Odense, Denmark

An hour and a half by train from Copenhagen, Odense is located on a quiet island with colorful half-timbered houses and crooked cobblestone streets. Hans Christian Andersen was born in the sleepy city, which this summer will see the opening of the brand-new H.C. Andersen House. Designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the museum was designed with his famous fairy tales in mind. Exhibitions include experiential tributes to the tales: in a Little Mermaid–­inspired area, for example, visitors can lie down beneath a glass ceiling to look up into a pool of water and imagine they are in the ocean. If traversing the magic of Andersen’s stories works up an appetite, the nearby Storms Pakhus street-food hall—a 100-year-old warehouse with stalls offering everything from freshly baked naan to fish and chips—is a decidedly contemporary counterpoint. —Karen Burshtein

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