A Week in Billund: LEGO House, LEGOLAND, and Lalandia

We spent a week in Billund, Denmark. The home of LEGO. LEGO fans know that Billund has a special place. Not only is it the hometown of LEGO, but it also has the famous LEGO House (a museum + experience center), LEGOLAND (the theme park), and other family attractions such as Lalandia Billund (Scandinavia's largest water park) and WOW Park.

At first, I planned to split time between Copenhagen and Billund. Later, I found a direct flight from Istanbul to Billund, so we changed our plan and stayed only in Billund for a week. We spent two days at LEGOLAND, one day at LEGO House, and three days at Lalandia’s water park and other activities.

Billund is a small town, and staying options are limited. There are LEGO-themed hotels, Airbnb-style rentals, and the cottages at Lalandia. I found a discount for a six-room cottage at Lalandia and booked it. The cottages are within walking distance (somehow) of both LEGOLAND and Lalandia (they sit next to each other). More on this latter.

LEGOLAND

We visited LEGOLAND for the first two days (though day one was cut short because our flight was delayed, and it took us another 1–1.5 hours to check in because the house key code they gave us for the Lalandia Cottage didn’t work. Not the best start).

I've learned it later, but LEGOLAND is owned by Merlin Entertainments, not LEGO itself. There are 11 parks worldwide, and the one in Billund has 1.6 million visitors annually, making it Denmark’s biggest attraction outside Copenhagen.

To me, it’s simply a LEGO-themed amusement park, mainly geared toward kids and families. I’d recommend it for anyone with children between 6 and 12/13 years old. Our kids loved it. Definitely check online for discounts, 2-for-1 deals are easy to find. That's how I've got mines.

The kids’ favorites were the rollercoasters (no surprise). My favorite was Miniland in the center of the park. They recreated Danish landmarks with LEGO bricks, and the level of detail was incredible.

LEGO House

LEGO House is in the center of Billund and feels very different from LEGOLAND. If I had to sum it up: LEGOLAND is about consumption, LEGO House is about creativity. It’s focused on making things, not just riding things. Honestly, I enjoyed it more than LEGOLAND.

Each activity was tied to an NFC wristband. It was linked to your name via QR code, and you’d scan it before or after each session. At the end of the day, you could download all your photos and creations in one place. I really liked how they nailed the experience for both the kids and adults.

Another highlight of LEGO House is the exclusive sets sold only there. You can’t find them in any other LEGO store. Of course, the kids and I picked some up. My favorite was the Wooden Duck. If you arrive early, you can even get a signed box from the designer. The three Dinosaurs represent the three different LEGO systems: DUPLO, Bricks and Technics.

I was lucky enough to grab a signed one (see the above picture),

For food there are a few cafes and a restaurant. One of them, the Mini Chef restaurant is also definitely visiting. You build your order using LEGO bricks, scan it by inserting it into the display box on your table, and the food is then later delivered by robots on rails. The food was surprisingly good (probably the best I had in Billund), but the whole experience with the kids was the real highlight. However I can't say it was cheap. We paid roughly around ~$144. Not sure if price wise it's worth, but you pay mostly for the experience of course.

We also visited the History section in the basement. For me, as an adult, it was maybe the best part. Seeing the first handmade wooden toys (like the wooden duck) and how they later transitioned to plastic LEGO bricks was eye-opening.

I left LEGO House with a big smile. The kids were happy, and the whole place felt warm and welcoming — like visiting your grandma and being offered cookies and warm milk.

Lalandia Billund

Lalandia is hard to describe. I have mixed feelings — more positive than negative, mainly because of the kids and the resort setup. It has a huge indoor water park, and hundreds of cottages laid out like a suburban neighborhood. The water park itself is inside the main Lalandia center, which also houses restaurants and activities for kids.

The cottages were great. Spacious interior, high ceiling, full kitchen, washer/dryer, comfy chairs, and a bunk room for the kids (which they loved). But there were a few downsides:

1. No linens. You either bring your own or rent them from Lalandia. Since we traveled from abroad, we had to rent.
2. No basics. No toilet paper, spices, or detergent. It’s completely barebones, so you need to buy everything yourself.
3. Distance. Our house was in the ~600 block, a 15–20 min walk from the water park. At first it was fine, but after long days, the kids were exhausted. The shuttle existed but was always overcrowded. They really need bigger or more frequent shuttles.

The Lalandia center itself was a mixed bag. It had everything like coffee shop, bars, restaurants, shops, grocery market, however most of it felt low quality. The coffee was bad, and nearly every restaurant served the same menu: burgers, pizza, fried chicken/fish. After a few days I was craving healthy food.

One thing I really disliked was "Little Vegas" section of the building. It's a hall of arcade-style machines placed right before the water park to lure kids. It reminded me of a casino vibe: overpriced, low quality, and tacky.

That said, the center had a fun activities: bowling, mini-golf, a climbing wall, sky trail, and more. With the Gold Wristband that I purchased separately, the kids could use these without limits, which they loved. I had fun too of course.

The water park itself was okay. They had good facilities, such as family changing rooms, plenty of showers and toilets, lockers you could open with your wristband. The slides were fun (Wild River was our favorite). There was also a kids’ section and a restaurant (same junk fast food again). Hygiene wasn’t perfect with so many people in one building, but the kids had a blast, and it was an interesting experience.

Overall: it was fine. I didn’t expect much, and it matched my expectations. I’m not sure I’d come back though.

Verdict

After a 7-hour flight (with a layover in Istanbul), we finally got home. The trip to Billund wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. Everyone had fun, and it was an interesting and fun vacation.

Normally, I prefer city trips — Munich, Copenhagen, London — and I still think those are better. Billund felt like a mix of a resort stay and a cultural trip.

If I visit again, I’d stay only a few days instead of a week. Turkey’s southern resorts offer much more, and the food is far better. Copenhagen, which I visited just last November, has one of the best food scenes in the world. Billund’s amusement parks are the complete opposite. They are poorly organized, with no vision for showcasing Denmark’s culinary culture. It's wild how two different cities can be so different. Like on one end you have maybe a city that showcases the best food in the world, and on the other end, you have a city with a great brand, but subpar and junk food. It could be better.

Still, LEGO House alone made the trip worthwhile. It was welcoming, creative, and even had the best food I ate in Billund.

Next time in Denmark, we’ll probably rent a car, stay somewhere else, and maybe visit Billund just overnight. That feels like the best way to experience what the city has to offer.