London has Oxford Street, Paris has Champs Elysees. And Rome has the Corsa. Aalborg isn’t exactly a capital city, but it certainly has two excellent high streets – Bispensgade and Algade.
These two pedestrian streets cut right through the centre of the city, almost parallel to one another. Both are absolutely worth a visit.
If you start from the west end, try and meet up with your friends at the point where Bispensgade joins busy Vesterbro, by the statue of the Cimber Bull. If you say to someone from Aalborg, “Let’s meet at the Bull”, everyone will know what you mean. Once upon a time this was the location of the schnapps distillery. People from Vendsyssel also think it’s symbolic that the Bull of himmerland stands with its rear end pointing towards Vendsyssel.
Even here, at the start of Bispensgade, you can get off the beaten track for the first time. If you cross Vesterbro, you find yourself at the entrance to the Medina. But you can start by strolling down Bispensgade. After just a few metres you come to Vesteraa and Gravensgade. To the right there are some exciting shops and to the left some great places for lunch. Don’t miss either.
Mediterranean atmosphere So the professional shopper is just getting warmed up. The route continues down Bispensgade and passes Jomfru Ane Gade on the left hand side. Jomfu Ane Gade needs no further introduction – it is well known both at home and abroad as Aalborg’s old “street of pleasure”. If your credit card needs a break, it’s always possible to wet your whistle here. There’s also an alternative just a few metres on, on the opposite side. Turn right down Doktorens Gyde (a little alleyway) and you find yourself on the old C.W. Obels Plads, where there’s food and drink and, throughout the summer, an almost Mediterranean atmosphere. Be sure to visit the micro-brewery, Sogaards Bryghus.
Back on Bispensgade, it is hard to believe that this street dates right back to the 14th and 15th centuries. There’s fashion shop after fashion shop, but the street has been Aalborg’s most important pedestrian street for many hundreds of years.
Aalborg’s first tower block Bispensgade leads you to Osteragade. Take a little detour to the left down Ostergade. Here you’ll find a couple of lovely shops that are really worth investigating before walking up Osteragade.
Even the most tunnel-visioned shopper can’t help but notice Jens Bangs Stenhus. The influential merchant Jens Bang built this imposing five-storey “tower block” back in 1624, right on the banks of Ostera. His wares were transported up the canal from the Limfjord and right up to the building. The canal disappeared a long time ago, but the building is just as impressive.
The tourist office is conveniently located just opposite Jens Bangs Stenhus, if you need a map or more information about the many things to see and do in Aalborg. On the street’s right hand side you pass Gammel Torv and Aalborg’s beautiful old city hall, which serves as registry office for many couples, both residents and tourists. And now you have reached the city’s other high street: Algade.
A cigar for dad It is possible here that the family will part company. Those interested in history can turn left into Algade and visit Budolfi Cathedral, while gentlemen in in need of a glass of beer and a good cigar should continue straight on. On the left side of the street, now called Boulevarden (not Ostera), is the London Pub. Apart from its selction of more than 80 different bottled beers, what really sets this place apart is its atmosphere – maybe also the fact that because the pub is so small it is not subject to Denmark’s anti-smoking rule.
Shoppers meanwhile should turn to the left down Algade, where shops both big and small lie in wait, ready to tempt you. Opposite Salling (Aalborg’s only department store) is Summerbird , a shop to make any chocolate-lover swoon. And just a few metres on, on the same side of the street, is Kronen, the city’s atmosperic and award-winning tea shop.
Now’s the time to take another little detour – this time down Mollegade to Molleplads and Rantzausgade.
This is where the Vikings went shopping Even the Vikings could stroll down Algade and there are still traces of the street’s history. Just opposite Mollegade and the Kronen tea shop there’s an elevator that transports you down to Grabrodreklostret (Greyfriars Monastery). This is a two-storey archaeological site beneath Algade and proof that even 800 years ago there was life in this neighbourhood. And time after time, digging the foundations of new buildings in Algade unearths all sorts of exciting historical relics.
Algade runs into Bredegade and many visitors stop and turn back as soon as they reach Bredegade Torv. But that’s a big mistake, because Norregade is a must. If you’ve lost the other members of the family along the way, now’s the chance to reassemble them. You probaly need someone to carry the shopping bags anyway!