Pilgrimsrute Nordjylland Øst

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Frederikshavn (ferry port on the Kattegat) / Aars (Himmerland, meeting point of the two northern branches)
• Length: 137.9 km
• Duration: 6 stages (Camino Ninja division), 6–7 days
• Elevation: ↗ 931 m / ↘ 895 m — in short waves, above all on the Jyske Ås
• Highest point: 95 m at km 42.3 on the Jyske Ås; North Jutland's highest point Knøsen (136 m) lies beside it, not on the route
• Stages: 6 — Camino Ninja system on our waypoints; the operator divides into seven stages with Skivum as a stage town
• Landscape: Kattegat coast, Jyske Ås ridge, the hill island of Hammer Bakker, Limfjord, Aalborg, open Himmerland
• Operator: Destination Hærvejen (haervej.dk); hostels of the Foreningen Herberger langs Hærvejen; pilgrim passport Foreningen af Danske Santiagopilgrimme (1999). The name "Pilgrimsrute Nordjylland Øst" is Camino Ninja system — for the operator the route is called Hærvejen, section Frederikshavn – Aalborg – Aars
• Waymarking: Hærvejen sign with white hiker figure on blue, for pilgrims scallop shell southbound and St Olav's cross northbound; density varies by municipality
• Traces of St James: no St James church, but Denmark's best material evidence — around 26 medieval pilgrim badges from Aalborg's soil, including scallop shells from Santiago
• Accommodation: pilgrim lodgings Thorshøj Gamle Skole and Evas B&B (Allerup, all year), Hærvejsherberger Lunken, Nørresundby, Hødalen, Skivum, Himmerland Camping Aars; no bed in Grindsted
• Supplies: Frederikshavn – Klokkerholm 54.5 km without a shop — provisions for two and a half days
• Junction and connection: in Aars the route meets the Pilgrimsrute Nordjylland Vest and follows it 59.5 km to Viborg; there the Hærvejen begins, from Padborg the Via Jutlandica
• Best time: May to September; hostels reliably open June to August

Overview

Of all the Danish northern routes this is the only one whose main town stands in a source from 1150. The Icelandic abbot Nikulás of Munkaþverá named two Jutland towns in his route description to Rome: Viborg — and Aalborg, which lies in the middle of this stretch. And Aalborg has not just written the history down but delivered it out of the ground: around 26 medieval pilgrim badges came from the streets of the old town, twelve of them in 2016/17 alone from under the Budolfi Plads, including scallop shells from Santiago. The route there begins at the ferry quay of Frederikshavn, where the ships from Gothenburg and Oslo dock, climbs via Vrangbæk and Understed onto the Jyske Ås, the 40-kilometre ridge of Vendsyssel, runs via Thorshøj, Allerup and Klokkerholm to Grindsted and through the sunken lanes of Hammer Bakker, crosses the Limfjord at Nørresundby, passes through Aalborg and heads via Svenstrup, Godthåb and Øster Hornum through open Himmerland to Aars, where the western branch from Hirtshals joins.

Frankly: the name is our Camino Ninja system, for the operator the route is simply called Hærvejen. There is no St James church anywhere, the first 54.5 kilometres to Klokkerholm have no shop, Grindsted has no bed, Frederikshavn has only been a Hærvejen gateway since 2012, and Aars has had no railway station since 1966 — from there you walk on or take the bus. What there is instead: sunken lanes in Hammer Bakker where the old road traces still lie in the ground, a hospital from 1431 that worked for 522 years, a church that has been a cathedral since 1554 because Børglum on the other branch ceased, and a wooden figure in a village church that perhaps shows the saint whose shrine hung at the end of the chain in Viborg. The route here is not rebuilt. It is still there.

Other Names

The name Pilgrimsrute Nordjylland Øst is Camino Ninja system: we needed a name that says which half of North Jutland you are walking and keeps the two northern branches apart. For the operator, Destination Hærvejen, the route is called Hærvejen, "army road", more precisely the eastern northern branch of the Hærvejen hiking route, listed as Frederikshavn – Aalborg – Aars; the operator itself phrases the choice for Himmerland: "In Himmerland you can choose between two routes: start from Løgstør in the west or from Aalborg in the east." Exactly that eastern variant is this route. The signs say Hærvejen and nothing else — the name is younger than the road, made popular in 1930 by the historian Hugo Matthiessen.

