Today the fortififications provide the backdrop for a recreational ride around Copenhagen.

The fortifications were built between in 1885 and 1892, and consisted of a series of heavily armed forts along the coasts, and a wall on the western side of Copenhagen reaching from the southern coast to the eastern.

Being one of the largest, and also one of the best preserved, military structures of its time is worth while a visit. Military history aside, today it is a green belt stretching all the way around Copenhagen. Most parts of the fortifications were decommisioned in 1920 as longer rangeing canons rendered it obsolete, and today, the forts and wall stand derelict, mostly used for recreational purposes.

The best part is that you can cycle along, and some times even on the fortifications, on nice paved – and many places even lit – paths all the way from the coast of Avedøre in the south to the lakes and swamps of Utterslev in the north and further east to the coast at  Svanemøllen or Charlottenlund (the latter famous for its upmarket harbour restaurants).

The Route

The full route is 40-some km, but you can take the s-train back into town at Avedøre, Brøndbyøstre, and Husum, just as you can start your trip at those stops. Bringing the bike on the S-train is free for any ticket holder, as are children (and their bikes) in company of adults. Alternatively, just turn inwards to the city at any major road crossing the wall.

The Western Wall has a visitors centre located in the part that was decomissioned by the military as late as at the end of the cold war, where nuclear bomb proof bunkers had been added to the Wall. It is situated at Jyllingevejen.

Some kms south of the Visitors centre, you find a row of cycling playgrounds with all sorts of challenges for riders of all ages.

The military still holds the camp at Svanemøllen, making it inaccessible, but  some of the other military camps have been put into new services. In Avedøre, 500m towards the city from the Wall, the former military camp is home to the film studios of the Danish movie auteur Lars von Triers Zentropa.

Links

The visitors centre: www.vestvolden.dk

The Zentropa Film Studios www.filmbyen.dk/ (tours by appointment)

Arriving in Copenhagen by air, you might notice is that Copenhagen Airport is close to the city, but you might not know that it is within cycling distance, and with decent cycling roads.

Halfway around you stop by for refreshments at one of the many restaurants and cafées in the charming city of Dragør, spend time admiring the citys old houses and laid back maritime flavor, before you rush on.

The full round trip is aproximately 40,5 km, starting at the Town Hall Square, but you can of course start wherever you like. The route is not sign posted as such. You can either go happy-go-lucky, or bring a detailed map (downloading OpenStreetMap for your device is recommended).

Highlights

You go along the beach – with plenty of good places for a dip in the sea; the lovely old city of Dragør, Cycling along the perimeter of Copenhagen Airport; the rural land and woods of Kongelunden; the  military intelligence listening post; the bird sanctuary at the south tip of Amager. Seing Copenhagen from a new angle.

Technicalities

Most parts of the route are on asphalt, but minor parts are on rough gravel or dirt especially if you take the paths through the woods. If you don’t like gravel, you can go almost the same route on roads – the on-road aproximation to the route is very popular amongst Copenhagens racing and sports communities.

The south-western part of Amager, around the bird sanctury is very exposed to the wind, since you go on the outside of the dam, so let the wind direction decide whether you go clockwise or not, to avoid a long stretch in headwind.

There are several ways of crossing the Elbe. I chose going under it via the old St. Pauli Elbtunnel. Build in 1911 and with a length of 426.5 meters it connects the city with the extensive harbour area on the other side. Cars are allowed at certain times, but on Sundays it is only accessible on foot or on a bike. It was cool and quiet. Two lifts made going down and up effortless.

From tarmac to sand

The tarmac jungle of the harbour area makes a cyclist feel rather small. I met a few other recreational cyclists, but most of the time I was surrounded by channels, cranes and concrete.

On top of my handlebar bag a had the ADFC authorised cycle map. It showed both local, regional and national cycle routes. I tried navigating to those going most directly South. In the densely build area of greater Hamburg it was not always easy. But eventually I escaped the tarmac jungle and found my self on the edge of Lüneburger Moorland.

