Pilgrimsrute Sydsjælland – Lolland-Falster

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Ringsted (Sankt Bendts Kirke, km 48.7 of the Pilgrimsrute Vestsjælland) / Rødbyhavn (ferry to Puttgarden)
• Length: 149.0 km
• Duration: 8 stages (Camino Ninja division), 7–10 days
• Elevation: ↗ 442 m / ↘ 493 m — walking, not climbing
• Highest point: 51 m at the start in Ringsted; Lolland and Falster lie partly below sea level
• Stages: 8 — Camino Ninja system on our waypoints; the operator cuts Ringsted–Næstved 16.5+5.5+15.5, Næstved–Vordingborg 18+16, Vordingborg–Maribo–Rødby 27+27+21 km
• Landscape: gently rolling central Zealand, the ridge of Mogenstrup, Storstrøm and Guldborgsund, the islands of Falster and Lolland, sugar-beet country, Maribosøerne, dyke coast on the Fehmarn Belt
• Operator: Foreningen af Danske Santiagopilgrimme (founded November 1999, over 5,100 members), section "Ringsted – Rødby (mod Tyskland)". The name "Pilgrimsrute Sydsjælland – Lolland-Falster" is Camino Ninja system — three landscapes, hence the double name
• Waymarking: yellow scallop shell on blue, square plaques; sparser than in Spain, GPX recommended
• Traces of St James: no St James church on the route — but Denmark's best personal evidence: Bridget of Vadstena travelled via Rødby to Santiago; pilgrimage church of Kippinge, Bridgettine abbey of Maribo
• Accommodation: beds reliably in Ringsted, Næstved, Vordingborg, Sakskøbing, Maribo and Rødby; Glumsø, Lundby and Øster Kippinge are villages; few pilgrim hostels, mostly June to August
• Feeders and connection: start at the fork of the Pilgrimsrute Vestsjælland; from Puttgarden the Via Scandinavica to Lübeck
• Best time: May to September

Overview

This route has what no other Danish route has: a pilgrim with a name. The mappers of the Danske Pilgrimsrute wrote in 2007: "Den hellige Birgitta af Vadstena selv rejste via Rødby til Santiago de Compostela" — St Bridget travelled via Rødby to Santiago, and her way led through the Bridgettine abbey in Maribo. Exactly there this route ends: at the ferry quay of Rødbyhavn. It begins in the royal crypt of Ringsted, at the only true fork of the Danish network, draws through the gently rolling middle of Zealand to Næstved with its three churches and the Skovkloster, whose charter of 1140 is the oldest of any Danish monastery, to the Gåsetårnet of Vordingborg — where the peasants in the Middle Ages were obliged to carry pilgrims across the Storstrøm — and over the new Dronning Margrethe II's Bro to Falster, to the pilgrimage church of Kippinge, in whose chapel the crutches of the healed were stored, across the bascule bridge at Guldborg to Lolland, to Sakskøbing and Maribo, whose town only arose to supply pilgrims, and behind the dyke to the Fehmarn Belt.

Frankly: the name is our Camino Ninja system, the operator says "Ringsted – Rødby, mod Tyskland", and it needs two regions because the route crosses three landscapes — the strongest places are not in Sydsjælland at all. Lolland and Falster are flat, and truly flat, with long tarmac stretches between sugar beet; pilgrim hostels are rare, the waymarking is sparse, Bridget's year of travel is not documented, and since 2021 no train runs to Rødbyhavn any more — if you arrive here, plan on a bus. What there is instead: the only documentary evidence of organised pilgrim logistics in Denmark, a bridge that this year replaced its predecessor of 1937, an abbey built to Bridget's own plan and a ferry quay where the route continues to Germany — with the same shell on blue. A medieval duty to carry has become a bridge railing. This year.

