Copenhagen does not have one great running route. It has a dozen, and most of them are within a few kilometres of each other. Here is our pick, from five-kilometre harbour loops to a self-guided half marathon and the deer park north of the city. Every route links to a map and a GPX file.
The Lakes: the city's running track
Start with the Lakes Loop (6.0 km). Søerne are three narrow lakes, Sortedams Sø, Peblinge Sø and Sankt Jørgens Sø, that form a chain along the old western ramparts of the city. Paths run along both banks, bridges cross at regular intervals, and the whole circuit is flat and almost free of traffic lights.
It is where Copenhageners do their easy runs, their intervals and their first-ever 5K, so you will never be alone. Dronning Louises Bro, the bridge between Nørrebro and the centre, is the natural start and finish, and on a summer evening it is lined with people sitting along the railings. Run early on sunny weekends, when the paths fill up with walkers and prams.
The harbour: bridges and boardwalks
Copenhagen's inner harbour has been transformed into one long promenade, and three of our routes are built around it.
The Harbour Bridges Loop (6.9 km) is the one to run if you want to understand the modern city. From Nyhavn, cross Inderhavnsbroen to Christianshavn, run along the canals to Cirkelbroen, Olafur Eliasson's bridge of circular platforms, and follow the Islands Brygge quay south to Bryggebroen. The return along Kalvebod Brygge passes the Kalvebod Wave boardwalk and the Black Diamond library.
For something shorter, Islands Brygge and Kalvebod Brygge (3.5 km) is a compact loop of both sides of the southern harbour, ideal before work. And Kastellet and Langelinie (6.6 km) heads north instead: along the quay to the Little Mermaid, out along the Langelinie pier and around the grassy ramparts of Kastellet, a seventeenth-century star fortress that is still an active military area.
Longer harbour runs
For a longer run on the water, the Grand Harbour Loop (14.1 km) joins everything up: the Little Mermaid, the Opera on Holmen, Christiania and the Christianshavn ramparts, both sides of the southern harbour and back via Slotsholmen and Kastellet. To the north, Nordhavn and Svanemølle Beach (9.9 km) runs from Østerport through the new harbour district of Nordhavn to a small city beach, and returns through Østerbro and Fælledparken: a flat, varied 10K.
Parks and commons
Fælledparken (2.4 km per lap) is the heart of Copenhagen's running scene. It hosts a Saturday parkrun, the marathon and half-marathon finish areas and, every August, DHL Stafetten. A lap of its perimeter paths is perfect for repeats.
Frederiksberg Have and Søndermarken (3.8 km) are two royal parks on either side of Frederiksberg Palace. The first is a romantic landscape garden of canals and little bridges; the second is wilder, with big trees and gravel avenues, and the slope of Frederiksberg Bakke is about as hilly as central Copenhagen gets.
South of the harbour, Amager Fælled (5.1 km) feels like the countryside: open grassland, scrub, woods and wetland on soft gravel and dirt paths, a short walk from the Islands Brygge and DR Byen Metro stations. On the north-western edge of the city, the Utterslev Mose Loop (3.4 km) circles the largest of a chain of reedy lakes that is one of the best places in Copenhagen to watch water birds.
The beach
Amager Strandpark (4.4 km) is Copenhagen's beach: an artificial island and lagoon on the east coast of Amager, 15 minutes from the centre by Metro. Our loop runs along the lagoon promenade, crosses to the island and follows it among the dunes, with the Øresund Bridge and the Swedish coast on the horizon. It is completely exposed, so choose a calm day, or run it with the wind behind you on the way home. In summer, finish with a swim.
The forests north of the city
Twenty minutes by S-train from the centre, Dyrehaven is one of the great running places in northern Europe. The former royal hunting forest is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the par force hunting landscape of North Zealand, and its herds of deer graze among some of the oldest oaks in Denmark.
Dyrehaven and the Hermitage (11.5 km) starts at Klampenborg station, climbs gently across the open plain to the white Hermitage hunting lodge and loops through the forest to Fortunen, the start of the Eremitageløbet race. For a proper long run, Jægersborg Hegn and Dyrehaven (18.0 km) adds the quieter, hillier woods to the north and the valleys of Ulvedalene. Carry water: there are few kiosks once you leave the station.
The half-marathon tour
If you only do one long run in Copenhagen, make it the Copenhagen Harbour and Lakes Half (20.8 km). It starts at the Little Mermaid, runs out along Langelinie, crosses to the Opera and the old naval island of Holmen, winds through Christiania and along the Christianshavn ramparts, covers both sides of the harbour and then heads west for a full lap of the Lakes before returning via Kastellet. Add a lap of Kastellet's ramparts and you have a full 21.1 km.
Choosing a route
- Short on time: Islands Brygge and Kalvebod Brygge, or a lap of Fælledparken.
- First run in the city: the Lakes, or the Harbour Bridges Loop from Nyhavn.
- Windy day: Fælledparken, Frederiksberg Have or Dyrehaven, where the trees take the edge off.
- Soft ground: Amager Fælled or Dyrehaven.
- Long run: the Grand Harbour Loop, the Harbour and Lakes Half, or Jægersborg Hegn.
Not sure? Use Find My Run on the homepage: pick a distance and a type of run, and it will choose the closest match. Each route page has a map, practical notes and a GPX file you can load onto your watch. Lines follow OpenStreetMap footpaths, so expect small differences from your own GPS, and always follow signs and local closures on the day.