Copenhagen on two wheels

The capital reveals itself slowly, best of all by bike. You follow the canals down to Nyhavn, the quay lined with colourful houses where Andersen once lived — it was here, facing the sailing boats, that he wrote some of his tales.

A little further north, some thirty kilometres away, the Louisiana museum sets modern art down on the shore of the Øresund: an entire room of Giacometti, Calder's mobiles, and the sea shimmering at the foot of the sculpture garden. You could happily spend the whole day there.

The rest unfolds along the water: you cycle over the bridges to Christianshavn and its canals, wander through colourful Nørrebro, and come summer, you dive into the harbour baths right in the city centre, where the water is now clean enough to swim in.

To plan your route, dip into our maps and guides of Copenhagen.

The country where the bike is king

In Denmark, cycling isn't a hobby, it's woven into everyday life. In Copenhagen, the bike comes first — the city is said to have more of them than people.

And the whole country is criss-crossed with comfortable, well-signposted paths: the national routes (the famous Nationale Cykelruter) link the coasts, the islands and the villages over hundreds of kilometres, all of it flat or nearly so.

Everything is designed for it: dedicated traffic lights, cycle bridges like the Cykelslangen that winds above the harbour, cargo bikes carrying children and shopping alike. And you can load your bicycle onto the regional train without any fuss, to go and start a longer loop elsewhere.

Plenty to dream big with our cycling maps of Denmark.

Coastline, islands and open air

Far from the image of a country made up only of cities, Denmark unfurls a vast coastline: the white cliffs of Møns Klint, the wild dunes of Jutland, the heaths of Thy National Park, the little islands of the Baltic.

To the south-west, the Wadden Sea (Vadehavet), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, reveals itself at low tide and comes alive in autumn, when clouds of starlings trace the famous "black sun". Elsewhere, you hop from island to island by ferry and pitch your tent facing the open sea.

This is exactly the territory of the Calazo outdoor maps, much in demand at the moment: tough paper and precise routes, for hiking and kayaking alike.

At the table: the Danish surprise

You don't necessarily expect much from Denmark when it comes to food — which is precisely what makes the discovery so enjoyable.

Copenhagen pushed "new Nordic cuisine" into the spotlight, but the real pleasure often lies in next to nothing: a generously topped smørrebrød (open sandwich), a stop at the Torvehallerne covered market, a still-warm kanelsnegle (cinnamon roll).

In the morning, you queue outside the bakeries for a dense sourdough loaf or a cardamom pastry; in the afternoon, you settle in at the Reffen street-food market by the water, a craft beer in hand. Coffee, here, is taken seriously.

The city is full of good places to eat, from neighbourhood canteens to more ambitious tables.