Biking Culture in Copenhagen

By: Audrey Snider

Studying abroad in Copenhagen is a unique experience in many ways. Something that always sticks out to me about this city is the biking culture. During week one of my fall block in Copenhagen, we went on a guided biking tour as part of orientation. I knew this was going to be one of my favorite activities because biking is a great way to discover new places in a city. We met at a local bike shop with a tour guide named ‘Bike Mike’. He gave us our own bikes and helmets and immediately began the tour. 

We started the tour on high alert because biking is definitely no joke in Denmark. I heard everyone laughing at themselves and at their friends because we knew we looked silly among all of the locals. We had to look out for bikes racing by, not even cars driving on the streets. We tried our best to keep up with the person in front of us, not ride out of the bike lane, and maneuver the turns and fellow bikes. 

Every so often, we stopped for some Copenhagen history or funny stories told by Bike Mike. Everything looked astonishing, even more so when we would look up from focusing on the road and see the most beautiful park or the most beautiful church. Everything seemed more lively, more colorful, and larger while we sped by as a clan of bikes. From The Little Mermaid statue to the iconic colorful canal street of Nyhavn, we saw the entirety of Copenhagen in the quick two-hour tour. 

By the end of the tour, we had bonded, laughed, almost crashed and fallen, and fell in love with our new home city. There is truly nothing like meeting new people and enjoying yourself, especially when it’s in the wonderful city of Copenhagen. 

EXPLORE COPENHAGEN