Other Names

Pilgrimsrute Sydsjælland – Lolland-Falster is Camino Ninja system: we name the Danish routes by region, and this one needs two because it crosses three landscapes — Sydsjælland to Vordingborg (km 70.4), then Falster from Orehoved (km 79.7), then Lolland from Guldborg (km 100.4). The operating society, the Foreningen af Danske Santiagopilgrimme, lists the stretch as one section of its Den Danske Pilgrimsrute and names it after places and compass direction: "Ringsted – Rødby (mod Tyskland)", Ringsted to Rødby, towards Germany, 152 kilometres. On its stage pages you meet the stretch in three pieces: "Ringsted – Næstved", "Næstved – Vordingborg" and "Vordingborg – Maribo – Rødby".

Three lengths you have to live with: 152 kilometres in the operator's overview, 145.5 as the sum of its stage titles, 149.0 in our route data — all three documented, all three measured differently; we list ours. And the operator ends in Rødby, we in Rødbyhavn, 4.9 kilometres further on at the ferry quay, because that is where the ferry leaves. In the mappers' self-description of 2007 the whole corridor is called "en rute fra Helsingør ned til Gedser og Rødby" — the society has two southern ends. The second branch leads to Gedser and the ferry to Rostock; we do not yet have a page of its own for it. As a European long-distance path the route runs in places on the E6.

Ideal For – and Less So For

Ideal if you want a border crossing that really is one: you start at a royal crypt, cross the Storstrøm onto an island after four days, then by bascule bridge onto the next, and stand at the end on a ferry quay from which St Bridget demonstrably set off for Santiago. Ideal if you want pilgrim history in buildings rather than in claims: a church that collected crutches, a town founded for pilgrims, a ferry duty in a charter. Ideal for pilgrims heading for Germany: this is the route that continues in Puttgarden with the same shell. And ideal for everyone who wants to walk rather than climb — 442 metres of ascent over 149 kilometres, highest point at the start.

Frankly, though, it is not for you if you are looking for drama in the landscape: Lolland and Falster are flat, with long tarmac sections between sugar-beet and grain fields, and the wind there is not weather but a condition. Not for you if you expect hostels: outside Jutland the Danish network has only very few real pilgrim hostels, many houses open only in summer, and Glumsø, Lundby and Øster Kippinge are villages — gaps like that are planned away beforehand, not on the way. Not for you if you want to rely on signs: "sparsommere end i Spanien", without GPX it gets tedious. And the end has a catch: since 2021 no train runs to Rødbyhavn any more, the railhead is Nykøbing Falster, onward by bus — or by ferry.

Route & Landscape

Zealand: The route begins in Ringsted at the Sankt Bendts Kirke and draws south through the gently rolling middle of Zealand — farmland, avenues, village churches an hour apart. At Glumsø lies a lake, at Holløse and Ladby it gets more wooded, then Næstved opens up, the largest town on the route, with three medieval churches in the centre and the Skovkloster, today Herlufsholm, just outside. At Mogenstrup the route runs over a ridge, a glacial gravel rib that passes for a range of hills by Zealand standards, then via Lundby and Sværdborg to Vordingborg, where the Gåsetårnet stands above the strait.

Islands: Then the route becomes a chain of islands. Across the small island of Masnedø and the new Storstrøm bridge you arrive at Orehoved on Falster, walk via Nørre Vedby and Vålse to Øster Kippinge and cross at Guldborg on the bascule bridge of 1934 to Lolland. From here it is sugar-beet country: wide, open, windy, with avenues and manor farms, partly below sea level. Via Sakskøbing and Hunseby the route leads along the Maribosøerne to Maribo with the abbey complex on the lake, then through Bursø, Holeby — the future station town of the Fehmarn Belt tunnel — and Rødby down to the coast to Rødbyhavn: the last kilometres behind the dyke, with the ferry port and, out in the Belt, the tunnel construction site in view. Surface: field tracks, forest tracks, longer tarmac stretches, bridge footways, dyke crest; there is no measured share.

Stages, Terrain & Difficulty

We divide the 149.0 kilometres into eight stages averaging 18.6 kilometres — Camino Ninja system; the operator cuts into three sections with eight parts and arrives at 145.5 or 152 kilometres. Every stage boundary below is a waypoint of our route data, every kilometre figure the difference between two points, the total exactly the 149.0 kilometres of our route. If you want nine days, split the bridge stage at Orehoved (9.3 + 13.7).

