Parks in Copenhagen

Parks in Central Copenhagen

4.4/5 (10)

The parks in Copenhagen are numerous. Even central Copenhagen is green with many beautiful open spaces. The parks are well distributed – they act as venues for a wide array of events and urban life. As a supplement to the regular parks, there are many congenial public gardens and some cemeteries doubling as parks.

It is the official municipal policy in Copenhagen that all citizens must be able to reach a park or beach on foot in less than 15 minutes.

The King’s Garden (Kongens Have), the garden of Rosenborg Castle, is the oldest and most visited park in Copenhagen.

Its landscaping was commenced by King Christian IV in 1606. Every year it sees more than 2.5 million visitors, and in the summer months, it is packed with sunbathers, picnickers, and ballplayers.

It also serves as a sculpture garden with a permanent display of sculptures as well as temporary exhibits during summer.

Just north of the King’s Garden, a series of parks make up a green strand running right through the center of the city. These are constructed on the old ramparts of the city and include Eastern Plant (Østre Anlæg) and the Ørsted Park (Ørstedparken), as well as the Botanical Garden (Botanisk Have), which is particularly noted for a large complex of 19th-century greenhouses donated by Carlsberg founder J. C. Jacobsen.

Fælledparken (the Common Park) in the northern part of the city is, at 58 hectares, the largest park in Copenhagen. It is popular for sports and hosts an array of annual events, including a free opera concert at the opening of the opera season, other open-air concerts, carnival, Labour Day celebrations, and the Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix, which is a race for antique cars.

Another popular park is the Frederiksberg Garden (Frederiksberg Have), which is a 32-hectare romantic landscape garden. It houses a large colony of very tame grey herons along with other waterfowl.

The garden also offers views of the elephants and the elephant house, designed by the world-famous British architect Norman Foster, at the adjacent Copenhagen Zoo.

The Harbour Park (Havneparken), established in 1995, covers 2.8 hectares of dockland in the Islands Brygge neighborhood and has the first of Copenhagen’s harbor baths.

Public gardens

Besides the regular parks, a number of gardens open to the general public serve as important green spaces in central Copenhagen.

These include The Røyal Library Garden (Bibliotekshaven), the garden of the Royal Library on Slotsholmen, located between the library and Christiansborg Palace, and The Glyptoteque Garden (Glyptotekshaven), the small garden behind the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek.

Cemeteries

The characteristic of Copenhagen is that some of the cemeteries double as parks, though only for the more quiet activities such as sunbathing, reading, and meditation. Assistens Cemetery (Assistens Kirkegård), the burial place of Hans Christian Andersen among others, is an important green space for the district of Inner Nørrebro and a Copenhagen institution.

Greenways

Copenhagen Municipality is developing a system of interconnected green bicycle routes, Greenways, with the aim to facilitate fast, safe, and pleasant bicycle transport from one end of the city to the other. The network will cover more than 100 kilometers and consist of 22 routes when finished.

More about Copenhagen here.

Amaliehaven

Assistens Kirkegård

Bibliotekshaven

Botanisk Have

Christianshavns Vold

Classens Have

Fælledparken

Frederiksberg Have

Garnisons Kirkegård

Holmens Kirkegård

Kastellet

Kongens Have

Ørstedsparken

Østre Anlæg

Skydebanehaven

Søndermarken

Tivoli gardens

Glyptotekshaven

Langelinie – The Little Mermaid

Langelinie – Long Line – The Little Mermaid

Glyptotekshaven – The Glyptotek Garden

Ørstedsparken – The Ørsted Park

Christianshavns Vold – Christianshavn’s Rampart

Tivoli – Tivoli Gardens

Fælledparken – The Common Park

Holmens Kirkegård – Holmen’s Cemetery

Garnisons Kirkegård – Garrison’s Cemetery

Kongens Have – The King’s Garden

Bibliotekshaven – The Royal Library Garden

Botanisk Have – Botanical Garden

Frederiksberg Have – Frederiksberg Garden

Assistens Kirkegård – Assistens Cemetery

Skydebanehaven – The Shooting Range Garden

Classens Have – Classen’s Garden

Østre Anlæg – Eastern Plant

Søndermarken – The Southern Field

Amaliehaven – The Amalie Garden

Kastellet – The Citadel

Havneparken – The Harbour Park