Denmark First Impressions after living 6 months in Aarhus

We have lived in Denmark for 6 months now. In this video I share our experience living in Denmark, covering work-life balance, cost of living, rent prices, cars and more.
00:00 Intro
00:32 General impressions
01:00 People
01:43 Working in Denmark
02:47 Weather
03:41 Cost of living, prices, rent
05:37 Cars
06:25 Next steps

[@Gert-DK]

Best way to make friends, is joining a sports club. If you like handball or football, it is easy. Even small villages of have a handball and/or football club. Bigger clubs in the city also have teams for exercise and kammaratery. There are often Old Girls and Old Boys teams. In the winter time you can join evening school, there are all kinds of classes. Ask your commune for a list of activities. You have to be active yourself, people don't pop in and ask if you wanna be friends. You can also ask your neighbor in for a cold beer or a cup of coffee. Especially in the summer, a cold beer would be a good “bait”. Just keep friendly and very informal, no dressing up or fine china. Good luck.

[@beyondcloudbase]

Thats a good tip, thank you!

[@jackmeeellleee4896]

I moved to Aarhus from another country 18 years ago. Making friends with Danes has been the hardest thing followed by the sunless autumns and winters. But life is otherwise good here. All the things you mention are factually correct...Held og lykke med dit ny liv og god dag til dig, og tak for din video.

[@beyondcloudbase]

Thank you :)

[@sectos2906]

nice to hear people's thoughts on other parts of denmark besides copenhagen

[@EranKatz]

Thank you for sharing. I just stumbled into your videos as I was trying to research about Aarhus and I must say I resonate with your condition. I saw your video about moving from Hungary, where you started by sharing how difficult things were because of your leadership and as an Israeli, in the past year, I really feel the same. I am happy for you guys that you found a place in Denmark and hope you still enjoy your life over there.

[@rickybuhl3176]

Once you're settled enough and feel comfortable looking outside the city, you'll find buying a house entirely plausible. Admittedly I'm out in the arse end of nowhere (Aarhus is an hours drive away, I'm nearer the airport) but there's usually a 2 bedroom cottage for sale for a few hundred thousand. Bought mine a few years back needing a little work for 250k, one of the old girls in the village has dropped hers to 300k. A full project can be found for less with a little patience and luck. We just need a few of the connections we had "back home" to find our way around how things are and find out what we want to do with ourselves - changing our mind is usually expensive, as is paying someone to do work for us (as you mentioned). I like country living, so it makes sense for me - if you're a city lad, then Aarhus is a good balance. Spent enough of my life away in the city (London, Bristol, Leicester, Copenhagen) that coming back out here and not being able to get a pizza or kebab delivered felt like going off-grid but a few years later I'm used to only having mobile internet (4G gaming is just fine, even for Tarkov), cutting wood to heat the house, a bus every hour and making pizza at home lol... But being adopted by the people and wildlife - feeding the foxes to stop my back door getting scratched up, feeding the birds in 3 different places to keep the peace or watching the blackbirds get drunk on apples that have been on the ground for a couple months - more than makes up for it. The "Andelsbolig" is also worth looking at, if you haven't already - it's interesting if nothing else, as a concept.

[@beyondcloudbase]

A lot of good points actually. I would love a project, but I also love the comforts of a relatively modern house with good insulation etc. A 30-45 minute commute is also no problem for me as long as it is close to places relevant for my industry of work. I believe there is a healthy balance in scoping what you want in a house for how much. Surely, decent houses can be had for 1-2 million DKK. I would love a place where you could feed the birds. An apartment rental is just a temporary necessity for us.

[@rickybuhl3176]

@@beyondcloudbase I'm with you on that, thinking more a few years down the line. A healthy balance is there to be had, we just have to decide on the A-Z to figure out the spot in the middle lol. Take care and at least we have some snow for you this year.

[@DominusRexDK]

so i am a Dane, but my understanding based on what other expats have said. is that the old "Danes are hard to befriend, but when befriended some of the best friends." and especially if you are an adult. holds true. they are hard to befriend because they mostly already have friends they´ve built relations with for a long time. but if you manage to befriend them, they will prioritize you as a friend.

[@ZsoltBak-uz5pd]

Nagyon szuper hallani, hogy ilyen jó tapasztalaitok vannak Aarhus-sel kapcsolatban. Nekünk Anglia volt az A terv (korábban éltünk ott a feleségemmel) és néztünk B tervnek is valamit. Felmerült Dánia, 4 nap utánajárás után Dánia lett az A terv. :) . Nekünk is Aarhus a fő irány az irány a szakmáink miatt, úgyhogy könnyen meglehet még találkozunk!

[@beyondcloudbase]

Alapvetoen jo hely ez :) Vannak dolgok amiket meg kell szokni, de jol fogjatok magatokat itt erezni :)

[@zialiaquat1681]

How did you find appartment bro the cost you are paying the rent.

[@dhimass7223]

I spent 2 years lived in Hungary, and I will move to Aarhus too next March

[@beyondcloudbase]

Sounds like a good choice to me honestly ;)

[@martigrgic]

Hi, nice video! We are also looking to move to Denmark (from Croatia), but plan to take our car with us. Any specific reason why you had to buy the car there and didn’t drive it from Hungary?

