Denmark Trip 2025

There’s a quiet magic to cycling in Denmark — a mix of sea air, immaculate bike paths, and the soft hum of everyday life unfolding around you. For Helen and Sean, it was the perfect place for their next two-wheeled adventure: a journey north from Copenhagen through coastal towns, forests, and ferry crossings, tracing the edge of Zealand before hopping toward Jutland.

The trip began, appropriately, with a little royal drama. Twenty-seven EU leaders were gathering at Christiansborg Palace, and the pair expected their departure from the Danish capital to be a tangle of diversions and security blockades. Instead, Copenhagen behaved impeccably — calm, organised, and entirely unbothered.

With freshly-tuned e-bikes from Rosenborg Cykler, Helen and Sean followed their Ride with GPS route along the edge of the Øresund, the strait that separates Denmark from Sweden. The first days unfolded like postcards: sunlight glinting off the Baltic, walking paths pressed between rail lines and tidy gardens, the occasional red squirrel darting across the trail. They rode through forests and resort villages, past tidy harbours and dunes, always within reach of the sea.

As they made their way north through Helsingør, Hornbæk, and Gilleleje, the rhythm of Danish summer life surrounded them — school groups in the woods, swimmers braving the chill Baltic, and rows of immaculate holiday houses tucked behind the dunes. A few logistical hiccups (missing sunglasses, a forgotten USB-C cable, and a surprised host who hadn’t realised guests were coming) only added to the charm.

By the third day they were deep into the landscapes of northern Zealand — riding through endless forests of oak, pine, and birch, stopping for lunch above the beach, watching ferries come and go. The trip wasn’t about racing from point to point; it was about noticing things — the quiet orderliness of Danish roads, the warmth of small encounters, the joy of seeing deer in the woods or the North Sea stretched blue and wide.

From Copenhagen to Rørvig, each turn of the pedals revealed a Denmark that was elegant, easy-going, and quietly beautiful. The adventure was just beginning, but the spirit of the trip was already clear: good company, good paths, and the freedom to stop wherever curiosity led.

Day 1 - From Copenhagen to Helsingør

We expected traffic diversions because of the security measures being put in place for the 27 EU leaders summit in the morning at the Christiansborg Palace but encountered none. After taking delivery of our e-bikes from Rosenborg Cykler and we headed north with directions from “Ride with GPS” We hugged the coast riding on bike lanes and paths alongside the Öresund, the strait separates Zealand in Denmark from Schonen in Sweden. We made a diversion into nature reserve to admire the forest. Two groups of school children were tramping about. Walking / cycling paths were squeezed between the railway line and the backyards of smart houses. A doe was spied in a forested area and a red squirrel darted across the path. The coast was populated with sea birds and a group of teenagers emerged from a dip in the Baltic. We found no sign of Hamlet at Kronborg Castle.

Day 2. - From Helsingør to Tibirkebro

Perfect weather for cycling today. First activity was shopping for sunglasses for Sean and USB C cord for Helen and then retrieving the bikes from the subterranean bike storage. The route took us along the coast through the resort villages of Hornbæk and Gilleleje. At Hornbæk we noticed that Sweden had vanished from the horizon. We didn’t see the boat harbour at Gilleleje as our route skirted that part of town. With place names like Smidstrup, Tinkerup, Højstrup and Musterup Sean thought he was in Western Australia where there many towns whose names end with ‘up’. Early sections of the ride were between the coast and a steep ridge. Sean speculated that this ridge was created by the retreat of the ice age glaciers. Our accommodation had no idea that guests were booked in. Beds were quickly made and heating turned on. 🙂🙂

