Eight of one of the best locations to swim in Copenhagen

Whether or not you are stress-free on the snail-shaped Kastrup Sea Tub or taking a harbour dip at Kalvebod Bølge, Copenhagen is a paradise for swimmers.

Copenhagen’s lifeblood is saltwater: the ribbon of blue makes its method from the previous shipyards at Refshaleøen via the traditional coronary heart of the town and out to the clear waters of the Øresund Strait on the different finish. Irrespective of the place you might be within the Danish capital, you’re by no means removed from it.

After a concerted effort to wash up the harbour within the Nineteen Nineties, this blue coronary heart of the town was remodeled right into a playground for folks younger and outdated. Commuters experience the bright-yellow electrical harbour ferries as swans glide, seals frolic and cormorants dive to the depths. It’s an city fishing vacation spot, a paddleboarder’s playground, and above all else, a paradise for swimmers who minimize holes within the ice in winter and throw themselves in headfirst all summer time lengthy within the many floating swimming pools.

One factor’s for certain: if you happen to’re coming to Copenhagen, don’t neglect your swim package. It’s a good way to satisfy the locals.

Of the various locations to take a dip within the metropolis, these eight are one of the best.

Even if you happen to do not swim, it’s value taking a visit to Kastrup Sea Tub, or as locals name it, “Sneglen” (The Snail). Formed like a snail shell – or the swirl of a Danish pastry – it sits on the finish of a wood bridge 100m out into the Øresund. On a transparent day, Sweden glimmers on the opposite facet of this channel, fed by the Baltic Sea.

The construction has a curving wood wall round it that regularly rises as much as an 8m-tall diving platform. Throughout, benches, pontoons and decks enable swimmers to search out totally different entry factors into the water in addition to someplace to sunbathe on sunnier days. The water is clear, deep sufficient to leap into from the highest platform and its sandy backside is usually fringed with seaweed. On a sunny day, it’s a busy spot; even in winter, the town’s devoted bathers embellish the decks with their towels and thermoses whereas they dip. Throughout the darker months, lights set into the wood bridge paved the way to the sheltered spot. 

Conceived as a completely accessible outside swimming facility by White Arkitekter, this dwelling sculpture received a bronze medal for one of the best sports activities and leisure facility by the Olympic Committee in 2009, and was nominated for The Mies van der Rohe structure award in 2007.

The preferred of all the town’s public swimming pools, Islands Brygge’s floating swimming pool is an emblem of Copenhagen’s love for the water and pleasure in its clear harbour. Hooked up to the Islands Brygge harbour park, a swathe of inexperienced area with neighborhood centres, playgrounds and ice cream vans alongside the waterfront, the pool attracts locals and vacationers alike to its 75m pool, family-centric paddling swimming pools and a diving platform that is formed just like the prow of a ship, with 1m, 3m and 5m springboards.

It isn’t only a place to swim; it is an architectural masterpiece. One in every of Bjarke Ingels’ first tasks within the metropolis, it exemplifies his playful, revolutionary fashion, with a red-and-white striped tower and unconventional triangular areas designed to all the time give lifeguards a transparent line of sight. When it opened in 2003, it kickstarted a revolution within the metropolis, marking the top of Copenhagen’s heavy transport and boat-building previous and guiding it to a brand new age the place the water was a recreation zone. It is so standard in summer time that you simply typically cannot discover a area to put down a towel, nevertheless it’s additionally in use at different occasions of yr together with winter, when two transportable saunas are stationed on the cobblestones close by. Water high quality is checked every day, and lifeguards are on responsibility from June to the top of August.

Copenhagen’s latest city seashore, this 4,000 sq m swathe of sand has a pier, promenade and snack stand set between the chi-chi neighbourhood of Hellerup and trendy Nordhavn with views of Svanemølle energy station. That’s to not say Svanemøllen Seaside isn’t charming: arrange with lifeguards within the late June-August season and designed for households with a gently shelving entry offering an awesome area for toddlers to play, it will get very busy in the summertime. It is 130m-long pier additionally means there’s a simple entry level proper into the deep water for eager swimmers.

For a more true seaside really feel, it is smart to go to Amager Strandpark on the far south-east of the town, however this patch of yellow sand, which opened in June 2010, is barely 10-15-minutes by bike from the winding streets of the outdated city, making it simpler to suit right into a day within the metropolis. The water is obvious and really clear: Copenhagen’s municipality launched a zero-chemical purification expertise utilizing robust UV mild to kill the micro organism within the water. Be careful for lengthy distance swimmers gliding throughout the bay, stunning yachts crusing from the close by marina and pods of kayakers on nonetheless days.

Bellevue Seaside, half-hour’ drive from the guts of the town, has been standard because the Nineteen Thirties when architect Arne Jacobsen designed a seashore complicated the place folks might reside, calm down, vacation and swim. True to his completist kind, he didn’t simply design the white house buildings that line the principally sandy seashore right here, he additionally designed lifeguard costumes, the jaunty blue-and-white striped lifeguard towers, the altering cabins and tickets, together with a restaurant and theatre that each one overlook the ocean. To not point out all of the interiors, proper all the way down to the theatre lighting.

