5 Best Sights in Side Trips from Copenhagen, Denmark

Herds of deer roam freely in the verdant, 2,500-acre Dyrehaven. Once the favored hunting grounds of Danish royals, today the park has become a cherished weekend oasis for Copenhageners. Hiking and biking trails traverse the park, and lush fields beckon nature-seekers and families with picnic baskets. The deer are everywhere; in the less-trafficked regions of the park you may find yourself surrounded by an entire herd of deer delicately stepping through the fields. The park's centerpiece is the copper-top, 17th-century Eremitagen, formerly a royal hunting lodge. It is closed to the public but is sometimes rented for private events. Dyrehaven is a retreat for hikers and bikers, but you can also go in for the royal treatment and enjoy it from the high seat of a horse-drawn carriage. The carriages gather at the park entrance near the station.

Located in the peaceful Dyrehaven, Bakken is the world's oldest amusement park—it opened in 1583!—and one of Denmark's most popular attractions. Here a mostly working-class crowd lunches on hot dogs and cotton candy and, perhaps most importantly, plenty of beer. Tivoli, with its trimmed hedges, dazzling firework displays, and evening concerts, is still Copenhagen's reigning queen, but unpretentious Bakken is unabashedly about having a good time. Bakken has more than 30 rides, from quaint, rickety roller coasters (free of Disney gloss) to newer, faster rides and little-kid favorites such as Kaffekoppen, the Danish version of spinning teacups, where you sit in traditional Royal Copenhagen–style blue-and-white coffee cups.

The residents of Klampenborg are lucky enough to have this pleasant beach nearby. In summer this luck may seem double-edged, when scores of city-weary sunseekers pile out at the Klampenborg S-train station and head for the sand. The Danes have a perfect word for this: they call Bellevue a fluepapir (flypaper) beach. Bellevue is still an appealing seaside spot to soak up some rays. Amenities: lifeguards, showers, toilets. Best for: partiers, swimming.

At a former bottling plant, in the beachside town of Hellerup, more than 300 exhibitions are clustered in various islands, each exploring a different facet of science, technology, and natural phenomena. A dozen hands-on exhibits allow you to do things like blow giant soap bubbles, feel an earthquake, stir up magnetic goop, play ball on a jet stream, and gyrate to gyroscopes. The center also organizes interactive temporary exhibitions. Exhibit texts are in English, so this is a great destination for visitors with inquisitive kids.

About 50 Danish farmhouses and cottages from the period 1650–1950 have been painstakingly dismantled, moved here, reconstructed, and filled with period furniture and tools. Trees, farm animals, and gardens surround the open-air museum; bring lunch and plan to spend the day. It's a very popular excursion for locals from around the capital region. For children, the farm animals and history-theme pantomime performances are the biggest draws.