You can combine exploring the third largest city in Denmark with days out in the countryside. Shopping and visits to manor houses, cows in the barns and penguins in the zoo, city bustle and village ponds, art exhibitions and market days.
Of course, the city has green oases of peace, and the country has its own busy attractions.

In Midtfyn there is the beautiful Egeskov Castle - the best-preserved moated Renaissance castle in Europe, with fascinating museums and lots for the children to do. They can go wild in the huge playground, play Tarzan on the swing bridge, say "hi" to Dracula, or play hide and seek in the huge maze.

Here too is the childhood home of the composer Carl Nielsen, and you can see where he drew his inspiration from. If you prefer rock'n roll, there is the Midtfyn Festival every year, which attracts big-name Danish and international artists.

Then there is the cultural landscape of Midtfyn, with traces of history everywhere. There are stone-age barrows and the largest burial mound on Fyn, nestling in the landscape of manor houses and lovely village churches.

It is all within a half-hour's drive, and is just perfect for exploring by bicycle. This is what really makes the area so special - nothing is ever very far away. When you decide on your base - a town, out in the country, a hotel, a youth hostel or a tent, you can be sure that wherever you are, you are close to just the right place to suit your mood that day.

I have never seen such a comprehensive network of cycling and walking paths as in Odense. More than 300 km of the network link the greenery of the city, the attractions with the streets and the other cycling routes on Fyn. I know several fellow Italians who come here to cycle. Just being able to cycle several kilometres without seeing a car is something special if you are used to the congested Italian roads. When we are visited by family or friends, a stroll around the centre followed by a visit to the Funen Village is always a hit. Here you feel like you have been carried back to a village 200 years ago. If we go out into the countryside, the roadside "honesty" stalls always attract attention. I often find it difficult to convince my guests that people do actually put money in the little box next to the fruit and vegetables.
 
Ida Bruzzone, Odense, originally from Genoa.