Søerne

Like to people watch? Do as the local? Go for a run? Walk in the sunset?
The Lakes (Søerne) is a cute little patch for all of the above.
Early mornings are for the running people (and the walk of shame people) then comes the fashionable girls walking with a latte, the dog people, the late runners and finally the sunset chasers. Copenhagen’s waterfront is facing east, so one of the best places to see the sun set behind the rooftop is here. My favorite is to share a bottle of wine (yes, this is legal here) by the stairs next to the Planetary. From here you can enjoy the last sun and wonderful atmosphere.

The Copenhagen lakes are to Copenhagen what Central Park is to New York City: the green lung of the city, offering air, space, and recreational opportunities right smack in the middle of the city.
Just a bit of expectation management, as I’ve heard a guest in the city at one point express disappointment at the lakes, because she «thought it would be more like the Lake District in the UK»: the lakes are actually water reservoirs, artificial lakes which up until modern times held Copenhagen’s drinking water reservoirs. They haven’t served this purpose in more than century, though, and now act simply as a recreational body of water smack in the middle of the city. They are very shallow, so in the winter, if it gets cold enough, they freeze up reasonably fast and have served as skating rinks in past winters.
A total of 5 lake bassins with a foot path all around, and a bike path on two sides, you can use the lake area as a shortcut between the neighbourhoods of Copenhagen (they connect the neighbourhoods of Østerbro, Nørrebro, Frederiksberg, and Vesterbro), for a Sunday stroll, or a morning run. Running is very popular, and the lakes have actually been measured for distance, you’ll be able to find a map of the individual distances in most running shoe stores in the city (a trip around all of them is about 6.5K). There is also an outdoor workout area where the lakes meet Tagensvej, on the north side of the lakes.
In the summer there are also pedal boats for rent near the café Kaffesalonen, near Dronning Louises Bro on the Nørrebro part of the lakes. The same café also has a padio serving area built into the lake, which is also open in summer.
Dronning Louises Bro is a very popular hangout for Nørrebro’s hip crowd anytime the sun is out, where they’ll drink beer and play music. This practice has earned the bridge its nickname «The Hipster Mile». This bridge is also the stretch of road in Denmark that sees the most bicycle traffic, so make sure to check for cyclists before crossing.
There are plenty of cafes on the edge of the lakes offering lakeside views with your coffee or beer. These are almost exclusively on the northern shore of the lakes, on the stretch that runs along Østerbro and Nørrebro. Once you hit Frederiksberg, cafes become few and far between.
All in all, no visitor to the city should deny themselves a stroll along the lakes, in particular in the summer, but they see activity all year round.

Take your best friend under your arm and go for a stroll on saturday or sunday afternoon, and turn every little subject. The atmosphere, the pretty guys running and the beautiful surroundings makes this a perfect walk.

Søerne, the small lakes in the middle of Copenhagen, sort of divide the city in two. You have to cross a bridge to either get to Nørrebro or (back) to Indre By.
It’s hard to miss the lakes, but whenever I’m in Copenhagen, I want to pay them a proper visit too. This time I was staying in an AirBnB very close to the lakes — in Østerbro, and gladly walked all the way pass the lakes to Vesterbro a snowy Friday morning. There weren’t many people, but it was the best tour to start my trip with.
This is the perfect place for a nature-​ish walk (without even leaving the city center!), for a run, for walking the dog, for just sitting and chatting and having picnics when the weather is nice. It simply really is a pretty place! Walking from Østerbro to Vesterbro, along one side of the lakes, takes about 40 – 45 minutes.

The lakes of Copenhagen are great!
Perfect place to run and/​or walk by.
Super hygge (cozy) environment on any day you may go.
From last winter, they have been lighted up, so it is safer to run over winter’ evenings…
The only but I would say is that sometimes they can smell a little bit — caused by the organic dirt accumulated over time.
The only solution is that the city hall invests more money in cleaning up the lakes more often! ;-)

A very cute place to come by and enjoy Copenhagen. I visited Copenhagen on vacation for about 3 days, so I haven’t seen all there is to see in Copenhagen. But this was definitely a nice park to go see. My family would come down here in the morning and just walk along the waterside. If you walk up against the water, you’ll have the trees to the other side of you, really getting the feeling of nature here. It was nice to get away from the city feeling here. And it’s awesome that the city actually puts funds into keeping the water clean. So many times I’ve seen filthy water because people throw trash into the water, and this place is no exception. But the city does something about it and puts people to help clean up the water with their machines! Oh and you’ll come by a lot of runners, people love to run here. You’ll come by at least one very 30 seconds or so. But overall a solid place to get away from the city… And there are some nice restaurants here as well, so you can come by for the food as well…