The people who used the road named it after their goods: Oksevejen, Studevejen, Drivvejen, ox road, bullock road, drove road — up to 50,000 cattle a year moved south along the Hærvejen before the industrial age. Under the umbrella name Den Danske Pilgrimsrute the Danish St James society runs its network across Zealand and Funen, which meets the Hærvejen in Vejen; as a name for this branch it does not fit. One small thing we name openly: between Øster Hornum and Aars the operator names Skivum as a stage town, our route data Byrsted — the same area, the same corridor past the churches of Veggerby and Skivum.

Ideal For – and Less So For

Ideal if you have a week and want to walk a whole long-distance section in one piece: 137.9 kilometres in six days, a real city in the middle, a clean network junction at the end. Ideal if history in the ground convinces you more than history on a sign — this branch is the historically densest of the two northern routes, with Aalborg's 26 pilgrim badges and the sunken lanes of Hammer Bakker. Ideal if you arrive from Sweden or Norway: in Frederikshavn you step off the ferry and set off from the quay. And ideal for pilgrims who like waves: 931 metres of ascent over 138 kilometres is more per kilometre than on any other Danish section of this network, but never steep.

Frankly, though, it is not for you if you need a supermarket on day one: between Frederikshavn and Klokkerholm lie 54.5 kilometres without a shop, two and a half stages you tackle with provisions and water planning, not with optimism. Not for you if you want to sleep in Grindsted — there is no bed there, the nearest lies 3.5 kilometres off-route in Uggerhalne. Not for you if you expect a hostel on the spur of the moment in May or September: the season is June to August, the year-round exception is Evas B&B in Allerup. Not for you if you want to board a train at the finish — Aars has a bus station, and no railway station since 1966. And if you need mountains: the highest point is at 95 metres. That is no oversight, that is Vendsyssel.

Route & Landscape

Vendsyssel: You start at the ferry port of Frederikshavn, collect your first stamp in Frederikshavn Kirke and walk inland via Pikkerbakken and Bangsbo Fort, via Vrangbæk and Understed into the Jyske Ås — the ridge that runs 38 to 40 kilometres through Vendsyssel, has 39 summits over 100 metres and from which three rivers drain into three seas: Voraa into the Kattegat, Uggerby Å into the North Sea, Ryå into the Limfjord. At kilometre 42.3 the route reaches its highest point at 95 metres; North Jutland's highest point, Knøsen at 136 metres, lies beside it. Via Thorshøj, Allerup, Møllemark, Klokkerholm and Ørum you come to Grindsted and then into one of the finest pieces of the whole Hærvejen system: Hammer Bakker near Vodskov, 720 hectares of hill island of gravel and sand with beech forest, heath, the quaking bog of Pebermose, burial mounds, a thing site — and sunken lanes in which the traces of the old royal roads still lie in the ground.

Aalborg and Himmerland: Via Lerbæk and Nørresundby you cross the Limfjord to Aalborg, the only city on the route and its historical heart: Budolfi Kirke, Vor Frue Kirke, the Helligåndskloster of 1431 and the Budolfi Plads with its pilgrim badges. South of the city it quickly turns quiet: via Frederikshøj Mark, Svenstrup and Godthåb with the listed hammer mill on the Guldbæk to Øster Hornum, whose church holds a medieval wooden figure, possibly Sankt Kjeld of Viborg. The last kilometres run through open Himmerland with fields, tree lines and streams via Byrsted and the churches of Veggerby and Skivum to Aars, where the western branch from Hirtshals joins. Surface: forest tracks, field tracks, heath paths, city paving in Aalborg, plus tarmac sections; there is no measured share.

Stages, Terrain & Difficulty

We divide the 137.9 kilometres into six stages averaging 23.0 kilometres — Camino Ninja system; the operator divides into seven with Skivum as a stage town, its four stages Frederikshavn–Aalborg add up to 85.4 kilometres, our chain puts Aalborg at 86.7. Every stage boundary below is a waypoint of our route data, every kilometre figure the difference between two points, the total exactly the 137.9 kilometres of our route. If you want shorter days, split the final stage at Byrsted (7.8 + 21.0) and the first at Understed and you arrive at seven or eight.

1. Frederikshavn – Thorshøj (28.2 km) — the longest stage: from the ferry port via Pikkerbakken and Bangsbo Fort, then via Vrangbæk and Understed into the Jyske Ås; pilgrim hostel Thorshøj Gamle Skole.
2. Thorshøj – Allerup (23.3 km) — on the ridge; at km 42.3 the highest point of the route, 95 m; Evas B&B in Allerup, all year.
3. Allerup – Grindsted (16.3 km) — via Møllemark, Klokkerholm (first shop since the start) and Ørum; no bed in Grindsted, 3.5 km detour to Uggerhalne.
4. Grindsted – Aalborg (18.9 km) — through Hammer Bakker near Vodskov, then via Lerbæk and Nørresundby across the Limfjord into the city.
5. Aalborg – Øster Hornum (22.4 km) — via Frederikshøj Mark, Svenstrup and Godthåb with the old hammer mill; hostel Hødalen near Støvring in the corridor.
6. Øster Hornum – Aars (28.8 km) — open Himmerland via Byrsted and the churches of Veggerby and Skivum; can be split at Byrsted (7.8 + 21.0) or, following the operator's logic, at Skivum.

