Playgrounds here are built to be climbed: wooden towers, themed climbing frames, trampolines and nature play areas with rocks, logs and sand. These are the parks and playgrounds we'd send a friend to, from big green spaces for a picnic to small corner playgrounds for a run-around before dinner. Most are free and open all year, so pack a rain jacket and go.
Kalvebod Fælled is a 20-square-kilometer nature reserve on Amager, home to deer, horses, sheep, cows and many birds. Naturcenter Amager is its base: rangers share ideas for the day, and the visitor house rents bikes, binoculars and campfire gear.
Near the center, the Himmelhøj nature playground has a 50-meter ark with mazes, stages and a fire pit, plus an insect forest of tall black trunks to hunt through.
Dyrehaven is a former royal hunting forest, now a UNESCO World Heritage site, where about 300 red deer and 1,600 fallow deer roam free. Herds of several hundred graze the open Eremitage plain below a hilltop hunting lodge.
Cars are banned, so the wide roads suit strollers and bikes. In the hilly Ulvedalene, kids climb inside a hollow oak worn smooth by generations of play.
ByOasen is a staffed playground and city farm inside De Gamles By, shared with the older people who live there. Kids get close to goats, hens, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, insects and a snake, and can help the staff look after the animals.
There are raised beds, an outdoor kitchen, a greenhouse built from recycled plastic, a large heated orangery, a zip line and a big outdoor stage.
A train-themed playground in Grøndalsparken, on the north side of Femte Juni Plads and right up against the S-train line.
Younger kids play at the station and platform, climb on the rails and take the driver's seat of the train. Older kids get a tall climbing frame with balance sections, a slide and a view of the passing S-trains. A rubber mound gives parents a place to sit and watch.
A stretch of the harbor promenade on Havnegade, between Nyhavn and Christian IV's Bridge, with a row of trampolines and a ball cage for a kickabout. Kids bounce with the water right beside them, and tables and benches line the promenade for a packed lunch.
It works best as a stop on a walk along the harbor rather than a whole afternoon out.
Konditaget Lüders is a 2,400 m² public rooftop on top of the Lüders parking garage, 24 meters above the Nordhavn harbor front. Kids climb a spiral, bounce on trampolines and ride swings, while parents can use the crossgym rigs, TRX straps, box jumps and a 60-meter sprint track. The stairs up the garage facades double as a running route, and the roof looks over the harbor and the Sound.
A staffed city playground in the middle of Nørrebroparken, known locally as Flyverlegepladsen for its play airplane, ships and big whale. Kids climb, slide, swing (baby swings too), dig in sandpits, ride mooncars and scooters on a bike track, and play ball or table tennis.
Inside the yellow playhouse there are board games, crafts, aquarium fish and stick insects. Staff run activities and lend out the bonfire pit.
A fenced playground in Enghaveparken with a spider climbing net, a zip line, a small ball court, sandpits, a fire pit and bike tracks that wind around the equipment. Staff run it and lend out pedal cars, balls and toys.
The playhouse has a toddler room with a play kitchen and a room for older kids with foosball, table tennis and board games.
Skydebanehaven, also called the Parrot Playground, is a staffed playground filling a tree-lined garden among dense apartment blocks. The star is a giant, brightly colored parrot with a wide slide and tiny "bullet holes", a nod to the shooting range here until 1946.
Around it: a big sandpit with three playhouses, a zip line, a spider climbing net, a carousel, hammocks and an artificial-turf soccer field.
A staffed city playground on the green ramparts of Christianshavns Vold. The toddler area has swings, spring riders, a playhouse, a slide and a sandpit with toys; older kids get a play ship, zip line, climbing frames and ball courts for soccer, basketball and badminton.
Inside the playhouse kids draw and play board games, and a bug-hunting area comes with loaner magnifying glasses.
A fenced, staffed playground inside Ørstedsparken, said to be Copenhagen's second-oldest public playground (from 1890). It is built mostly for younger kids: sandbox, play tower, climbing frame, swings, slide and a mini soccer field, plus table tennis, foosball, hockey and basketball. While staff are on site, kids can borrow balls, chalk, stilts, bikes and moon cars, and join activities around the campfire spot.
A long strip of lawn along the harbor on Islands Brygge, with views across the water between Langebro and Bryggebroen. The south end has a fenced playground for small children, with a rope bridge, a balance course and willow-planted mounds for hide-and-seek and tag.
Older kids get a roller and skate rink with street basketball at the north end, plus a sand beach volleyball court and petanque courts.