1. Ringsted – Glumsø (15.9 km) — from the Sankt Bendts Kirke via Høm, Vrangstrup and Tyvelse to Glumsø Kirke on the lake.
2. Glumsø – Næstved (21.0 km) — via Skelby, Holløse and Ladby into the town of three churches; Skovkloster/Herlufsholm outside.
3. Næstved – Lundby (19.2 km) — Rønnebæk, the ridge of Mogenstrup, Lov, Hammer.
4. Lundby – Vordingborg (14.3 km) — via Sværdborg to the Gåsetårnet and the Storstrøm.
5. Vordingborg – Øster Kippinge (23.0 km) — the day of the water crossing: Masnedø, the Dronning Margrethe II's Bro to Orehoved on Falster, Nørre Vedby, Vålse, pilgrimage church of Kippinge.
6. Øster Kippinge – Sakskøbing (21.0 km) — across the bascule bridge at Guldborg to Lolland, through the beet country to Sakskøbing.
7. Sakskøbing – Maribo (13.1 km) — via Hunseby along the Maribosøerne to the Bridgettine abbey; short day with time for the cathedral.
8. Maribo – Rødbyhavn (21.5 km) — Bursø, Holeby, Rødby, behind the dyke to the ferry quay.

Technically nothing is difficult: field tracks, forest tracks, longer tarmac stretches, hardly any climbing — you do not notice the 442 metres of ascent. What is demanding is something else: the wind on Lolland and Falster, the 23 kilometres of the bridge stage, the narrow crossing at Guldborg without a comfortable footway, and the search for beds in the villages. Windproof jacket, waterproof shoes, GPX — and the ferry times in Rødbyhavn in your head.

The Peasants of Vordingborg Had to Ferry Pilgrims Across

When the Foreningen af Danske Santiagopilgrimme mapped the historical pilgrim road through Zealand in 2007 — research Ove Wichmann, chair Henrik Tarp, academic supervision Brian Patrick McGuire of Roskilde University —, it found the one sentence that no other Danish route has: "Fra gamle oplysninger ved vi desuden, at bønderne i Vordingborg havde forpligtet sig til at fragte pilgrimme over Storstrømmen til Falster." The peasants of Vordingborg were obliged to carry pilgrims across the Storstrøm to Falster. That is the only charter-based evidence of organised pilgrim logistics on a Danish pilgrim trace, and our route data maps exactly this crossing: Vordingborg, kilometre 70.4, Masnedø 73.2, Orehoved 79.7. Vordingborg itself was a royal castle — founded in 1175 by Valdemar the Great as a fortress and base for campaigns against the German coast, in 1241 Valdemar II issued the Jyske Lov here, in the 1360s Valdemar Atterdag built a ring wall of 800 metres with nine large and twelve small towers. What remains is the Gåsetårnet, 36 metres, the only completely preserved medieval castle tower in Denmark, in 1808 the country's first protected monument; the golden goose on top recalls the legend that Valdemar compared the declaration of war by 77 Hanseatic towns in 1367 to 77 cackling geese — today's goose, however, only came onto the roof in 1871, we say that too.

And then the peasants' duty to carry became a bridge railing, this year. The old Storstrømsbro, opened on 26 September 1937 by King Christian X before over 40,000 spectators, 3,199 metres long, 49 piers, with railway track, two lanes and paths for cyclists and pedestrians, developed cracks in 2011; on 23 March 2026 the new Dronning Margrethe II's Bro opened, over 3.8 kilometres from coast to coast with a modern cycle path, and on 1 June 2026 the old bridge was permanently closed — demolition follows (as of September 2026). So you walk across a bridge younger than this page. On Falster waits Kippinge Kirke, according to the mapping "en af de største valfarts- og pilgrimskirker" of Denmark: a holy spring, reports of miracles, peak of the pilgrimage in the early 1500s, so rich that the church gave King Christian II loans for his Swedish campaigns. Tower, porch and west chapel arose in the early 16th century specifically because of the influx of pilgrims, and the chapel, according to tradition, served to store the crutches and stretchers of those healed at the spring. Maribo sold lodging and food, Kippinge sold healing — and financed a king's war with it. The depot of discarded crutches is the most honest pilgrimage evidence a building can deliver.