Technically none of it demands experience: forest and field tracks, heath paths, tarmac sections that are part of it and that nobody should talk up. The 931 metres of ascent come in short waves, above all on the Jyske Ås. What is demanding is something other than the profile: the 54.5 kilometres without a shop between Frederikshavn and Klokkerholm, the missing accommodation in Grindsted, two stages of 28 kilometres at the beginning and the end, and the wind on the open ridge. Gaps like that are planned away beforehand, not on the way: provisions for two and a half days on the evening you start, churches as water points, sleeping bag for the hostels.

The Town That Dug Its Pilgrims Out of the Ground

When excavations took place around the Budolfi Plads in Aalborg in 2016 and 2017, twelve medieval pilgrim badges came to light, and the town's holdings rose from 14 to around 26 — the densest collection in Denmark. Six come from Vadstena, the monastery of St Bridget, one from Nidaros with St Olav, the first find of its kind in Denmark at all, two fragments from Aachen and from Thann in Alsace, older finds from Rome, Rocamadour and Santiago de Compostela — including scallop shells that served as pilgrim badges of the apostle's tomb. What matters is not the number but the spread: the badges lay scattered across the whole old town, not just at the harbour and the monasteries. In 14th- and 15th-century Aalborg, pilgrimage was everyday life, not the exception. And the town already stood in the literature before that: around 1150 the Icelandic abbot Nikulás Bergsson of Munkaþverá named, in his Leiðarvísir, the route description from Iceland to Rome, two places in all of Jutland — Aalborg and Viborg. Of all the northern routes in this network this is the only one whose main town stands in a 12th-century manuscript.

What the town also has is duration. In 1431 the townswoman Maren Hemmingsdatter endowed house, land and capital for the Helligåndskloster, affiliated to the Order of the Holy Spirit in 1451: care for the sick, old, poor and lepers, a hospital until 1953, Denmark's oldest social institution and North Jutland's oldest building — it lies directly on the route. Budolfi Kirke, dedicated to the Anglo-Saxon abbot Botolph, has a predecessor from 1132 at the latest whose stones lie in the crypt; in 1554 it became a cathedral because the Reformation had dissolved the old bishop's seat of Børglum — Børglum lies on the western branch, Aalborg on the eastern, so the two northern branches connect the old and the new cathedral city of North Jutland. In Vor Frue Kirke, on the site of the Benedictine nunnery, the Norwegian pretender Sigurd Slembe was buried in 1140; the present building is from 1878, we say that too. And the last nun left in 1560, after the plundering in Skipper Clement's uprising of 1534 and the Reformation of 1536 — that is the break every Danish pilgrim route has in its text, here with a year and a name.

North of the city lies the argument that needs no charter: Hammer Bakker, 720 hectares of hill island near Vodskov, beech forest, heath, the quaking bog of Pebermose, burial mounds, a thing site — and hulveje, sunken lanes, the traces of the old royal roads that dug themselves into the sand over centuries and are still there. The route here is not reconstructed; you walk in the groove the ox drovers left behind. At the other end of the stretch, in Øster Hornum, the village church holds a medieval wooden figure that possibly shows Sankt Kjeld, the provost of Viborg whom Pope Clement III canonised in 1188 and whose shrine hung at the end of the whole chain — "possibly", the attribution is not certain. And the start of the route is frankly young: only on 15 February 2012 did Frederikshavn municipality reroute the northern access of the Hærvejen via Vrangbæk into its town, signage budget 25,000 kroner; on 24 May 2014 the branch was inaugurated in Vorde Kirke, with pilgrims from Sweden, Denmark and Iceland. A route whose main town an Icelander wrote down around 1150, opened by Icelanders in 2014, with shells from Santiago in the ground in between. That is not a bad record for a branch with no railway station at the end.