The map showed cycle routes going through the moor and to circumnavigate would mean a rather big detour. I decided to stay on my heading and attack the moor.

I had only just entered the moor when I got an impression of what would await me further on: Deep sand.  To make things worse for cyclists, the moor seemed to be very popular among horseback riders. The landscape was beautiful but the moor was a struggle. On several stretches cycling was impossible. The 32 mm tires cut deep lines into the sand.

After an hour or so in the moor I was happy to escape the sand. I still had a long way to go, and I looked forward to cover some kilometers again. If I knew what was awaiting me, I would have preferred staying a little longer in the moor.

Cobblestones to Bergen-Belsen

I do not recall how many kilometers I cycled on cobblestones after the moor, but I do recall the feeling of racing down a hill with shaking bones and rattling teeth. Anyway, it got the sand of the bike.

And then I rose my head and in front of me the perfect road materialised. It was 4 meters wide and embanked with broad sandy shoulders. It cut its way through the light green forest and was mirrored by a stretch of sky. It reminded me of the old Elbtunnel.

The perfect road brought me back on the schedule I did not have. It gave me time enough to visit the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp near Celle. On the vast area with few traces of the original camp it is hard to imagine the cruelties that took place during the Hitler epoch. There is a newly erect museum, which looked very inviting, but I wanted to move on. After all I had a deal with René and Felicitas, two friends in Hannover, who was going to accommodate me for the night.

Read the first part here -> On a bike to Amsterdam – part #1

I typed A: Copenhagen and B: Amsterdam into the European route planner Naviki.org, pressed send and the result it gave me was an itinerary of 800 km, if I chose the shorter route. A plan was beginning to evolve. Because I already cycled the first part of the route last year, I cut off most of the Danish part and changed my starting point to Nykøbing Falster, the last regularly serviced train stop before Germany. The result was now 650 km.

4 days, I wrote to Chris, would I be on the road. I planned stopovers in Hamburg, Hannover and Münster before reaching my final destination. This meant a slight detour from the direct route, but it gave me the opportunity to visit friends along the way, which later proved to be a perfect investment.

In rush for the ferry

I started my tour on a Monday in July. Some of the Danish IC trains have a seperate compartment for bikes and odd sized luggage like child carriers and oversized suitcases, which is very convenient. This train had, and it wasn’t full at all. Some two hours later I arrived in Nykøbing Falster, where not only the cycle tour but also the stress began. I had estimated the route to the ferry in Rødby to be around 40 km, which made the first leg a bit tight because the next ferry was in only 1 ½ hour.

It was indeed closer to 45 km, but the ferry was also 15 minutes later than I expected, so the two ends met and I could board the ferry all sweaty and warm for the first coffee of the day.

German tailwind

A tailwind gave me a good start once I reached German soil. I enjoyed cycling without looking at the clock every five minutes. I tried to stay on the official cycle routes, shown on my ADFC cycle map, but they crisscrossed a bit too much to make it a consequent solution. I navigated to the more direct roads and to my surprise found that most of them had separated bike ways. The only problem: they were in a bumpy condition. At least that was how it felt on the handlebar when going more than 25 km/h.

After cycling for a couple of hours it occured to me that the planed destination of Hamburg was a bit over the top for my first tour day. It would be more than 200 km in total, and whether it was a mental issue or a leftover from a longer bike tour a few weeks earlier, I couldn’t say, but I began to feel a slight pain in my left knee. It didn’t take me long to make Lübeck the final goal, and from there I would board a train to Hamburg.

Hamburg, meine Perle

Around 9 p.m. I arrived in Hamburg. It was still warm and there was a good vibe around the Alster where the local crowd had their barbecues. I met up my girlfriend who had travelled the same stretch as I but without the bike part. We enjoyed some decent German food and a good Astra beer, while I was looking forward to my first and only day of rest before reaching Amsterdam.

Read the second part here -> On a bike to Amsterdam – part #2