The Rediscovered Bridge

The Rediscovered Bridge, Den Genfundne Bro, is a timber walkway about seven hundred metres long that loops out over the wet meadows and river of the Vejle valley, built in 2015 and taking its name from an older bridge on the site. It curves in a long arc above ground that is too soft and too often flooded to walk on, so it puts you in the middle of a landscape that is otherwise inaccessible, with the river below, meadow on both sides and wooded valley sides rising away. Its wider significance is archaeological: nearby stood the Ravning Enge bridge, a Viking-Age timber causeway almost eight hundred metres long across the same valley, built around 980 and connected with the royal centre at Jelling.

What you actually see

• A 700-metre curving timber walkway - a loop over ground you could not otherwise cross.
• The Vejle valley meadows - wet grassland and river below the deck.
• The Ravning Enge site - the Viking causeway that crossed here around 980.
• Wooded valley sides - the slopes rising on both sides of the flat floor.

When to go

April to October for the meadows and the light; the bridge is open year round and free. Two hours including the walk from the car park. Early morning for mist over the valley floor.

Honest expectations

It is one walkway and takes under an hour to walk; there is nothing else on site. The Viking causeway is not visible above ground and is explained by panels only. Parking is limited and fills at weekends. The deck is slippery when wet.

Nearby

Jelling and its stones are north; Vejle lies east.