Kids here grow up swimming in the harbor. In summer that means jumping off wooden decks into the harbor baths. The rest of the year, the indoor swim centers take over with shallow teaching pools, slides and diving boards. These are the pools and harbor baths we've checked, indoor and out, with what each one suits and when it's open.
A marked-off stretch of Nordhavn harbor where swimming is allowed, with platforms that give access to the water, a small diving platform and two 60-meter swim lanes.
Inside the zone sits a dipping pool: a 4 by 6 meter basin with a solid floor about 0.95 meters deep, which the city calls a good fit for kids in summer. The sauna and changing rooms are for Nordhavn IF members only.
Kalvebod Bølge is a wooden boardwalk that rises and dips in waves along the harbor, designed by JDS Architects and Urban Agency. Its swim zone is a marked stretch of the harbor with direct access to the water.
Inside the zone sits a small dip pool with a fixed bottom, 3 by 3 meters and about 1.2 meters deep, which the city calls suited to kids in summer.
A harbor bath built into the canals of Sluseholmen, with four pools in the harbor water: a 25-meter lap pool, a 5-meter-deep diving pool with platforms at 1.5 and 3 meters, a play pool about 1.1 meters deep, and a shallow children's pool. The angled wooden decks double as sunbathing spots.
A harbor pool built out over the water at Kalvebod Brygge, beside the Fisketorvet shopping center. It has a 50-meter lap pool, a 5-meter-deep diving pool with platforms at 1, 2 and 3 meters, and a shallow pool for small children.
Kids swim in the harbor water itself, and the bath has been open since 2002. Freshwater showers run in summer.
An open-air harbor bath on wooden decks off the Islands Brygge quay, open since 2002. Four pools sit side by side: a toddler pool 0.1 to 0.7 m deep, a play pool 1.2 m deep, a 75 m lap pool, and a 5 m deep diving pool with platforms at 1, 3 and 5 m.
It suits families with swimmers best; non-swimmers stay in the two shallow pools.
A city-run swim center with three indoor pools. The 25m fun pool has a slide, a current channel, a grotto with a waterfall, massage jets and a small lifeguard tower to play on, and runs 0.9m to 2m deep. Toddlers get a 40cm-deep splash pool kept at 29°C.
Upstairs, a 34°C warm-water pool and saunas are the quiet zone: no jumping, tag or toys.
Øbro-Hallen opened in 1930 as Denmark's first public swimming hall. Its 25-meter, six-lane main pool has 1 and 3-meter springboards and a diving tower with 5 and 10-meter platforms at the deep end. A shallow teaching pool and a warm baby pool suit younger swimmers, and adults get a communal sauna and a roof terrace.
A city-run swimming center with three indoor pools: a 50m pool with eight lanes, a 25m diving pool 3.8m deep with 1m, 3m and 5m boards, and a shallow teaching pool, 0.8m deep and kept warmer than the others, for beginners.
A small lifeguard tower lets kids play at rescue skills. The outdoor Bellahøj Friluftsbad sits right next door for summer swims.
Vandkulturhuset is the swimming hall inside DGI Byen, close to Central Station. It has five pools: a sports pool up to 1.8 m deep, Ellipsen, a ring of water around it, the 3.8 m-deep Fjeldsøen, and two warm pools, Indsøen at 32°C (from 0.2 m deep, with a spa) and Gryden at 34°C. There is a lifeguard station, a separate sauna house, and swim lessons from babies to age 12.
Kids here grow up swimming in the harbor. In summer that means jumping off wooden decks into the harbor baths. The rest of the year, the indoor swim centers take over with shallow teaching pools, slides and diving boards. These are the pools and harbor baths we've checked, indoor and out, with what each one suits and when it's open.
A marked-off stretch of Nordhavn harbor where swimming is allowed, with platforms that give access to the water, a small diving platform and two 60-meter swim lanes.
Inside the zone sits a dipping pool: a 4 by 6 meter basin with a solid floor about 0.95 meters deep, which the city calls a good fit for kids in summer. The sauna and changing rooms are for Nordhavn IF members only.
Kalvebod Bølge is a wooden boardwalk that rises and dips in waves along the harbor, designed by JDS Architects and Urban Agency. Its swim zone is a marked stretch of the harbor with direct access to the water.
Inside the zone sits a small dip pool with a fixed bottom, 3 by 3 meters and about 1.2 meters deep, which the city calls suited to kids in summer.
A harbor bath built into the canals of Sluseholmen, with four pools in the harbor water: a 25-meter lap pool, a 5-meter-deep diving pool with platforms at 1.5 and 3 meters, a play pool about 1.1 meters deep, and a shallow children's pool. The angled wooden decks double as sunbathing spots.
A harbor pool built out over the water at Kalvebod Brygge, beside the Fisketorvet shopping center. It has a 50-meter lap pool, a 5-meter-deep diving pool with platforms at 1, 2 and 3 meters, and a shallow pool for small children.
Kids swim in the harbor water itself, and the bath has been open since 2002. Freshwater showers run in summer.
An open-air harbor bath on wooden decks off the Islands Brygge quay, open since 2002. Four pools sit side by side: a toddler pool 0.1 to 0.7 m deep, a play pool 1.2 m deep, a 75 m lap pool, and a 5 m deep diving pool with platforms at 1, 3 and 5 m.
It suits families with swimmers best; non-swimmers stay in the two shallow pools.
A city-run swim center with three indoor pools. The 25m fun pool has a slide, a current channel, a grotto with a waterfall, massage jets and a small lifeguard tower to play on, and runs 0.9m to 2m deep. Toddlers get a 40cm-deep splash pool kept at 29°C.
Upstairs, a 34°C warm-water pool and saunas are the quiet zone: no jumping, tag or toys.
Øbro-Hallen opened in 1930 as Denmark's first public swimming hall. Its 25-meter, six-lane main pool has 1 and 3-meter springboards and a diving tower with 5 and 10-meter platforms at the deep end. A shallow teaching pool and a warm baby pool suit younger swimmers, and adults get a communal sauna and a roof terrace.
A city-run swimming center with three indoor pools: a 50m pool with eight lanes, a 25m diving pool 3.8m deep with 1m, 3m and 5m boards, and a shallow teaching pool, 0.8m deep and kept warmer than the others, for beginners.
A small lifeguard tower lets kids play at rescue skills. The outdoor Bellahøj Friluftsbad sits right next door for summer swims.
Vandkulturhuset is the swimming hall inside DGI Byen, close to Central Station. It has five pools: a sports pool up to 1.8 m deep, Ellipsen, a ring of water around it, the 3.8 m-deep Fjeldsøen, and two warm pools, Indsøen at 32°C (from 0.2 m deep, with a spa) and Gryden at 34°C. There is a lifeguard station, a separate sauna house, and swim lessons from babies to age 12.