Because Maribo is the town that would not exist without pilgrims. In 1416 the Bridgettine abbey was founded and consecrated here with the support of Queen Margaret I, built to Bridget's own rule: nuns and monks shared one church, separated by a wall, each convent with its own choir, three naves under one roof, one of the finest Gothic buildings in the country. It became one of the most visited pilgrimage destinations of the 15th century, and the town arose to supply pilgrims — lodging, meals, provisions, nursing. Dissolved in 1536, then a foundation for noble ladies, a cathedral since 1803; Leonora Christina completed her "Jammers Minde" here after her release from the Blue Tower in 1685 and has lain in the church since 1698. And here the arc closes to the only pilgrim with a name: "Den hellige Birgitta af Vadstena selv rejste via Rødby til Santiago de Compostela", wrote the mappers, "rejsen gik videre via birgittinerklostret i Maribo til Rødby" — Bridget travelled via Maribo and Rødby to Santiago; the source does not give the year, and we invent none. Origin, order and port of departure of the one documentable Danish Santiago pilgrim lie on this chain. The Danish network understands itself as the extension of the route "fra Vadstena i Sverige til Santiago de Compostela", and nowhere is that as literally true as here. A route without a St James church — with a ferry duty, a depot of crutches, a pilgrim town and a woman who boarded the ship here before us.

Highlights Along the Way

• Sankt Bendts Kirke, Ringsted — brick building around 1200, burial place of Knud Lavard since 1131 and for 150 years royal necropolis from Valdemar the Great to Erik Menved; frieze with around 100 noble coats of arms around 1300; here the Danish network splits.
• Glumsø Kirke — village church on the lake, first operator station of the chain of churches southwards.
• Sankt Peders Kirke, Næstved — on the north wall of the choir a royal wall-painting epitaph: Valdemar Atterdag and Queen Helvig, painted around 1375.
• Sankt Mortens Kirke, Næstved — named after Martin of Tours, wall painting of the saint, "der deler sin kappe med tiggeren", Baroque altar by Abel Schrøder around 1664, font of 1515.
• Herlufsholm (Skovkloster) — founded 1135; the royal letter of Erik III of 1140 is the oldest surviving charter for a Danish monastery; a school since 1565.
• Ridge of Mogenstrup — glacial gravel rib, the height experience of South Zealand.
• Gåsetårnet, Vordingborg — 36 metres, the only completely preserved medieval castle tower in Denmark, in 1808 the country's first protected monument; goose of 1871; Danmarks Borgcenter since 2014.
• Storstrøm crossing — the new Dronning Margrethe II's Bro, open since 23 March 2026, with cycle path; the old bridge of 1937 was closed on 1 June 2026.
• Kippinge Kirke, Falster — late medieval pilgrimage church with holy spring; the west chapel of the early 16th century kept the crutches of the healed.
• Guldborgbro — bascule bridge of 1934, 180 metres, 7 metres wide: narrow crossing between Falster and Lolland, caution rather than speed.
• Sakskøbing — town charter 1306, church around 1250–1300, medieval mint; sugar factory 1909 to 1992.
• Maribo Domkirke — Bridgettine abbey of 1416 to Bridget's building rule, one of the most visited pilgrimage destinations of the 15th century; a cathedral since 1924; tomb of Leonora Christina.
• Maribosøerne — lake landscape with nature park on the way to Maribo.
• Rødbyhavn — ferry port of the Vogelfluglinie since 1963, station closed 2021; out in the Belt the construction site of the 18-kilometre Fehmarn Belt tunnel.

