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The main city of north Jutland and the fourth largest in Denmark, AALBORG hugs the southern bank of the Limfjord and boasts a nightlife and music scene to rival Copenhagen's. The most obvious place to spend a night or two before venturing into the wilder countryside beyond, Aalborg is the main transport terminus for the region, and boasts a well-preserved old centre dating from its seventeenth-century trading heyday. The era is perhaps best exemplified by the Jens Bangs Stenhus opposite the tourist office, a grandiose five stories in the Dutch Renaissance style, which has functioned as a pharmacy since it was built. The commercial roots of the city are further evidenced by the collection of portraits of the town's merchants that hang inside the Budolfi Domkirke (May-Sept Mon-Fri 9am-4pm, Sat 9am-2pm; Oct-April Mon-Fri 9am-3pm, Sat 9am-noon), behind: a small but elegant specimen of sixteenth-century Gothic, built on the site of an eleventh-century wooden church, from which a few tombs remain, embedded in the walls close to the altar. Outside, across the square, the Aalborg Historical Museum at Algade 48 (Tues-Sun 10am-5pm; www.aahm.dk; 20kr) has fairly routine displays, apart from an impressive glasswork collection. Behind here, just off Gammel Torv, the fifteenth-century Monastery of the Holy Ghost can be viewed by way of guided tours (mid-June to late Aug Mon-Fri at 1.30pm; 25kr), which take in the monks' refectory, kept largely unchanged since the last monk left, and the small Friar's room, the only part of the monastery in which nuns (from the adjoining nunnery) were permitted. Most interesting, however, are the frescoes that cover the entire ceiling of the chapel.

On the other side of Østerågade, the sixteenth-century Aalborghus Slot is worth visiting for a trip round its severely gloomy dungeon (May-Oct Mon-Fri 8am-3pm; free). Outside the centre of town, the North Jutland Art Museum located on Kong Christians Allé (July & Aug daily 10am-5pm; Sept-June closed Mon; tel 98.13.80.88, www.nordjyllandskunstmusem.dk ; 30kr), close to the junction with Vesterbro (buses #5, #8, #10 and #11 or a fifteen-minute walk), and housed in a building designed by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, is one of the country's better modern art collections, featuring, alongside numerous Danish contributions, works by Max Ernst, Andy Warhol, Le Corbusier and Claes Oldenburg. After leaving the museum, you can get a grand view over the city and the Limfjord by ascending the Aalborg Tower (daily: July to mid-Aug 10am-7pm; April-June & mid-Aug to Sept 11am-5pm; 20kr), on the hill just behind. The Aalborg Maritime Museum (daily: May-Aug 10am-6pm; rest of the year 10am-4pm; www.aalborgmarinemuseum.dk ; 60kr), 2km west of the centre at Vestrefjordvej 81 (buses #2 and #8), recalls the city's time as an important shipbuilding port. The highlight is inspecting the tight working and living conditions in "Springeren", the 54-metre-long submarine which now forms the museum's centrepiece.