Denmark has invented a new word: Danish Wheelness. The idea? Combine hygge With six kilometers of cycling a day and you have the recipe for happiness. That's what they claim. VisitDenmark in the run-up to World Happiness Day on March 20. “People don’t ride bicycles because they are happy. They are happy because they ride bicycles,” says Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute.
Six kilometers a day. Sympathetic. But let’s be honest: if you’re reading this, you’re more likely to think of 120 km with a headwind over a Danish bridge than of a short ride to the bakery. And that’s where it gets interesting. Behind the marketing banner of Danish Wheelness lies a cycling country that has seriously built up its sporting profile in recent years. With more than 16,000 km of signposted cycling routes, a brand new WorldTour competition (Copenhagen Sprint) and islands, like Funen, where gravel and asphalt constantly alternate.
The figures support this. Danes make about 2.2 million bike trips every day, which is equivalent to 8 million kilometers per day. That’s almost 200 laps around the Earth. Arts and professor Bente Klarlund Pedersen puts it this way: “When you cycle and pedal, your muscles convert stress-related substances into harmless forms. Cycling works like a natural antidepressant.”
The Ice Age Route – 400 km across Zealand
Those looking for a more challenging multi-day adventure will quickly find themselves drawn to the Ice Age Route. This route stretches for 390 kilometers through Sjælland (Seeland), characterized by landscapes formed by glaciers more than 20,000 years ago. Think of the UNESCO Geopark Odsherred, it Skjoldungernes Land National Park and the valley by Elverdamsdalen with the last working watermill in the region.
Four, five days, depending on your pace and how many stops you make. Along the way you pass by Hegnsholt Farm Shop at Lejre for organic coffee and sandwiches, right on the route. You pass by things like that along the way.
Copenhagen Sprint – the Tour legacy lives on
Who are our stories about the Tour start in 2022 has read, knows how Denmark sold itself to the cycling world at that time. The chaos on the Storebælt Bridge, The sidewind, Fabio Jakobsen winning the sprint in Nyborg. That wasn't a one-time event.
The sequel is called Copenhagen Sprint, The , an international one-day race with UCI WorldTour status for both men and women. In the inaugural edition of 2025, the route started at the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, this one went through Northern Zealand via Hillerød and Humlebæk, an end with five technical rounds of 10 km through the center of Copenhagen. In the inaugural edition of 2025, Jordi Meeus won after a chaotic sprint in which Dylan Groenewegen entered too early.
The race awards equal prize money to the women's and men's races. And for those who want to cycle themselves: the course through Northern Zealand partly overlaps with the Castle Route 48, that Kronborg Castle (yes, Hamlet) connects with Frederiksborg Castle through the UNESCO-protected hunting landscape Par Force. It just drives nicely.
Fyn – castles, gravel and smørrebrød
And then Fyn. The island that is itself Bike Island names and that in 2017 as one of the first regions UCI Bike Region-label. Anyone who knows our previous stories about Bike Island Fyn knows that Denmark looks more beautiful than it drives.
Of Castle route (Herregårdsruten) is the highlight: a mix of asphalt and decent gravel along 123 castles and manor houses, with farm stalls along the way. Svanninge Bakker, by locals Alps of Fyn As mentioned, the slopes are up to 5%. Not terribly steep. But enough to tire your legs after a day in the wind.
The peninsula Helnæs It deserves a detour. A wavy path of one and a half kilometers, surrounded on both sides by the sea, leads you to a small island of only 19 km². As we wrote in our story about the rides with Andrea and Maks: those kinds of moments are what you remember.
Fyn has more than 200 Bike Friends, local stations with repair kits, pumps and water. Handy if you’re halfway through the Castle Route with an empty water bottle.
Base camps and the art of the after-ride
The Danish after-ride revolves around smørrebrød and good coffee. In Odense is Kong Volmer the place for hearty open sandwiches in a historic building. On the coast Faaborg the Røgeri Café in the harbor, perfect for fish after a hilly ride. And for those who want it bigger: Stella Maris in Svendborg serves ten-course menus with views over the Svendborgersund.
For overnight stays: Hotel Knudsens Gaard In Odense you can take your bike into the room. In Nyborg offers Hotel Hesselet a view of that same Storebælt bridge over which the peloton flew in 2022. And in Middelfart You look from the Comwell Kongebrogaarden out over the Lillebælt Bridge, cycling next to your bed.
Practical: There are direct trains from Hamburg to Odense en Copenhagen. Anyone who travels by car pays about €37 in toll for the crossing of the river. Great Belt Bridge between Jutland and Sjælland.
Even more routes to keep an eye on
In addition to the Ice Age Route and Fyn, VisitDenmark also mentions a handful of other routes that are worth exploring:
- Panoramic Route 421 on Møn, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve to the white cliffs
- Big Five on Fanø, 37 km along the five highest dunes on the island
- Best of the West in Jutland, along wide beaches and the lighthouse of Rubjerg Knude
- East Sea Cycle Route N8, 820 km in an arc through Southern Denmark and the UNESCO town Christiansfeld
VisitDenmark promotes this concept as Danish wheelness. Do you know any Danish routes we still need to drive, or do you have a favorite smørrebrød stop? We would love to hear from you!
Questions & tips
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