Highlights Along the Way

• Frederikshavn Kirke — official stamping point for the Hærvejspas; the first thing you do on this route is collect a stamp.
• Pikkerbakken and Bangsbo Fort — 71 metres of view over the harbour and the Hirsholmene islands, plus around 80 concrete structures of the Second World War fortress at 82 metres.
• Jyske Ås — 38 to 40 kilometres of ridge with 39 summits over 100 metres; here Voraa, Uggerby Å and Ryå rise and flow into three different seas; Knøsen (136 m) beside the route.
• Hammer Bakker near Vodskov — 720 hectares of protected hill island with beech forest, heath, the quaking bog of Pebermose, burial mounds, thing site and sunken lanes of old royal roads; shelter site with a view.
• Budolfi Plads, Aalborg — find site of twelve medieval pilgrim badges (2016/17); town holdings around 26, including scallop shells from Santiago and Denmark's first St Olav badge.
• Helligåndskloster, Aalborg — endowed in 1431 by Maren Hemmingsdatter, a hospital until 1953: Denmark's oldest social institution, directly on the route.
• Budolfi Kirke, Aalborg — dedicated to St Botolph, predecessor from 1132 at the latest, a cathedral since 1554; tower with Baroque cap of 1779.
• Vor Frue Kirke, Aalborg — on the site of the Benedictine nunnery in whose church Sigurd Slembe was buried in 1140; present building 1878.
• Godthaab Hammerværk near Svenstrup — paper mill 1797, hammer mill 1858, water-powered until 1881, listed since 2006; museum with running machines.
• Øster Hornum Kirke — medieval wooden figure, possibly Sankt Kjeld of Viborg (canonised 1188).
• Frendrup Nihøje, Højris Mølle, Veggerby and Skivum Kirke — the landmarks of the operator's stage through southern Himmerland.
• Aars — meeting point of the two northern branches; in the Rævemose beside it the Gundestrup silver cauldron was lifted from the peat on 28 May 1891 (original in Copenhagen).

How Pilgrims Reach This Route

The most common way in is a ship. Frederikshavn is the ferry port for Gothenburg — Stena Line, around 3 hours 15 minutes, up to six departures daily — and for Oslo. If you want to set off on foot for Santiago from Sweden or Norway, you step onto the continent here and set off from the quay; that is exactly what the northern branches were opened for in May 2014, and at the inauguration of this branch in Vorde Kirke stood pilgrims from Sweden, Denmark and Iceland. Swedish pilgrims from Skåne come alternatively via the Pilgrimsrute Nordsjælland from Helsingør and the Danske Pilgrimsrute across Zealand and Funen; Norwegians who have walked the St Olav Way to Nidaros find the opposite direction here — the Hærvejen is marked both ways.

From Denmark and Germany you come by rail: Frederikshavn is the terminus of the Vendsyssel railway via Aalborg, with connections to Aarhus, Odense and Copenhagen; from Germany via Hamburg–Flensburg–Fredericia. And you can join in the middle: Aalborg lies at kilometre 86.7 on the route, has a railway station and an airport — from there it is another 51.2 kilometres to Aars. If you prefer the western branch, the Pilgrimsrute Nordjylland Vest from Hirtshals is the coastal variant; both meet in Aars.

Continuing the Pilgrimage?

In Aars this route does not end, it meets its twin. Here the western northern branch joins, the Pilgrimsrute Nordjylland Vest from Hirtshals, and from Aars on both walk the same stretch: 59.5 kilometres via Gislum, Ålestrup, Skals and Hjarbæk on the Limfjord to Viborg, most of it on the Himmerlandsstien, the gravel path on the embankment of the old Himmerland railway — listed by us as the end of the Vest route, because this piece exists only once.

In Viborg the main route begins: the Hærvejen, 248.0 kilometres on the Jutland ridge via Thorning, Nørre Snede, the UNESCO World Heritage site of Jelling, Vejen, Jels and Kliplev to Padborg on the German border. Beyond Padborg the Via Jutlandica takes over from Kruså and Flensburg via Schleswig, Rendsburg and Itzehoe to the Elbe, on the same old ox road. From there the European network runs via the Via Baltica towards Bremen, on to France and the Via Turonensis, and in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port the Camino Francés begins. From Frederikshavn to the apostle's tomb is around 3,450 kilometres. The first 137.9 you will then have behind you.

Preparation & Practicalities

Best time: May to September, with the focus on June to August — then the Hærvejsherberger are open and the days long. In spring and autumn you walk in greater quiet, but have to arrange every night individually; the exception is Evas B&B in Allerup, which takes pilgrims all year. Supplies: Plan the first half differently from the second. Up to Klokkerholm there is no shop for 54.5 kilometres — buy provisions for two and a half days in Frederikshavn on the evening you start; churches along the route are the reliable water and toilet stops. From Aalborg everything is easy. Waymarking and navigation: blue square signs with a white hiker figure, for pilgrims scallop shell and St Olav's cross; because signage in Denmark requires permits, it is sparse and varies by municipality — when in doubt the "lige-ud-princip" applies, straight on. Take the official Hærvejen app or a GPX track; you plan your stages and lodgings most easily directly in the Camino Ninja app. Pilgrim passport: credencial beforehand from the Foreningen af Danske Santiagopilgrimme or your own St James society; the stamp booklet Hærvejspas you get in the hostels, the first stamp in Frederikshavn Kirke.