[@beyondcloudbase]

It makes a lot of sense to use your current car to move to DK. I decided to buy a car on the local market and move my Hungarian car back to HU and sell it because of the registration tax. If you move a car into the country, you can only use it on foreign license plates for 30 days. After that you have to register it, which involves paying a "new car" tax based on the assessed market value of the car - how much it is worth on the Danish market, which is probably higher then what it is worth in other countries. You also need to have it inspected and it might fail if there are issues that are accepted in your country but not in DK (small chance). For all the above, and based on my numbers, it seemed better to buy a car locally. Check these sites for info: motorst.dk/en-us/individuals/importing-vehicles motorst.dk/en-us/individuals/vehicle-taxes/registration-tax/calculate-registration-tax?oid=2233639&vId=0

[@Vlay76]

Hey Gusztav!What's the cheapest way to get to Arhus by plane,from Serbia or Croatia eventually?Very useful video by the way! 🤠

[@beyondcloudbase]

Hi! If there is a direct flight to Billund (BLL) via Ryanair or Wizzair then that would probably be the best option. I would check the dates well in advance and buy the ticket 2-3 months ahead of time. Then from the airport, the bus 912X goes directly to Aarhus. There is also an airport near Grenaa called Aarhus airport, but with much less connections. We usually drive between Hungary and Denmark, but that`s because for 2 people and a dog, plus having a car to use in Hungary it is cheaper to drive then to fly and rent a car.

[@Vlay76]

@@beyondcloudbase Thanx for the advice Gusz!

[@cooleymike1]

Hey BC this was awesome, If you could do more of these that would be splendid. Things like owning a bike vs a car, benefits of each?

[@beyondcloudbase]

Hi I could talk a lot about car ownership, but not about bikes, as I don’t own one. Contrary to popular belief, not everybody is biking here :)

[@beyondcloudbase]

But in short - it is expensive, but a small car.

[@cooleymike1]

I can imagine, not just the purchase with the tax rate, but ownership (cost of gas, and maintenance)@@beyondcloudbase

[@cooleymike1]

Oh ok, I was under the impression everyone, well not everyone but a large portion of the Danish population rode bikes at least weekly to work or run errands. I plan on not having a car, so that's why i asked about the bike content. @@beyondcloudbase

[@veronicajensen7690]

@@cooleymike1 if you live in Copenhagen, Århus or Odense or close to them you can live without a car, about half of the people living in Copenhagen bike to work every day, it is the easiest way to get around as there are not a lot of parking space expecially in Copenhagen, public transportation work well also , and a lot of people who live outside the city bring their bike with them on the train

[@simeon1234]

Are there any Hungarian restaurants on Jylland? Im from northern Serbia originally and cannot live without goulash and halaszle.

[@beyondcloudbase]

Hi! I wish there were, but I don’t know of any. We cook goulash at home sometimes, and you can also get frozen goulash in supermarkets but that is not the same :)

[@aarhusnord]

Welcome to Aarhus, Denmark 🇩🇰. As a Hungarian, how do you feel about Orbán - he really seems to have been a "special character" in recent time? P.S. haircut - with a bit of luck, you can have a machine haircut at down to 120 DKK in Aarhus, for example at Frederiks Allé.

[@beyondcloudbase]

Hej It is very difficult for me to speak about Orban and not get emotional. He is the main reason we left the country, and the way he is playing Putin’s inside man in the EU is simply disgusting.

[@aarhusnord]

@@beyondcloudbase Great, you are even more welcome here. As a Dane, is it difficult to know, if Hungary is "Orbán-country", or he just represents part of the population. If you need any help with explaining something here, ask me ... I also think many other Danes in here will be of assistance.

[@LolcowFarm-qr3if]

In the Big cities bike are better. Smaller towns car

[@Vlay76]

Hey Gusz!Are Danish companies in Aarhus willing to hire EU expacts and which would be the best places to look for a job? 🤠

[@beyondcloudbase]

Hi I think all major companies have international staff in their headquarters, at least this has been my experience. The country needs more qualified people then how many are born and trained in Denmark, so they somewhat rely on importing expertise. I would just look on Linkedin, this is how I found my job. But be prepared for a lot of rejections. If you are an expat in Denmark, you are a welcome employee, but if you are still yet to come into the country then you are considered a risky choice.

[@LolcowFarm-qr3if]

Where,are you from

[@beyondcloudbase]

I and my wife moved from Hungary

[@PavanKumar-nt4gv]

20000 dkk expenses for month ?

[@beyondcloudbase]

For a couple, roughly.

[@PavanKumar-nt4gv]

we are couple planning for masters in Aarhus what could be living expenses for one bed room apartment ? @@beyondcloudbase

[@TainDK]

Rent differs - he said 6000-10000 dk (just 1 k, danske kroner / Dansih Crowns (the royal hat =)) so the last 10000+ is for insurance, union, food, cafe/restaurant, gas, utilities etc...