What to do for a family holiday when the children have grown too old for Center Parcs? One option is to graduate to Denmark, where the countryside is beautiful - and there are plenty of bicycles to go around. A pedal-powered trip along the ‘Danish Riviera’ - those miles of unspoilt coastline that stretch along the north of Zealand island - is Center Parcs with knobs on. Pedal power: The cycle paths of the Danish Riviera are a fine destination for a family summer holiday . Or, perhaps, being Danish, that should be ‘with knøbs on’. Maybe it is because so many parts of Britain have become wretchedly overpopulated, but it comes as a delightful shock to be in a country where there seem to be so few people. We could cycle for 30 minutes down coastal tracks and forest trails, and not meet a soul. One morning, the only person we see is a man from the local council on a motor-mower, as he prettifies our route. And what a pretty route it is. The upper Zealand coast - from Helsingør in the east (where Kronborg Castle was immortalised by Shakespeare as the home of Hamlet) to the fishing town of Hundested in the west - is utterly gorgeous. Fresh air and wide horizons: The Danish Riviera specialises in quiet beaches and Scandinavian charm . Our family itinerary is a perfect arrangement of self-led routes, tailor-made to be the right length for all ages and abilities - stuffed with sights and food-stop opportunities. Very quickly, we are able to confirm the observation in that waspishly accurate book, A Xenophobe’s Guide To The Danes, that cycling to Denmark is what skiing is to Norwegians and driving is to Germans. Not to ride a bicycle is a sign of eccentricity. During our week, we spend two nights in each of three different seaside hotels, cycling a total of about 150 miles - with all luggage transportation taken care of. Our first stop, after an efficient train journey from Copenhagen airport, is the family-run Hotel Villa Brinkly, overlooking the Oresund - the strip of sea which separates Denmark from Sweden, and is just two miles ‘wide’ at its narrowest. After breakfast, we have a get-to-know-you session with our rental bikes. These come fitted with a handy handlebar map-rest, spanners and puncture-repair kit (only required once). Let's do lunch: The Gordon family halted in Hornbaek for - surprisingly inexpensive - fish and chips . We pedal a few miles down the coast to visit a museum detailing the life of the author Karen Blixen, whose colonial memoir Out Of Africa was turned into a film starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. Our second day entails a delightful inland route through woods to the magnificent royal palace of Frederiksborg (‘the Danish Versailles’). After this meandering 26-mile effort, we take the train back to base (the tickets cost 72 krone (£7) each, plus £1.20 per bike) - and set off west the next morning to take in the fishing village of Hornbæk, and miles of empty white-sand beaches. I don’t know why anyone would want to persuade us that this is the ‘Danish St Tropez’ - because nothing could be further removed from that now oligarch-infested French Riviera resort. Apart from the beaches, our route takes us past several freshwater lakes, in which we swim with few other souls in sight. The cliché about Scandinavia is that it is ‘very expensive’. This is not exactly true. Fish and chips at Hornbæk harbour’s Fiskehuset costs a mere £6.40. A palace to be proud of: Frederiksborg has been described - not without reason - as the 'Danish Versailles' Picnics are another treat. A splendid deli called Røgeri in the village of Tikøb even sells guilt-inducing pork scratchings. This leads us to ponder that unsolved conundrum - if the home of Danish bacon has more pigs than people, where on earth are they all? We do not see a single one. We do, however, come across a beautiful Cistercian monastery in Esrum - a religious relic, consecrated in 1151, with a kitchen herb garden. One member of staff is dressed in medieval costume. This sight is capped 15 minutes later when we stop to see if the church in the village of Esbønderup is open. It is. Inside, a young bearded man is sitting at a piano, playing Bach’s Prelude And Fugue from memory. It is hard to sum up the wonder of the region - but a morning visit to the cliff-top home of the Arctic explorer Knud Rasmussen rather encapsulates our trip. This thatched house is now a museum with heart-stirring views out to sea. Like many small places, it only accepts cash or Danish credit cards. Short of krone for the (£5) entrance fee, we cannot go in. But the couple on reception do not want us to be disappointed and let us in for free - then give us a personal guided tour. Two wheels good: Helsingor, one of the key towns on Zealand island, is a lovely place to pause . Our last two days are based at the Helenekilde Badehotel in the seaside village of Tisvildeleje - a soothing reward after a week’s cycling. We flabbergast the locals by going for a pre-breakfast swim. ‘I thought we were supposed to be Vikings - not you wimpy Brits’ one says. The word ‘Viking’ comes from the Old Norse, and refers to ‘an expedition overseas’. With the Vikings having conquered Britain so brutally, it seems apt for us to make the reverse ‘expedition overseas’ some 1,200 years later - to upstage a descendant of those fearless warriors. British Airways (0844 493 0787, www.ba.com) flies to Copenhagen from £93 return. Inntravel (01653 617000, www.inntravel.co.uk) offers a self-guided cycling break on The Danish Riviera from £1,098 pp based on two sharing, including six nights’ B&B, four dinners, luggage transfers, route notes and maps, and 18-gear cycle hire. More information on the Danish Riviera at www.visitnorthsealand.com.
Zealand, the island home of Copenhagen, is a great place for family travel .
The north and west coasts of the island are known as the 'Danish Riviera'
Long cycle paths and little beaches make for a very relaxed destination .