In the present day, the 700m-long seashore is backed by lawns and has a genteel air about it, plus all of the tender white sand you possibly can deal with. Arne Jacobsen followers can take a guided structure tour of the world; ice cream followers ought to look in on the close by petrol station a 10-minute stroll alongside the seaside promenade, which he additionally designed. It has an American diner really feel and appears similar to it did in 1936; most significantly, it serves tender serve ice cream with all of the extras. Save the stress of combating for a parking area and get to Bellevue Seaside by prepare: Klampenborg Station is barely a 10-minute stroll away. 

Christer Bredgaard’s 16-seat farm-to-table restaurant within the redeveloped Refshaleøen space of Copenhagen is catnip for foodies, boaties and swimmers alike. The small turquoise and white shack-like restaurant is perched by itself non-public nook of the harbour, the place timber overhang the water, decks encircle it and behind them, a barrel sauna provides a dose of warmth year-round, with a close-by backyard hose, or the harbour, for a fast cool-down afterwards.

Refshaleøen, the previous shipbuilding space of Copenhagen, has seen large modifications in recent times, from being the commercial coronary heart of the town to empty warehouses, and now regenerated as areas for artwork, tradition and exercise. Close by, the slopes of Copenhill, an city ski slope on the highest of a waste-management plant loom; La Banchina itself was as soon as a ferry ready room for employees within the shipyards and is now an iconic restaurant and swimming spot.

Each dinner and the sauna must be booked prematurely nevertheless it’s straightforward to rock up on a sunny day and purchase a drink and meals from the cafe, calm down on the decks on the again subsequent to the water, path your arms within the cool water and swim within the calm, protected swimming zone. In the summertime, these within the know arrive by boat, however within the winter you would possibly nicely have it to your self.

Modelled on the enduring Islands Brygge floating swimming pool – however off the crushed observe on the finish of the harbour ferry line – household pleasant Sluseholmen Harbour Tub (often known as “The Coral Tub”) is a good place to satisfy the locals. With a big uneven basin made for swimming, a plunge space beneath a 3.5m dive platform and two swimming pools for kids, it is used like an area park by native households on sunny days. Lifeguards slather themselves with sunscreen and be careful for teenagers and jellyfish, whereas underneath the water, a netting system retains the larger fish out. Little silver fish and tiny eels cover in fronds of soppy inexperienced seaweed within the paddling pool to the delight of neighbourhood children.

Views down the harbour observe previous the fashionable waterfront complicated and take within the turrets of the outdated city and Copenhagen Metropolis Corridor within the distance. The swimming pool, as with Copenhagen’s different floating swimming pools, is fabricated from wooden and constructed on floating pontoons, and has chilly water showers to scrub off the salt after a dip. Benches across the exterior are positioned at totally different ranges, permitting guests to sprawl out, sunbathe and benefit from the boat-like lilting motion of the water beneath the deck.

Immediately throughout the harbour from the Islands Brygge swimming pool, the looping waves of Kalvebod Bølge announce it as a special type of place to play. This undulating wood boardwalk, designed by JDS Architects to carry a bit life to this office-heavy stretch of the harbour, was created as a playful spot for kayakers. Underneath its curves, it hides a kayak lodge together with a kayak slide and kayak polo space, with an outside city gymnasium on the highest. Subsequent to it, a cordoned off space beckons swimmers.

Behind a row of yellow buoys, shielded from the boat site visitors on this a part of the harbour, swimmers of all ages benefit from the clear harbour water always of yr. An digital data board displays water high quality, and on heat days, espresso carts line the pavement and promenade close by.

A floating hexagonal wood pool, designed so it may be moved across the harbour, can also be often docked right here. This construction is very helpful for these eager to take a fast dip in winter – a real Copenhagen pastime. Actually, there’s life within the water right here all yr spherical; simply close by, an city mussel farm serves a twin goal: offering meals and serving to to maintain the water clear.

Town’s latest swimming spot is within the ultra-desirable neighbourhood of Nordhavn, house to a few of Copenhagen’s most forward-thinking architectural practices. Right here, neglected by the award-winning UN constructing and the lighthouse-like Tip of Nordø constructing, and surrounded by decks positioned to benefit from the solar, Sandkaj swimming zone is busy with bathers.

On a sunny day, all comers can swim within the swimming pools marked by the yellow buoys, plunge into the dipping zone and calm down beside the water in Nordhavn’s Århusgade quarter, which is lined with cafes and has an city beach-style vibe. Boardwalks result in the stunning native swimming membership, a cluster of wood buildings floating within the harbour providing someplace to alter in addition to a sauna for members.

The membership affords seasonal swim periods, together with a full moon swim as soon as a month. The group that run this swimming membership are additionally accountable for one other of Nordhavn’s distinctive play areas: the general public rooftop playground and outside gymnasium facility on high of a multi-storey automotive park, Konditaget Lüders.

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