Travels of Hans Christian Andersen: Culture and Travel Context

Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875), the Danish writer, most famous for his fairy tales, also wrote a number of books about his travels, and is associated with a number of places that present-day tourists can visit.

The primary locations are museums about Andersen in Odense, the third-largest city of Denmark. The H.C. Andersens Hus (house of Hans Christian Andersen) at Hans Jensens Stræde 45 is his claimed place of birth.

1 Hans Christian Andersen Museum, Bangs Boder 29, ☏ +45 65 51 46 01. Daily 10:00-16:00 (or 18:00 in July-August). A museum dedicated to the city's most famous son, author and poet Hans Christian Andersen, most famous for his fairy tales and in particular The Ugly Duckling and the Little Mermaid. Part of the museum is located in the house where Andersen was supposedly born (though he would never confirm it). The impressive collection is mainly documents from his life and times, period furniture, and many drawings and paper clippings he is famous for at home. 55 kr for entrance.

Hans Christian Andersen lived for the most part of his life in Nyhavn, Copenhagen in three different locations: Number 20 (then number 280) from 1834 to 1838, number 67 from 1848 to 1865 and number 18 which he moved in in 1872. The red building as number 20 has a commemorative plaque visible from the street. It reads "H. C. Andersen / lived here / when his first / fairy tale booklet was published / May 1835".

Travel provided Andersen (1805-1875) with a means to escape from loneliness. He undertook long trips to various European countries and his travel logs detail impressions collected over the course of his many journeys. In contrast, these observations are rarely reflected in his fairy tales. Only occasionally did Andersen set his tales in locations that he himself had visited, such as Germany, Spain, and Switzerland.

Rome, Naples, Herculaneum, Sorrento, Paestum and Capri, as well as a minor part about Venice and Milan.

The background for the novel was a trip to Italy that Hans Christian Andersen made in 1833 and 1834.

Whoever has been in Rome is well acquainted with the Piazza Barberina, in the great square, with the beautiful fountain, where the Tritons empty the spouting conchshell, from which the water springs upwards many feet.

Hans Christian Andersen arrived in Málaga, Spain on 30 September 1862 on a steamship from Gibraltar. He stayed at the Hotel del Oriente del Fonda. He travelled to Granada to see the Alhambra and returned to Málaga on 22 October 1862. He left on 29 October 1862 for Cartagena. There is a statue of Andersen in the Plaza de la Marina in Málaga, put up to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth.

On November 2, 1862 at the end of an extended trip to Spain, Andersen boarded a steam ship from Gibraltar to North Africa. He stayed in the Moroccan port city of Tangier for a week.

This cultural overview is an excerpt of a community travel guide. Confirm current access, schedules and prices with the venue before planning a visit.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Travels of Hans Christian Andersen by Wikivoyage contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. This adapted text is shared under the same licence. Contributor history.