Amager Fælled is a former military training ground turned protected nature area of meadows, scrub, marsh and lakes. Highland cattle and Exmoor ponies graze here, roe deer raise their fawns, and frogs croak loudly in spring.
Kids can fly kites, build dens from branches, and climb the three hills for a view of the city center. In winter the hills are good for sledding.
Copenhagen's largest nature playground covers 23,500 m² inside Valbyparken. A circular boardwalk links a hilly landscape, a snail mound, a flower garden and five themed towers.
Kids climb trees, explore thickets and dens, dig in sandboxes and borrow tricycles, balls and nature-study kits. There is also a slide, a fire pit, beach volleyball, table tennis and tennis courts, and staff run activities open to everyone.
Copenhagen's largest park mixes wide lawns with 17 theme gardens, including a rose garden of 6,500 plants and the H.C. Andersen Oriental Garden. Kids head for the city's biggest nature playground at the north end, or the smaller one by the café. A 120-meter sandy beach on the water has changing rooms and outdoor showers, and the woods and lake shelter frogs, bats and kingfishers.
Superkilen is a wedge-shaped public space designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, Superflex and Topotek1, split into three zones. The Red Square has sports areas and a café, the Black Market is a square with a fountain and benches, and the Green Park has lawns for picnics and ball games.
Objects from around the world fill it, including a black octopus slide from Japan, swings from Iraq and a Moroccan fountain.
Botanisk Have is a historic garden of about 10,000 plant species, run by the Natural History Museum Denmark. Paths wind past a lake with a deck, a rock garden and Observatory Hill, with a view of the city's spires.
The Victorian cast-iron Palm House holds giant bamboo, mangroves and carnivorous plants, and its Butterfly House has colorful butterflies among passion flowers and pineapple plants.
Kastellet is a five-pointed star fortress from the 1660s, still a working military base and one of the best preserved in Northern Europe. A path runs along the top of the grassy ramparts, looking down on the moat, the long rows of old soldiers' barracks and the Citadel Church.
On the King's Bastion stands Kastelsmøllen, a windmill from 1847 and the city's last working mill.
Søndermarken is a romantic landscape park from the 1700s, with winding paths, a lake, wide lawns and a preserved Norwegian log cabin. Its big draw sits underground: Cisternerne, the city's old water reservoir, now a dim, echoing art space with stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Kids walk down through a glass pyramid into three cold, cavernous rooms. Copenhagen Zoo's main entrance is just across Roskildevej.
Frederiksberg Gardens is a 32-hectare romantic landscape garden laid out around Frederiksberg Palace, which sits on the hill above it. Winding paths follow lakes and canals past small islands, a waterfall and a Chinese summerhouse built as a royal teahouse.
Kids can spot herons, swans and geese, picnic on the lawns, and in summer take a rowed boat tour on the canals. Copenhagen Zoo borders the gardens.
Laid out in the early 1600s as the kitchen garden of Rosenborg Castle, this is Denmark's oldest royal garden. Today its lawns fill with picnics and games on sunny days.
Kids head for the fairytale playground and, in summer, a traditional puppet theater. Tree-lined avenues lead past a rose garden, fountains, the Hercules Pavilion and a statue of Hans Christian Andersen.
The city's only water playground, run by the City of Copenhagen inside Fælledparken. Kids fire water cannons and make a cloud rain down on them, and there is a wading pool alongside.
It suits a hot afternoon with kids who are happy to get soaked. Bring a change of clothes and a towel.
Trafiklegepladsen is a staffed public playground built as a kid-sized town, with little roads, bike lanes, traffic lights, road signs, zebra crossings and a mini gas station. Kids practice cycling and traffic rules on loaner bikes and balance bikes, or on their own. A small fenced track with tricycles suits the youngest.
At the other end are swings, a climbing net and a big sandbox with buckets and toy cars.
Tårnlegepladsen is a staffed playground in Fælledparken built around play-size copies of Copenhagen's landmark towers, linked by walkways and slides. Around them sit a sand and plank building area, an artificial-turf pitch, a fire pit and electronic birds to catch.
The playhouse, run by play staff during opening hours, has drop-in games, crafts and room to tumble indoors. A large scooter track runs alongside.
Fælledparken is the city's second largest park, laid out on old common land. Kids get two standout playgrounds: a traffic playground with road signs, traffic lights and bike paths, and the Tower Playground, built around five of the city's best-known towers.
Older kids head for the skatepark, one of the largest in Northern Europe. A 3.5 km path loops past lawns, mature trees and a lakeside flower garden.