How Pilgrims Reach This Route

The starting point lies in a royal crypt. Ringsted is kilometre 48.7 of the Pilgrimsrute Vestsjælland — if you walk the 119.9 kilometres from Roskilde to Korsør, you pass here after two days and decide at the Sankt Bendts Kirke: straight on to Funen and Jutland, or south to Germany. It is the only true fork in the Danish network. From the north two more routes feed the Roskilde junction: the Pilgrimsrute Nordsjælland in 104.4 kilometres from the ferry in Helsingør via Gurre, Esrum and Ballerup, and the Pilgrimsrute København – Roskilde in 51.4 kilometres from Kastrup airport — plus 48.7 kilometres from Roskilde to Ringsted.

If you come from Sweden, take the ferry to Helsingør or the train to Kastrup; the Danish network expressly understands itself as the extension of the route "fra Vadstena i Sverige til Santiago de Compostela", and Bridget, whose abbey stands in Vadstena, used exactly this southern branch. If you only want to walk this section, get off the train in Ringsted: a good 30 minutes from Copenhagen on the high-speed line. You get your pilgrim passport from the society, which has sold it exclusively in Denmark since 1999: 25 DKK for members, 50 DKK for non-members (as of September 2026), 78 stamp fields — enough for this route and the connection through Germany.

Continuing the Pilgrimage?

In Rødbyhavn Denmark ends, not the route. The Scandlines ferry to Puttgarden takes 45 minutes and carries foot passengers — day ticket 11 € (approx. 80 DKK), check-in at least 15 minutes before departure (as of September 2026). On the other side the Via Scandinavica begins right at the ferry station, at the memorial of the chapel of Peter and Paul mentioned in 1198: via Burg on Fehmarn, where a Holy Spirit hospital for pilgrims stood, across the Fehmarn Sound Bridge to the mainland, Cismar abbey, Grömitz and Neustadt to the Jakobikirche in Lübeck and on to Eisenach — 655 kilometres, marked with the same yellow shell on blue as in Denmark. Near Lübeck it meets the Via Baltica; there the Via Jutlandica Ost also ends, the parallel of the pilgrims who walked via Funen and Jutland.

Two things you plan beforehand: the foot and cycle path of the Fehmarn Sound Bridge was closed for months in 2023/24 for a cable replacement, with a free shuttle bus as substitute — and because further works are due for the connection of the Fehmarn Belt tunnel, check the current status before you rely on crossing on foot. And the Fehmarn Belt tunnel itself is a construction site you meet on Lolland and Fehmarn: 18 kilometres of immersed tunnel, planned for 2029, the opening has officially counted as at risk since 2025, the first segment has been in place since early 2026. Until then the ferry remains the crossing — and the ferry quay is the historically correct place anyway. If you want the alternative: the society's second southern branch leads via Gedser to the ferry to Rostock, without a page of its own with us. From Ringsted to the apostle's tomb via the Via Scandinavica and the Via Baltica to the Camino Francés is around 3,100 kilometres. The first 149 you will then have behind you.

Preparation & Practicalities

Best time: May to September, with the focus on June to August, because that is exactly when the few pilgrim hostels open. On Lolland and Falster wind is not weather but a condition — a windproof jacket is more important here than a warm one, and the meadows are wet. Waymarking and navigation: yellow scallop shell on blue on square plaques, checked by the society at least twice a year, nevertheless "sparsommere end i Spanien", because every sign in the forest has to be approved. Download the GPX track and plan stages and lodgings most easily directly in the Camino Ninja app; two points belong in it without fail: the ferry times in Rødbyhavn and the fact that there is no railway station there any more. Pilgrim passport: Pilgrimspas from the society (exclusive right since 1999), 25 DKK for members, 50 DKK for non-members, 78 stamp fields; stamps in churches and hostels, on the Via Scandinavica a separate one per sub-section. Language: Danish, English everywhere, German on the ferry quay. Water: at churches and cemeteries — the route is deliberately laid from church to church.

