Northern suburbs, Copenhagen: neighborhood guide

The northern suburbs are a string of former villages and wealthy residential districts running north from Copenhagen along the Øresund coast and inland towards Lyngby, Holte and Farum. Locals usually name them after the nearest S-train station. The area was heavily forested and that heritage survives in its parks, lakes and woods, which is the main reason a visitor comes.

In the early industrial era this was a Sunday excursion destination: trams and trains filled with city dwellers heading for entertainment north of town. Most of those places have closed, but Dyrehavsbakken, the world's oldest still-operating amusement park, remains, next to the horse racing track and Dyrehaven forest. The Mølleå river valley kept some of Denmark's earliest water-powered mills and factories, and many of those buildings still stand in green surroundings.

Since the 1970s the old villages have merged into large suburban patches, with the old village houses now among the most expensive homes in the country. The most interesting parts for a traveller are old Lyngby and the Øresund coast; the rest is mostly residential.

For a first trip to Copenhagen, no. The sights, restaurants and nightlife are in the centre, and you would spend 20 minutes each way on the S-train before your day starts. Stay in Indre By, Vesterbro or Nørrebro and treat the northern suburbs as a day trip, choosing one cluster rather than trying to cover the whole district.

Stay here if you want quiet, green surroundings and a base for Dyrehaven, the coast at Klampenborg and the museums around Lyngby, or if you are travelling with children and want space. It also works for a second or third visit. If you plan to continue north towards Helsingør and the castles, check current train connections and travel times before you commit to a base here.

One practical warning: the district is spread out. Attractions, restaurants and hotels sit some distance from each other and from bus stops, and buses run relatively infrequently. A bike or a car makes the area much easier; without one, plan around the S-train stations.

Eating here is mostly local and low-key: bakeries, cafés and neighbourhood restaurants around the S-train stations, plus the food outlets at Dyrehavsbakken when the park is open. Which places are open, and when, changes with the season, so check before you travel.

Expect Danish standards and Danish prices: a café lunch or a bakery stop is the easy option, and a sit-down dinner is a deliberate choice rather than something you stumble into. If food is the point of your trip, eat in the centre and come north for the day.

Four S-train lines serve the area. The eastern side, where the attractions are, is covered by lines E/B (Holte and Lyngby) and C (Klampenborg), which runs along the coast. The western side, towards Frederikssund and Farum, is served by lines H/C and A and has less for a visitor. All S-train lines run every 10 minutes through the day and every 20 minutes in the evening.

For Dyrehaven and Dyrehavsbakken, the regional kystbanen coastal line is faster because it stops less, but some trains skip Klampenborg station, so check your departure. The kystbanen runs every 6–14 minutes for most of the day, dropping to every 20 minutes at weekends and after 20:00. Allow about 15 minutes to Hellerup and 20 minutes to Klampenborg or Lyngby from the centre (check).

By car, Helsingørmotorvejen (route 19) runs north from Østerbro towards Lyngby and Helsingør, and Hillerødmotorvejen (route 16) runs from Nørrebro towards Farum and Hillerød. Motorring 3 connects the two, and Strandvejen follows the coast through Charlottenlund and Klampenborg. Taxis wait at Klampenborg and Lyngby stations until late evening. Fares and timetables change, so check current prices and times.