, and trains from the capital take about an hour, with the compact centre a short walk from the station. Whether you come for the castle and its constitutional history, the marina and the bridge views, or simply an easygoing day by the water, Nyborg offers a rich and very Danish slice of Funen.