Day 3 - Tibirkebro - Røvig

We locked up our cosy up stairs apartment with outside bathroom and toilet and set out on route. In no time we realised that we were heading in the wrong direction. After a u-turn we were soon on the blue line of our route for the day. We bypassed passed most village of Tisvilde (idyllic as it was) to take the bike path on the wrong side of the railway tracks. Soon we were behind the foredunes of the strand, this is the beach, riding in a Troldeskoven forest. The forest continued only the name changed to Stænghus then Melby Overdrew. There were a mix of trees, oaks, pines, spruce, maples and birches. Often the lower story was open and the tree trunks dominated the view. It went on for many kilometres. We stopped to see the North Sea. After the forest we were in summer holiday house land and like all coastal development the houses were pretty classy and well maintained. We came across a grassy gap between houses that had two park benches so we pulled in for our lunch break. It turned out to be on a high bluff and a timber staircase of over 100 steps gave access to the beach. We had a spectacular view up and down the coast. We did pass through some farming country and spied a deer casualty browsing and five Clydesdale look alike horses. We were pleased to get to the ferry terminal at Hundested in good time. After a coffee the ferry arrived and we were on our way to Rørvig. We are delighted will our accommodation at the Rørvig Centret. With a heated bathroom floor one needs nothing more.

Day 4 - Rørvig to Holbæk

The weather forecast said: “Rainy conditions will continue all day. Wind gusts up to 83 km/h are making the temperature feel like -3°.” Since our route would take us along the coast we knew that we would be exposed to the full force of the wind and that the wind chill factor would be very uncomfortable. We decided to ride to the nearest railway station, Nykøbing Sj St., a distance of 9 kms in the wind and rain. The train arrived soon after we had ridden onto the platform. A railway worker told Sean that tickets were outside. Some moments passed before he spied the kiosk on the now empty station. The self-service ticket machine switched quickly to English and two seniors and two bikes entered but how to pay. Frustration and two further attempts proved useless. The train conductor stood in the rain waiting for us then wandered over to us and asked if we were having trouble. He said that it plays up and told us to get on the train. He held the door open and lifted in the back of Helen’s bike. In the comfort of the train, Helen confessed that her leggings were saturated and that her legs had been freezing on the bike. In her typical fashion she wrote it off as being no different to taking an ice bath and that her legs felt the better for it. The train trip was only one hour long and arriving at Holbæk station it took little navigation to figure out the route to our hotel. The windy rainy weather continued into the evening.

Day 5 - Holbæk to Roskilde

Scattered showers in the morning and increasing wind gusts in the afternoon meant that we decided to push through the morning to get to our destination reasonably early. The route was straight forward but everything was wet and it was windy. There were parts that were sheltered by high hedges and an area of established forest. Mostly it was open farmland. We were pretty exposed when we crossed the isthmus and the three arch bridge (a la Sydney harbour bridge). Cycling into Roskilde was interesting. I noticed the government housing apartment blocks in an estate whose brickwork was in red and white brick alternating horizontal layers. I thought that the government issued a contract to two brick companies - the one who made red bricks and the other who made white bricks. We walked down to the Viking Boat Museum and then to the Dom or cathedral. We were allowed in on the condition that we would stay through the whole service. It was a real surprise. The music performed by a piano player, a saxophone player, a double bass player and a young singer was a first for both Helen and myself. It was jazz and very jazz inspired. It was also good.

Day 6 - Roskilde to Copenhagen

Our last day in the saddle was decidedly damp. There was a fine misty rain that accompanied us most of the way. The streets out of Roskilde was cobbled and we no sooner moved beyond this bumpy road when we were confronted with road works and detours. We were pleased to get beyond the city and travelled through open farmland. Our route was very straightforward and when we travelled through wooded area or where the road was lined by trees the cycle path was littered with leaves and small branches that had been stripped from the trees by the very strong winds the day before. Riding into Copenhagen, I speculated that to keep the custom of the red brick making company and the white brick making company, the government had awarded a contract to each to supply half the bricks needed the five buildings of the housing estate we rode past. Each building was striped red and white. We returned the bikes to the Rosenborg Cykler at 1 pm. We then took a fast train (2 hours) to Vejle to visit my friend Else.

Trip Photos