Randers Things to Do

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This beautiful halftimbered house was built opposite of the townhall and it looks very impressive, even though not all of the timbers are totally even. Some of them are extremely bended and I often wondered is that something that had happened step by step over the centuries or did they simply use such uneven and bended timbers, maybe because they were much cheaper than others or maybe because it was impossible to get enough even timbers at all.

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This building once used to be the old Latinschool from 1783 till 1857 and it is an interesting building built of red bricks and you will find this building right behind the church of St. Mortens.
Behind this old Latisschool there is a small market-place, where you can buy fresh vegetables and fruits from local farmers.

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Sct. Mortens Kirke is the largest church of Randers and you will find it in the very centre of the town. Take some minutes and go inside the church, it is well worth a visit for its great woodcarvings around the pulpit and the seats of the audience.
It was also interesting for me to see that type of pulpit with a saint / apostle beeing the basement of the pulpit's construction - see it in my last picture !

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Take a look inside the Saint Mortens-church as well, I think it is really worth it with some great woodcarvings around the pulpit and the seats of the audience and of course, like in almost any danish church, there are small-scale ships hanging down from the ceiling in order to make sure that the sailors of all local families will return safely home after their worldwide fishing-tours or when working onboard of commercial ships.

Randers Regnskoven is a great zoo showing various parts of the world with animals living in the rainforest.
Be aware that the temperature inside these large cuppolas is permanentely between 20 and 30 degrees Celcius and the humidity of the air is almost 100%, so it is best to dress lightly. You can store your warmer clothes in lockers next to the entrance against a deposit of 10 DKR (=ca.1,50 Euros)
There is quite a large variety of animals and plants from all places in the world - read more about it after clicking on my link below !

Randers Regnskoven is open for visitors: Weekdays 10am-4pm
Weekends 10am-5pm
Holidays/Winter 13/2-27/2 : 10am-5pm
Easter 18/4-25/4: 10am-5pm
Christmas 23/12-24/12: 10am-3pm
Christmas 25/12-30/12: 10am-4pm
New Year 31/12-1/1 : closed !
From November 28th till December 12th they are closed !
Summer 27/6-14/8 : 10am-6pm
and 15/8-28/8: 10am-5pm
Open on evenings
12/2, 5/3, 14/10, and 29/10 open 10am-9pm

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Svane Apothek - that once used to be the old "Swan pharmacy" but nowadays it is just a shop for decorations and internal architecture. But I am really glad that they left all of the lovely details in the facade and in the staircase of the former pharmacy, so the tourists can enjoy its beauty and take their photos.

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Løve apothek - Løve means Lion, so that is the Lion-pharmacy and it is dating back to the year 1634 according to the mosaique that you can see in my 3rd photo.
Dont miss to take a look also inside the innercourt, because there is an interesting detail - see it in my 4th photo: some great decorations in the facade of the building !

Except for when I was a small lad, I've never been a fan of zoos. I hate seeing wild creatures caged up and would prefer it if we did more to preserve natural habitats.

Having said that, the tropical zoo at Randers is different to the usual zoo. Housed in three large domes, this complex tries to recreate the tropical rainforest environment from three different areas of the world; South America, Africa and Asia. The climate inside each of the domes is set to match its corresponding rainforest. Each dome contains a profusion of plants, flowers and trees. With the warmth and humidity, you really do feel as if you’re in the tropics.

The zoo has a reasonable variety of animals. The larger ones are caged off, or are contained in walled enclosures but all the birds and most of the smaller animals have complete freedom in the dome. Exceptions to this are the nocturnal animals, which are held in a special section. In one section, you can come face to face with live snakes roaming (okay slithering) freely around your feet.

There are several pool areas with the usual crocodiles and in one huge pool area they have a manatee which my daughter was thrilled to see on the day we visited. New to the zoo in 2004 is the aquarium which is very impressive.

The humid atmosphere certainly saps the energy but the warmth can be welcome if the weather outside is cool (as it was when we visited). The only downside on the day we were there was the large number of other visitors and this made for an uncomfortable experience while looking around.

Tips:
Wear light clothing (there are lockers where you can leave jackets and heavier clothing etc).

If you can bear the heat, walk round a couple of times. Because most animals are free to roam, it means they're also free to hide so it's easy to miss them.

Taking a pair of binoculars is a good idea as some birds and animals will be sitting in the tops of the trees - they won't come down for you!

The ticket you buy is valid for a whole day.