Jægersborg Dyrehave is not your typical day trip from Copenhagen. Don’t expect grand castles, museums, or postcard-perfect old towns. Come here for a real dose of nature instead: forested hills that make you forget you’re in one of the flattest countries in the world, deer gazing and running nearby, and beautiful views across the Øresund—even all the way to Sweden in good weather.
Let me walk you through our day trip at Jægersborg Dyrehave, and also some thoughts about this unique nature park and what you can find here.
If you’re a nature lover, and you’re looking to find a good idea of how to spend a day outside the city during your Copenhagen stay, definitely consider Jægersborg Dyrehave near Klampenborg.
A Short Story of Jægersborg Dyrehave
Jægersborg Dyrehave—literally “Hunter’s Castle Deer Park”—is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site and sits just north of Copenhagen, right next to the world’s oldest amusement park. In fact, Bakken (the old amusement park) is part of the same green escape, that used to be the playground of Danish royalty.
Between 1670 and 1777, the park was used for parforce hunting by the king. The idea was dramatic and highly choreographed: riders, dogs, and a carefully planned route through the forest. It’s hard to imagine that kind of spectacle when you’re strolling here today—especially because the atmosphere is so calm.
The deer you see roaming freely now are descendants of the animals that once lived here under very different circumstances. And that’s the charm of Dyrehaven today: it’s not a zoo, not a fenced-in nature experience, but a living landscape where you peacefully share the space with wildlife.
It was also here where the first soccer match on Danish soil was played in 1897. But over time, Dyrehaven turned into what it is now: a royal forest that has been open to the public since 1756.
But let me share with you our day trip from the capital to this beautiful park.
How to Get to Jægersborg Dyrehave
Jægersborg Dyrehave is located about 18 km or 11 miles north of Copenhagen. We took the train to Helsingør from the city center up to Klampenborg, and continued with bus line #388 from there for a couple of stops.
When we finally got off at Springforbivej (Strandvejen), we couldn’t help but check out the wild coastline first. This section is not part of the deer park, but it connects to it organically. We didn’t spend more than 10 minutes here, but walking along the coast and looking through the sleepy trees and bushes and out to the foggy sound just set the tone for the rest of the day.
Check out this interactive map to have a sense of where Jægersborg Dyrehave, and other venues mentioned in this article are located:
Café Tvendehus on the Way
Honestly, we just wanted to find a public bathroom before entering the park, and that’s when we also found this lovely café, called Tvendehus, in the middle of nature.
But first things first. Yes, there is a public restroom just outside Jægersborg Dyrehave, next to the bus stop we got off at, just beside a huge parking area. And it’s free, as most public bathrooms are in Denmark.
With this problem out of the way, we checked out the beautiful old house that happened to be a nice café that’s definitely worth visiting when you’re here.
Even this close to Copenhagen, this eating house had a charming countryside vibe to it that you only expect from rural Denmark. We only tried their coffee this time, but the pastries and the sandwiches also looked super delicious. I think it’s a good idea to plan a light lunch here, I’m sure all of their food is excellent. You know, sometimes you can just judge it by the look of the food and the vibe of the place.
Deer on the Road
After a short break at the lovely café, we continued our way under the railway and into the park.
The way you can get into the park is through a huge fenced gate. But that’s only there to keep the animals inside, and you can enter freely. And once you enter the gate, you’re instantly inside the park that I’d describe more as a forest than a park. Imagine a huge public forest of around 1100 hectares or 4.25 square miles. That’s an immense size for a deer park, but that’s how it is in Denmark.
You’re free to stroll here all day long, watch golfers out on the course, and stumble upon some deer running around the park a few hundred yards away. Yes, the golf course is inside the park, so I guess those deer could someday stomp over the carefully manicured greens. But I digress.
It’s basically up to you what you do here. Other than spending a pleasant weekend afternoon with friends, family, or kids, it’s also a very popular cycling route, and some folks are jogging around the park. We walked back to Klampenborg, but that was a good 7 km or 4.35 mile walk through the meadows and forests of Jægersborg Dyrehave.
Once here, you definitely have to see the Hermitage Palace (Ermitageslottet). This 18th-century Baroque hunting lodge, built in 1734–36, sits in the middle of a great meadow, on a hill that can be considered of extreme heights by Danish standards. I’m obviously just kidding, but don’t forget you’re in a country with its highest elevation of only 170 m (560 ft). But I digress again.
This is where we saw the deer. We could get somewhat close to them, but they were feeding in an area where you were not supposed to go next to them. Just to leave them eat peacefully.
Beautiful Hilly Landscape
On our way back to Klampenborg, we could also spot a huge group of deer, but they were much farther away, so it didn’t create that same feeling of being close to them.
The route back to the railroad station is more hilly and more forested. Here is where I sometimes had the feeling of being in another country, and not the extremely flat Denmark. I guess the heyday of this part of the park is the old oak tree, The forester’s oak, said to date back to the 1200s.
All in all, this day was a beautiful escape from the big city life of Copenhagen. We got here in around 40 minutes from the city center, but it still felt like being in a completely different world. We definitely recharged our batteries and went back to everyday life feeling refreshed the next day.
Note: The pictures are from early March when we visited the park. It’s even more beautiful in summer and early fall.
