the suspense is killing me

You wonder: Why don't they call Paris the Copenhagen of the south?

This year there is an interesting development, enabling visitors to see a little more of the country. It is the completion of an 18km-long fixed link joining two islands which has cost the Danes a staggering 21 billion kroner (around #2bn). It is a tremendous civil engineering achievement and incorporates a 6.8km suspension bridge, the world's second largest. Trains have used it since last year; cars, coaches and lorries begin using it on June 14.

Denmark consists mainly of Jutland, which juts up like a sore thumb from north Germany, and to the east, the large islands of Funen and Zealand on which sits Copenhagen. It is on the stretch of water known as the Great Belt between Zealand and Funen that the link has been built. Previously ferries carried rail and road traffic across the Belt - at least an hour's sailing.

Now Funen and Jutland (they have been linked for many years by a small bridge) are more accessible to visitors from Copenhagen. For example, Odense, which has excellent museums to its famous sons, Hans Christian Andersen and the composer Carl Nielsen, can be reached in 90 minutes by train.

But let's stay awhile in Copenhagen. What do you want to see? Museums and art galleries? There are almost 40. The National Museum is outstanding and should not be missed. There is the Planetarium and the Experimentarium, which is a hands-on display of science. In the Workers' Museum there are mock-ups of working class homes in the 1930s and 1950s and in the restaurant you can eat the food of that time.

Other museums deal with such diverse subjects as erotica, amber, tobacco, the Danish Resistance Movement of 1940-45, Georg Jensen silver, medical history and weapons and military regalia. Or you could visit the Carlsberg Museum and sample their product. Try to visit the Karen Blixen Museum north of the city on the coast. Her grave is in the grounds.

Among art galleries I would recommend is the Glyptotek which is home to works by Gaugin, Renoir and Pissarro, among others, with Degas bronzes and 30 works by the sculptor Rodin. A must is the Hirchsprung Collection where you can view work by the Danish painters Peder Kroyer and Michael and Anna Ancher and paintings from Denmark's Golden Age. In north Zealand is the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art which celebrates its 40th birthday in August.

Tivoli, now in its 155th year, is a magical place in which to just sit, listen to the (free) music and watch the crowds go by. It boasts around 30 restaurants, cafes and bars and almost the same number of amusements, together with little stalls selling souvenirs and gifts. It opened a month ago and closes on September 13.

Shopping? Most visitors start in Stroget, the famous pedestrianised shopping street which runs for about a mile through the city. There are shops for everyone, whether you want a fur or a football strip and there's a department store, one of three in the city.

Every so often you will encounter a little square where you'll be able to sit and have a beer or a snack. You'll be entertained by buskers playing instruments like pan pipes, didgeridoos or balalaikas! Wander into one of the streets running parallel and it is a different, almost silent, world of antique shops, antiquarian booksellers and tiny art galleries.

As you reach the end of Stroget you are in Kongens Nytorv, a magnificent square which boasts the Royal Theatre and Scandinavia's largest department store. Just off to the right is the famous Nyhavn, filled on its ''sunny side'' with bars and cafes the length of the canal. To escape the crowds, take a canal tour from here and view The Little Mermaid from the water at Langelinie.

For a first-time visitor it is probably a good idea to buy a Copenhagen Card available for 24, 48 or 72 hours. Children go half price. The card gives unlimited travel by rail and bus in the city and the whole of north Zealand and free admission to more than 60 museums and sights including Tivoli.

Half an hour by train from Copenhagen is Denmark's first capital, Roskilde, which this year celebrates its 1000th anniversary. This pleasant town is steeped in history and sits at the head of the picturesque Roskilde Fjord. On fine days the fjord is filled with sailing craft - and even

Viking ships! It is probably best to visit the Viking ship museum first. It was built specially to house the remains of five ships scuttled in the fjord about 1000 AC and excavated in 1962.

You can see a film, watch workers using replicas of Viking tools to build the ships and learn much about the Viking voyages. There is an archaeological workshop to visit and in the museum shop you can buy copies of jewellery and other items from the Viking period.

The museum has a collection of traditional Nordic vessels berthed in its harbour. During school holidays there are one-hour sailing trips daily, so visitors can get the feel of what it was like to sail on a Viking ship.

A short distance away is the splendid Roskilde Cathedral, in which are buried 38 Danish kings and queens. Around 200,000 visitors are expected this year at the cathedral, whose twin green spires can be seen for many miles. There has been a church on this site for 1000 years and the present one was started in the 1170s.

Here you will find buried the legendary Harald Bluetooth and Svein Forkbeard as well as the last king, Frederik IX, who died in 1972, and who is buried at his own request, not in the crypt, but in a special place outside the building overlooking the fjord. More than 1500 bodies are believed to be buried in the crypt.

The organ dates from 1654, and there are ornate wood-carvings, fascinating frescoes and a clock with mechanical figures (which move each hour) of St George and the Dragon from the Middles Ages. It might be wise to take an English guided tour costing 25 kroner (about #2.30) per adult to benefit fully from the visit. Check opening times before leaving Copenhagen. There is also the cathedral museum in which you can see a copy of Margrethe I's (1375-1412) priceless gold dress.

Roskilde has a full programme of events throughout the year and the official celebration night is on September 5. Still on the Viking theme, a pleasant day out can be spent at the Viking fortress at Trelleborg, built around 980 by Harald Bluetooth. There is a museum where you can touch replicas of Viking tools and weapons. To get there take a train from Copenhagen to Slagelse and thence by bus.

I've never been disappointed with a visit to Funen, rightly called The Garden of Denmark. It has a soothing, gentle landscape of farmlands, enchanting woodlands, picturesque towns and quiet beaches.

In Odense, apart from the main tourist attraction of Hans Christian Andersen's childhood home and museum, there is a railway museum and an impressive art gallery.

If you have children with you I urge you to take them for an hour so to Fyrtojet (The Tinder Box). Here in this unique centre the aim is to foster creativity in children. They listen to an Andersen fairytale, dress up in costume, get made up, paint a picture, watch a marionette theatre and they are encouraged to try to write a fairytale of their own. It is a magical place and the entry fee is small. If you have a car and have time, go east to the old fishing port of Kerteminde where in the sea-life centre you can view the fish swimming in the harbour as you walk along an undersea tunnel. You can watch two harbour dolphins being trained as part of a research programme which aims to cut dolphin deaths in fishing nets.

In Denmark you can choose to holiday in anything from a manor house to a bed and breakfast establishment. I've never stayed in a manor house, although I'm assured they are excellent value, but I have obtained tourist board approved bed and breakfast for as little as #14.

If a golfing holiday is what you're after, then Funen and Jutland have 28 courses between them and north Zealand has 16. A free, 63-page guide to golf holidays in Funen and Jutland, including information on accommodation can be obtained by calling the Danish Tourist Board on 0171 259 5959. A manor house guide is also available.

l Carl Gordon went to Denmark at the invitation of the Danish Tourist Board, 55 Sloane Street, London, SW1X 9SY, who will be happy to supply further information. British Midland has 12 flights weekly from Glasgow and one a day from Edinburgh. If taking your own car, Scandinavian Seaways operate sailings from Harwick to Esbjerg, or from the Tyne to Hamburg. The toll on the Great Belt fixed link is 210 kroner (about #20) each way for cars.