Accommodation: On this branch lie the pilgrim lodgings Thorshøj Gamle Skole and Evas B&B in Allerup, the Hærvejsherberger Lunken on the Jyske Ås (Jerslev), Vester Kraghede near Tylstrup, Nørresundby Idrætscenter, Hødalen near Støvring and the Skivum Forsamlingshus, plus Himmerland Camping in Aars; in Aalborg hotels and Danhostel. Bring a sleeping bag; in the classic hostels no reservation is needed, except where expressly required, call Hødalen ahead. In Grindsted there is no bed — plan 3.5 kilometres to Uggerhalne. If you camp, you find shelters in Granly, at Slettingen on the Jyske Ås, in Hammer Bakker, in Drastrup Skov near Aalborg and at Veggerby Kirke, mostly free. Language: Danish, English everywhere, Swedish on the quay. Packing list: waterproof and windproof layer, sleeping bag, provisions for the first three days, water reserve, offline maps, power bank, shoes for forest and field tracks.

What the Route Costs

You pay in Danish kroner, and frankly Denmark is expensive — this route is not, at least not in the hostels. The figures come from the operator's hostel directory and from providers (as of September 2026). Standard price in the Hærvejsherberger 100 DKK (13 €) per person, children aged 7 to 12 half, under 7 free; on this stretch the range runs from 100 DKK in Lunken, Vester Kraghede and Skivum via 125 DKK in Nørresundby and Hødalen to 150 DKK (20 €) at Himmerland Camping in Aars. Shelters mostly free, tent pitch at a hostel about 30 DKK (4 €). Only Aalborg breaks the pattern: hotels and B&Bs across Denmark cost on average 580 DKK per night for two (78 €), the Danhostel less. Admission: churches free, Godthaab Hammerværk and Bangsbo Fort charge, Hammer Bakker free.

Realistic daily budget: 250–400 DKK (34–54 €) frugal with hostel bed and self-catering; 500–700 DKK (67–94 €) mid-range with B&B or Danhostel and a meal in the kro; 900–1,200 DKK (121–161 €) comfortable with hotels in Frederikshavn, Aalborg and Aars. For six to seven days that is roughly 1,500–2,800 DKK (200–375 €) frugal on the ground, plus pilgrim passport, ferry and return journey. Two ways to save: the big shop on the evening you start — because no shop comes before Klokkerholm, it decides the budget of the first three days — and booking the ferry early, Stena Line prices by season.

Getting There

To the start (Frederikshavn): By ferry you arrive directly at the start of the route: Stena Line from Gothenburg in around 3 hours 15 minutes, up to six times a day, and from Oslo. By rail Frederikshavn is the terminus of the Vendsyssel railway; via Aalborg there are connections to Aarhus, Odense and Copenhagen, from Germany via Hamburg–Flensburg–Fredericia. Nearest airport Aalborg (AAL), around 65 kilometres — it lies practically on the route, because you reach Aalborg on day four anyway.

On the way and from the finish (Aars): Aalborg at kilometre 86.7 is the natural dividing and re-entry point with railway station and airport: Frederikshavn–Aalborg 86.7 kilometres, Aalborg–Aars 51.2. At the finish honesty matters more than convenience: Aars has no passenger station — the station of 1893 lost its passenger service on 22 May 1966. You get away with the regional buses of Nordjyllands Trafikselskab to Aalborg or Hobro, from there by rail. If you continue as a pilgrim you walk anyway: 59.5 kilometres to Viborg on the shared stretch of both northern branches.

• Ferry: stenaline.com — Gothenburg and Oslo ↔ Frederikshavn
• Rail Denmark: dsb.dk and nordjyskejernbaner.dk — Vendsyssel railway, Aalborg, long-distance
• Rail from Germany: bahn.de — Hamburg–Flensburg–Fredericia–Aalborg
• Bus North Jutland: nordjyllandstrafikselskab.dk — Aars ↔ Aalborg, Aars ↔ Hobro
• Operator, stages, app: haervej.dk — Destination Hærvejen
• Hostels: haervejsherberger.dk — Foreningen Herberger langs Hærvejen