What to do for a family holiday when the children have grown too old for Center Parcs? One option is to graduate to Denmark, where the countryside is beautiful - and there are plenty of bicycles to go around. A pedal-powered trip along the ‘Danish Riviera’ - those miles of unspoilt coastline that stretch along the north of Zealand island - is Center Parcs with knobs on. Pedal power: The cycle paths of the Danish Riviera are a fine destination for a family summer holiday . Or, perhaps, being Danish, that should be ‘with knøbs on’. Maybe it is because so many parts of Britain have become wretchedly overpopulated, but it comes as a delightful shock to be in a country where there seem to be so few people. We could cycle for 30 minutes down coastal tracks and forest trails, and not meet a soul. One morning, the only person we see is a man from the local council on a motor-mower, as he prettifies our route. And what a pretty route it is. The upper Zealand coast - from Helsingør in the east (where Kronborg Castle was immortalised by Shakespeare as the home of Hamlet) to the fishing town of Hundested in the west - is utterly gorgeous. Fresh air and wide horizons: The Danish Riviera specialises in quiet beaches and Scandinavian charm . Our family itinerary is a perfect arrangement of self-led routes, tailor-made to be the right length for all ages and abilities - stuffed with sights and food-stop opportunities. Very quickly, we are able to confirm the observation in that waspishly accurate book, A Xenophobe’s Guide To The Danes, that cycling to Denmark is what skiing is to Norwegians and driving is to Germans. Not to ride a bicycle is a sign of eccentricity. During our week, we spend two nights in each of three different seaside hotels, cycling a total of about 150 miles - with all luggage transportation taken care of. Our first stop, after an efficient train journey from Copenhagen airport, is the family-run Hotel Villa Brinkly, overlooking the Oresund - the strip of sea which separates Denmark from Sweden, and is just two miles ‘wide’ at its narrowest. After breakfast, we have a get-to-know-you session with our rental bikes. These come fitted with a handy handlebar map-rest, spanners and puncture-repair kit (only required once). Let's do lunch: The Gordon family halted in Hornbaek for - surprisingly inexpensive - fish and chips . We pedal a few miles down the coast to visit a museum detailing the life of the author Karen Blixen, whose colonial memoir Out Of Africa was turned into a film starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. Our second day entails a delightful inland route through woods to the magnificent royal palace of Frederiksborg (‘the Danish Versailles’). After this meandering 26-mile effort, we take the train back to base (the tickets cost 72 krone (£7) each, plus £1.20 per bike) - and set off west the next morning to take in the fishing village of Hornbæk, and miles of empty white-sand beaches. I don’t know why anyone would want to persuade us that this is the ‘Danish St Tropez’ - because nothing could be further removed from that now oligarch-infested French Riviera resort. Apart from the beaches, our route takes us past several freshwater lakes, in which we swim with few other souls in sight. The cliché about Scandinavia is that it is ‘very expensive’. This is not exactly true. Fish and chips at Hornbæk harbour’s Fiskehuset costs a mere £6.40. A palace to be proud of: Frederiksborg has been described - not without reason - as the 'Danish Versailles' Picnics are another treat. A splendid deli called Røgeri in the village of Tikøb even sells guilt-inducing pork scratchings. This leads us to ponder that unsolved conundrum - if the home of Danish bacon has more pigs than people, where on earth are they all? We do not see a single one. We do, however, come across a beautiful Cistercian monastery in Esrum - a religious relic, consecrated in 1151, with a kitchen herb garden. One member of staff is dressed in medieval costume. This sight is capped 15 minutes later when we stop to see if the church in the village of Esbønderup is open. It is. Inside, a young bearded man is sitting at a piano, playing Bach’s Prelude And Fugue from memory. It is hard to sum up the wonder of the region - but a morning visit to the cliff-top home of the Arctic explorer Knud Rasmussen rather encapsulates our trip. This thatched house is now a museum with heart-stirring views out to sea. Like many small places, it only accepts cash or Danish credit cards. Short of krone for the (£5) entrance fee, we cannot go in. But the couple on reception do not want us to be disappointed and let us in for free - then give us a personal guided tour. Two wheels good: Helsingor, one of the key towns on Zealand island, is a lovely place to pause . Our last two days are based at the Helenekilde Badehotel in the seaside village of Tisvildeleje - a soothing reward after a week’s cycling. We flabbergast the locals by going for a pre-breakfast swim. ‘I thought we were supposed to be Vikings - not you wimpy Brits’ one says. The word ‘Viking’ comes from the Old Norse, and refers to ‘an expedition overseas’. With the Vikings having conquered Britain so brutally, it seems apt for us to make the reverse ‘expedition overseas’ some 1,200 years later - to upstage a descendant of those fearless warriors. British Airways (0844 493 0787, www.ba.com) flies to Copenhagen from £93 return. Inntravel (01653 617000, www.inntravel.co.uk) offers a self-guided cycling break on The Danish Riviera from £1,098 pp based on two sharing, including six nights’ B&B, four dinners, luggage transfers, route notes and maps, and 18-gear cycle hire. More information on the Danish Riviera at www.visitnorthsealand.com.
power: The cycle paths of the Danish Riviera are a fine destination for a family summer holiday . as the home of Hamlet) to the fishing town of Zealand island, is a lovely place to pause . Our