While Gedser holds the title of Denmark’s southernmost town, Padborg is the southernmost town on mainland Denmark, sitting about 170 kilometers northeast of Gedser. Not far from Padborg lies the absolute southernmost point of the Danish mainland—a subtle yet significant marker on the map.
I had set out from Copenhagen early in the morning, determined to visit two of Denmark’s geographic extremes in a single day. First stop: Gedser Odde, the true southern tip of the country. Then, the plan was to push on to Padborg, a journey demanding over 500 kilometers of solid one-way driving. To add an extra layer of pressure, a friend of mine was en route to Copenhagen by train, and I had promised to pick him up from the station. No leisurely road trip—this was a relentless 12-hour drive with no real breaks.
Fortunately, Denmark’s motorways are in excellent condition, and with a brand-new BMW 5-series at my command, I couldn’t complain. The weather, however, was uninspiring—a dull, grey sky hanging low over the highways. The drive itself? Unremarkable. The kind where the world blurs past, and all you register is the rhythmic hum of the tires on asphalt.
Padborg, when I finally arrived, wasn’t exactly a buzzing metropolis. With fewer than 4,500 residents, it’s more of a border town than a destination. The actual southernmost point of mainland Denmark lies just beyond the town, near the border crossing.
I had done my homework with Google Street View and knew I could get fairly close by car. As I pulled up to a small roadside rest area, a police car suddenly appeared. Instinctively, I braced myself—was I about to be questioned for suspicious behavior, or perhaps warned about parking? But no, they simply drove past toward the border, leaving me with a newfound confidence to continue on foot.
And what a walk it was—through a sea of mud. Early spring meant freshly plowed fields, and recent rains had turned the ground into a treacherous, slippery mess. Every step was a battle to stay upright, my shoes sinking into the soft earth.
Reaching the southernmost point itself was anticlimactic. It’s not a place that invites visitors—it sits behind a vast field, inaccessible to the public, and honestly, not particularly spectacular. Compared to the rugged, windswept beauty of Gedser Odde, it felt rather unremarkable.
But still, it was another extreme point to check off the list. Not every destination needs to be breathtaking—sometimes, the journey itself is the real experience.
The drive back to Copenhagen was the hardest stretch of the day. Fatigue crept in, and the stress of making it in time for my friend’s train from Stockholm kept me pushing forward. When I finally arrived, exhausted but satisfied, it was clear—this was one road trip I wouldn’t soon forget. But the bigger one was just about to start.