Playgrounds here are built to be climbed: wooden towers, themed climbing frames, trampolines and nature play areas with rocks, logs and sand. These are the parks and playgrounds we'd send a friend to, from big green spaces for a picnic to small corner playgrounds for a run-around before dinner. Most are free and open all year, so pack a rain jacket and go.
Kalvebod Fælled is a 20-square-kilometer nature reserve on Amager, home to deer, horses, sheep, cows and many birds. Naturcenter Amager is its base: rangers share ideas for the day, and the visitor house rents bikes, binoculars and campfire gear.
Near the center, the Himmelhøj nature playground has a 50-meter ark with mazes, stages and a fire pit, plus an insect forest of tall black trunks to hunt through.
Dyrehaven is a former royal hunting forest, now a UNESCO World Heritage site, where about 300 red deer and 1,600 fallow deer roam free. Herds of several hundred graze the open Eremitage plain below a hilltop hunting lodge.
Cars are banned, so the wide roads suit strollers and bikes. In the hilly Ulvedalene, kids climb inside a hollow oak worn smooth by generations of play.
ByOasen is a staffed playground and city farm inside De Gamles By, shared with the older people who live there. Kids get close to goats, hens, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, insects and a snake, and can help the staff look after the animals.
There are raised beds, an outdoor kitchen, a greenhouse built from recycled plastic, a large heated orangery, a zip line and a big outdoor stage.
A train-themed playground in Grøndalsparken, on the north side of Femte Juni Plads and right up against the S-train line.
Younger kids play at the station and platform, climb on the rails and take the driver's seat of the train. Older kids get a tall climbing frame with balance sections, a slide and a view of the passing S-trains. A rubber mound gives parents a place to sit and watch.
A stretch of the harbor promenade on Havnegade, between Nyhavn and Christian IV's Bridge, with a row of trampolines and a ball cage for a kickabout. Kids bounce with the water right beside them, and tables and benches line the promenade for a packed lunch.
It works best as a stop on a walk along the harbor rather than a whole afternoon out.
Konditaget Lüders is a 2,400 m² public rooftop on top of the Lüders parking garage, 24 meters above the Nordhavn harbor front. Kids climb a spiral, bounce on trampolines and ride swings, while parents can use the crossgym rigs, TRX straps, box jumps and a 60-meter sprint track. The stairs up the garage facades double as a running route, and the roof looks over the harbor and the Sound.
A staffed city playground in the middle of Nørrebroparken, known locally as Flyverlegepladsen for its play airplane, ships and big whale. Kids climb, slide, swing (baby swings too), dig in sandpits, ride mooncars and scooters on a bike track, and play ball or table tennis.
Inside the yellow playhouse there are board games, crafts, aquarium fish and stick insects. Staff run activities and lend out the bonfire pit.
A fenced playground in Enghaveparken with a spider climbing net, a zip line, a small ball court, sandpits, a fire pit and bike tracks that wind around the equipment. Staff run it and lend out pedal cars, balls and toys.
The playhouse has a toddler room with a play kitchen and a room for older kids with foosball, table tennis and board games.
Skydebanehaven, also called the Parrot Playground, is a staffed playground filling a tree-lined garden among dense apartment blocks. The star is a giant, brightly colored parrot with a wide slide and tiny "bullet holes", a nod to the shooting range here until 1946.
Around it: a big sandpit with three playhouses, a zip line, a spider climbing net, a carousel, hammocks and an artificial-turf soccer field.
A staffed city playground on the green ramparts of Christianshavns Vold. The toddler area has swings, spring riders, a playhouse, a slide and a sandpit with toys; older kids get a play ship, zip line, climbing frames and ball courts for soccer, basketball and badminton.
Inside the playhouse kids draw and play board games, and a bug-hunting area comes with loaner magnifying glasses.
A fenced, staffed playground inside Ørstedsparken, said to be Copenhagen's second-oldest public playground (from 1890). It is built mostly for younger kids: sandbox, play tower, climbing frame, swings, slide and a mini soccer field, plus table tennis, foosball, hockey and basketball. While staff are on site, kids can borrow balls, chalk, stilts, bikes and moon cars, and join activities around the campfire spot.
A long strip of lawn along the harbor on Islands Brygge, with views across the water between Langebro and Bryggebroen. The south end has a fenced playground for small children, with a rope bridge, a balance course and willow-planted mounds for hide-and-seek and tag.
Older kids get a roller and skate rink with street basketball at the north end, plus a sand beach volleyball court and petanque courts.