Accommodation: Beds are reliably available in Ringsted, Næstved, Vordingborg, Sakskøbing, Maribo and Rødby/Rødbyhavn — Danhostels, B&Bs, hotels; Glumsø, Lundby and Øster Kippinge are villages, book beforehand there or plan with shelters; primitive campsites you find via udinaturen.dk. Outside Jutland there are only two official pilgrim hostels on the whole Danish route — book beforehand, do not hope on the way. Supplies: no problem, "ruten går igennem eller tæt ved mange byer", supermarkets in all towns on the route. Packing list: windproof jacket, waterproof shoes, rain protection, offline maps, power bank, sleeping bag for shelters, passport for the ferry.

What the Route Costs

You pay in Danish kroner — and at the ferry quay already in euros, because Scandlines charges in euros on this line; frankly you are travelling Danish-German mixed before you sit on the train. The figures are providers' figures and general Danish orders of magnitude (as of September 2026). Pilgrim hostels 80–125 DKK (11–17 €) in a dormitory with self-catering, Vandrerhjem 100–200 DKK (13–27 €) per person, Danhostel room from about 600 DKK (80 €), hotel and B&B in Næstved, Vordingborg and Maribo on average 580 DKK for two (78 €) and more; shelters mostly free or a few kroner. Ferry Rødby–Puttgarden 11 € (approx. 80 DKK) day ticket for foot passengers. Admission: churches free, Danmarks Borgcenter in Vordingborg charges, Maribo Domkirke free.

Realistic daily budget: 200–350 DKK (27–47 €) frugal with shelter or hostel and self-catering; 500–750 DKK (67–101 €) mid-range with B&B or Danhostel and a warm meal; 900–1,300 DKK (121–174 €) comfortable with hotels in Næstved, Vordingborg and Maribo. For eight stages that is roughly 1,600–2,800 DKK (214–375 €) frugal on the ground, plus pilgrim passport, ferry, bus Nykøbing Falster–Rødbyhavn and travel. Two ways to save: cook — supermarkets lie in every town on the route — and the shelters on Falster and Lolland, where lodgings are thin anyway.

Getting There

To the start (Ringsted): Ringsted lies on the high-speed line København – Ringsted and can be reached from Copenhagen Central in a good 30 minutes, from Kastrup airport with one change; from Germany via Hamburg–Copenhagen. If you want to walk the feeder, walk the Pilgrimsrute Vestsjælland from Roskilde (48.7 kilometres to Ringsted) or from the airport the Pilgrimsrute København – Roskilde.

On the way and from the finish (Rødbyhavn): Næstved and Vordingborg have stations on the Copenhagen–Nykøbing Falster line, on Lolland trains stop in Sakskøbing and Maribo — the route breaks down well into two halves, dividing point Vordingborg: Zealand 70.4 kilometres, islands 78.6. The beginning is convenient, the end needs a plan: Rødbyhavn has no railway station any more. The border station Rødby Færge of 1963 lost its international traffic in 2019, its passenger traffic in 2021 and was closed on 12 December 2021; the railhead is Nykøbing Falster, onward by bus. After the opening of the Fehmarn Belt tunnel the new station Lolland Syd near Holeby is to take over — kilometre 137.5 of this route, you walk through the future station town. To Germany: Scandlines Rødby–Puttgarden in 45 minutes, from Puttgarden by bus, from Fehmarn and Großenbrode by rail towards Lübeck and Hamburg.

• Rail Denmark: dsb.dk — Ringsted, Næstved, Vordingborg, Sakskøbing, Maribo, Nykøbing Falster
• Journey planner train and bus: rejseplanen.dk — also bus Nykøbing Falster–Rødbyhavn
• Ferry to Germany: scandlines.com — Rødby–Puttgarden, 45 minutes, foot passenger ticket
• Rail to/from Germany: bahn.de — Puttgarden/Fehmarn–Lübeck–Hamburg
• Operator, stages, GPS, pilgrim passport: santiagopilgrimme.dk — Foreningen af Danske Santiagopilgrimme
• Shelters and campsites: udinaturen.dk — state portal, map and booking
• Via Scandinavica: jakobsweg.de — the German connection from Puttgarden