Faaborg was one of our stops on the south coast of Funen, and unlike some of the smaller places we had passed through, here we spent time checking several different parking options around the town before continuing our journey.
The most useful part of Faaborg for us was the area around Banegårdspladsen, close to both the harbour and the historic centre. We checked the supermarket car park at 8 Banegårdspladsen, which allows short free stays and is useful for visiting the town, but the more interesting option for a motorhome was nearby at 2B Banegårdspladsen. There are only seven designated motorhome spaces, separated from the road, and overnight parking is permitted provided it remains parking rather than camping. Its position is the real advantage: from there the harbour and centre are both within easy walking distance.
We also checked the parking on Havnegade, which is even closer to the centre but has a short time limit, making it useful for a quick visit rather than a longer stop. This was one of those towns where it made much more sense to leave the motorhome once and continue on foot than to keep moving a seven-metre vehicle between different parts of the centre.
Faaborg itself is quite compact. It is an old market town, and the central streets are noticeably different from the more modern Danish towns we had visited earlier in the trip. There are small streets, older merchant houses and courtyards around the centre, while the harbour is only a few minutes away. The most recognisable historic building is the Bell Tower, which survives from the former Church of St Nicholas even though most of the original church disappeared after the Reformation.
The harbour is also important because Faaborg faces the South Funen Archipelago. Ferries still leave from here for some of the smaller islands, so this is not simply a marina built for leisure boats. Faaborg has long been connected with the islands south of Funen, and the water is a much bigger part of the town than it first appears when arriving by road.
This whole part of southern Funen has a noticeably different landscape from the flatter central part of the island. The coast is broken up by bays and islands, with hills immediately behind it, and today it forms part of the UNESCO Global Geopark South Funen Archipelago. The present coastline is largely the result of the end of the last Ice Age, when rising sea levels flooded lower areas of land and left the higher ground as the islands visible offshore today.
Before leaving the Faaborg area we also checked parking farther out along Odensevej. At 171 Odensevej there is a large nature car park used for walking and mountain-bike routes, with a public toilet and more space than in the centre. Another stop farther along Odensevej offered a much more wooded setting away from the harbour. These were completely different options from Banegårdspladsen: more useful for a quiet break or access to the surrounding countryside than for visiting Faaborg itself.
Faaborg therefore worked well as a proper stop rather than just another point on the road across Funen. The town is small enough to visit without much effort, the harbour and old centre are close together, and having several possible places for the motorhome made it relatively straightforward. What made it different from the places immediately before it was the combination of the old town with the South Funen coast and the islands beyond the harbour.