Amager Fælled is a former military training ground turned protected nature area of meadows, scrub, marsh and lakes. Highland cattle and Exmoor ponies graze here, roe deer raise their fawns, and frogs croak loudly in spring.
Kids can fly kites, build dens from branches, and climb the three hills for a view of the city center. In winter the hills are good for sledding.
Copenhagen's largest nature playground covers 23,500 m² inside Valbyparken. A circular boardwalk links a hilly landscape, a snail mound, a flower garden and five themed towers.
Kids climb trees, explore thickets and dens, dig in sandboxes and borrow tricycles, balls and nature-study kits. There is also a slide, a fire pit, beach volleyball, table tennis and tennis courts, and staff run activities open to everyone.
Copenhagen's largest park mixes wide lawns with 17 theme gardens, including a rose garden of 6,500 plants and the H.C. Andersen Oriental Garden. Kids head for the city's biggest nature playground at the north end, or the smaller one by the café. A 120-meter sandy beach on the water has changing rooms and outdoor showers, and the woods and lake shelter frogs, bats and kingfishers.
Superkilen is a wedge-shaped public space designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, Superflex and Topotek1, split into three zones. The Red Square has sports areas and a café, the Black Market is a square with a fountain and benches, and the Green Park has lawns for picnics and ball games.
Objects from around the world fill it, including a black octopus slide from Japan, swings from Iraq and a Moroccan fountain.
Botanisk Have is a historic garden of about 10,000 plant species, run by the Natural History Museum Denmark. Paths wind past a lake with a deck, a rock garden and Observatory Hill, with a view of the city's spires.
The Victorian cast-iron Palm House holds giant bamboo, mangroves and carnivorous plants, and its Butterfly House has colorful butterflies among passion flowers and pineapple plants.
Kastellet is a five-pointed star fortress from the 1660s, still a working military base and one of the best preserved in Northern Europe. A path runs along the top of the grassy ramparts, looking down on the moat, the long rows of old soldiers' barracks and the Citadel Church.
On the King's Bastion stands Kastelsmøllen, a windmill from 1847 and the city's last working mill.
Søndermarken is a romantic landscape park from the 1700s, with winding paths, a lake, wide lawns and a preserved Norwegian log cabin. Its big draw sits underground: Cisternerne, the city's old water reservoir, now a dim, echoing art space with stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Kids walk down through a glass pyramid into three cold, cavernous rooms. Copenhagen Zoo's main entrance is just across Roskildevej.
Frederiksberg Gardens is a 32-hectare romantic landscape garden laid out around Frederiksberg Palace, which sits on the hill above it. Winding paths follow lakes and canals past small islands, a waterfall and a Chinese summerhouse built as a royal teahouse.
Kids can spot herons, swans and geese, picnic on the lawns, and in summer take a rowed boat tour on the canals. Copenhagen Zoo borders the gardens.
Laid out in the early 1600s as the kitchen garden of Rosenborg Castle, this is Denmark's oldest royal garden. Today its lawns fill with picnics and games on sunny days.
Kids head for the fairytale playground and, in summer, a traditional puppet theater. Tree-lined avenues lead past a rose garden, fountains, the Hercules Pavilion and a statue of Hans Christian Andersen.
The city's only water playground, run by the City of Copenhagen inside Fælledparken. Kids fire water cannons and make a cloud rain down on them, and there is a wading pool alongside.
It suits a hot afternoon with kids who are happy to get soaked. Bring a change of clothes and a towel.
Trafiklegepladsen is a staffed public playground built as a kid-sized town, with little roads, bike lanes, traffic lights, road signs, zebra crossings and a mini gas station. Kids practice cycling and traffic rules on loaner bikes and balance bikes, or on their own. A small fenced track with tricycles suits the youngest.
At the other end are swings, a climbing net and a big sandbox with buckets and toy cars.
Tårnlegepladsen is a staffed playground in Fælledparken built around play-size copies of Copenhagen's landmark towers, linked by walkways and slides. Around them sit a sand and plank building area, an artificial-turf pitch, a fire pit and electronic birds to catch.
The playhouse, run by play staff during opening hours, has drop-in games, crafts and room to tumble indoors. A large scooter track runs alongside.
Fælledparken is the city's second largest park, laid out on old common land. Kids get two standout playgrounds: a traffic playground with road signs, traffic lights and bike paths, and the Tower Playground, built around five of the city's best-known towers.
Older kids head for the skatepark, one of the largest in Northern Europe. A 3.5 km path loops past lawns, mature trees and a lakeside flower garden.
