Located 4 km from the city centre of Aarhus, Åby was originally an old village, but is now an integrated a part of Åbyhøj, that sprawled around it.

The name Åby translates literally as river-town in modern Danish and it also derives from the Old Norse for "village on a river" (Old Norse á, river, and býr, village).

The town of Åby is very old and grew from a port that used to be here in the Viking Age, when Aarhus Å was a fjord.

Over the years, the fjord sanded up and transformed into the narrow waterway we now know as Aarhus River.

The usual village charm and characteristics are still clearly visible in Åby, especially around the church.