Gudenåen has a new website

PRESS RELEASE: Guests get easier digital access to Gudenåen

Gudenåen is getting a new website that will communicate the many experiences on and around Gudenåen. Whether you want to hike, sail, fish, cycle or just visit some of the many attractions, you can find inspiration at oplevgudenaa.dk.

Gudenåen is Denmark’s longest river and passes through a unique and varied landscape on its way from its source to Randers Fjord. There are plenty of things to experience – but nowhere are they presented in one place. Now they will be – at oplevgudenaa.dk.

– We are eight municipalities, the Danish Nature Agency and three tourism organizations that have now joined forces to communicate the glory of Gudenåen on one common modern platform. The new website makes it much easier for citizens and tourists to find their way around, and it gives us a better opportunity to showcase the great experience potential of the Gudenå River, says Lars Storgaard, Mayor of Favrskov Municipality and Chairman of GudenåSamarbejde.

– The website is designed with two tracks in mind. One that focuses on what activity you’re interested in – hiking, sailing, fishing, etc. – and one that focuses on which area you are interested in – south, center or north. We have chosen to present the Gudenå River as three stretches or areas because they can do something different, but you can read much more about this on the website,” explains Gunhild Øeby Nielsen, coordinator of GudenåSamarbeidet.

The digital map that until now has lived at oplevgudenaa.dk still exists. It is implemented in the website, but it can also be found at kort.oplevgudenaa.dk. In addition to maps, there’s also something for the ears on the website via the podcast “Åsteder – fortællinger fra Gudenåen”.

Project “Gudenåstien – from source to fjord”

The website is part of the large Gudenå Trail project, which is currently being realized with support from the Nordea Foundation, the A.P. Møller Foundation and the project partners. The plan is that in a few years it will be possible to hike all the way from source to fjord. The path and project will of course also be communicated on the website.

– Gudenåen offers a variety of nature experiences in the great outdoors. The website makes it easier to stay or plan the trip that suits you. We are proud to support this so that more people can have fantastic experiences along the Gudenå River, from source to fjord,” says Christine Paludan-Müller, Head of Distribution at Nordea-fonden.

The website is for anyone interested in the Gudenåen experiences, whether you’re a tourist from afar or live near the Gudenåen.

International ambitions

The website has been created in dialog with all of Gudenåen’s municipalities and destination companies, who will continue to collaborate on it.

– When guests want to experience Gudenåen, they don’t look at municipal boundaries or destinations. So it makes perfect sense that they can find all their information in one place. This provides the best experience for the guest, and ultimately the most important thing is that they can get all the fantastic experiences on and around Gudenåen served at once,” says Johan Friis Bergholt, Marketing Manager, VisitAarhus.

A major international campaign launched by VisitAarhus in the spring of 2024 is already planned to lead potential visitors to the shared platform oplevgudenaa.dk, where they can find out even more about Gudenåen. The campaign includes a campaign video targeted at the German market, which has been running throughout the spring with a focus on creating international awareness of Gudenåen.

The campaign video is produced and financed by VisitDenmark, Destination Kystlandet and VisitAarhus. The campaign is coordinated with VisitDenmark. Gudenåsamarbejdet, VisitAarhus, Denmark’s Most Beautiful and Destination Kystlandet collaborate to market the Gudenå River as a travel destination.

Facts and contact

Facts about the trail project “Gudenåstien – from source to fjord”:

The website oplevgudenaa.dk is part of the major trail project “Gudenåstien – from source to fjord”, which is funded by the A.P. Møller Foundation, the Nordea Foundation, the three units of the Danish Nature Agency Triangle Region, Søhøjlandet and Kronjylland and the municipalities Vejle, Hedensted, Horsens, Skanderborg, Silkeborg, Viborg, Favrskov and Randers. Favrskov Municipality is the lead partner on the project. The project is a three-year project with a total budget of €57 million. Read more about the project on the new website and at favrskov.dk/gudenaastien.

Facts about GudenåSamarbetet:

The municipalities of Hedensted, Horsens, Skanderborg, Silkeborg, Viborg, Favrskov and Randers collaborate on the Gudenå River’s experience potential in the Gudenå Collaboration, which is anchored in a mayoral forum consisting of the 7 municipalities’ mayors. It has existed since 2016 and has an annual budget of DKK 1.15 million. The GudenåSamarbeidet secretariat is located in Favrskov Municipality while the major trail project is underway.

Contact us:

• new website Gunhild Øeby Nielsen, coordinator in GudenåSamarbejdet, 20 36 50 77, gunn@favrskov.dk

• project Gudenåstien Thomas Brandt Ebbesen, project manager, 21 33 69 40, tebb@favrskov.dk