Taking a car, camper or caravan to Odden
One fare covers the car and up to nine people. Everything else on this page is about height, length and where the crew will put you.
Checked
The crossing at a glance
- Lower deck clearance
- 4.60 m
- Campers, vans, anything tall
- Upper deck clearance
- 2.10 m
- Ordinary cars, no roof box
- Fare covers
- up to 9 people
- One price for the whole vehicle
- Trailer from
- DKK 449
- Up to 3.0 m, on top of the vehicle fare
Height decides everything
The Express catamarans have two vehicle decks with very different clearances. The lower deck takes 4.60 m. The upper deck takes 2.10 m.
That second figure is lower than people think. With a roof box, a roof-mounted bicycle rack, a set of surfboards or a slightly raised van you are already over it, and then you go below. That is no problem, but you board at a different moment. You would rather know before you are in the lane.
If you are unsure, measure. The height is taken from the ground to the highest point of the vehicle, including whatever is strapped to the roof.
What the fare covers
One figure decides the whole comparison, and it is the one most often got wrong elsewhere: you pay per vehicle, and up to nine people can travel in it.
That makes the arithmetic completely different depending on how many of you there are. At DKK 249 in Lavpris you travel dearly alone and cheaply as six. A family in a full car should therefore compare against the Great Belt Bridge rather than against a train ticket; a solo driver often the other way round. See ferry or bridge.
Trailers and caravans
Trailers and caravans are charged separately, by length, on top of the vehicle fare:
| Trailer | Maximum height | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 3.0 m long | 1.85 m | DKK 449 |
| Up to 5.0 m long | 1.85 m | DKK 549 |
| Up to 8.0 m long | 2.95 m | DKK 649 |
| Up to 10.0 m long | 4.00 m | DKK 749 |
A car plus a 5.0 m caravan on a Lavpris fare comes to about DKK 798, against DKK 205 for the bridge. On ticket price alone the bridge wins easily.
Even so, work the ferry out, because the two journeys are not comparable. Towing a caravan 310 km along the E20 is a very different day from towing it 125 km. Fuel consumption with a caravan behind you is nowhere near the 6.5 litres per 100 km used in our standard calculation, so the fuel saving is considerably larger than it looks. And the 90 min without a caravan behind the car appear in neither column.
Electric cars
Charging on board is provided and has its own information page at the operator. The charging points are on the car deck, marked and reachable from the bays.
Expect two things. In 90 min you get a useful top-up rather than a full charge. And the points are limited in number, so on a busy sailing they will be taken. Do not count the crossing as a fixed link in your charging plan.
For the ferry or bridge calculation this matters: an electric car removes most of the fuel saving that makes the ferry competitive. If you are driving electric, the money argument shifts firmly towards the bridge. The case for the ferry then rests on the 90 min and on your destination.
Loading and unloading
Camper or caravan
From ramp to road
A camper or a car with a trailer, from the marshalling lanes to the road at the other end.
- T-40
Arrive early and get in the right lane
Height and length are what the marshaller is looking at. Arriving before the rush means you are given a place rather than fitted in.
- T-20
Onto the lower deck
Anything over 2.10 m goes below. The lower deck's 4.60 m clearance takes almost everything that is road legal in Denmark.
- T-10
Parked and secured
Follow the marshaller exactly. On a catamaran the vehicle decks are wide and the spacing is tighter than it looks.
- 0:00
Leave the vehicle
Nobody stays on the car deck under way. Take what you need for 90 min, including a charger if you want one.
- 1:25
Back down before the ramp
Go down when the announcement comes, not before. The decks are cleared in order, and anyone standing about early holds everyone up.
- 1:35
Off, and out
Large vehicles are usually released early from the lower deck. Route 21 at Odden, or the harbour road at Aarhus.
Two-wheelers in the fare table
The published rates cover cars and larger vehicles with their trailers. A motorcycle is neither a car nor a foot passenger, and its fare shows up in the booking flow rather than in the printed table.
In practice that matters less here than on most routes, because two-wheelers can pay at the control point on the day. You find out the price when you get there, and you have not committed to anything before that.
Motorcycles
The same applies to motorcyclists as to cyclists: you can buy at the control point on the day and pay by card, without a booking. There is a dedicated lane for two-wheelers, and you board ahead of the cars.
Bring something to secure the bike with. What is true for bicycles is true here: there are no fittings on board for two-wheelers, and 90 min at 35 knots is a long time for anything on two wheels to stand unaided. See by bike for how the two-wheeler lane works in practice.
Questions people ask
How high can a vehicle be on the Aarhus to Odden ferry?
The lower car deck takes 4.60 m and the upper deck 2.10 m. Anything above 2.10 m, including most roof boxes and roof-mounted bike racks, goes on the lower deck.
What does a caravan or trailer cost?
On top of the vehicle fare: DKK 449 up to 3.0 m long, DKK 549 up to 5.0 m, DKK 649 up to 8.0 m and DKK 749 up to 10.0 m.
Is the ticket per person or per vehicle?
Per vehicle, including up to nine people. A driver alone and a full car pay the same fare.
Can I charge an electric car on board?
Molslinjen provides charging on the ships and publishes a dedicated page for it. Charging points are on the car deck; expect the 90-minute crossing to add a useful rather than a transformative amount.
Do I need to be there earlier with a camper?
The published deadline is the same, but the loading is not. Larger vehicles are marshalled deliberately and boarded in a set order, so arriving on the deadline with a caravan is asking for trouble.