Hillerod is a town north-west of Copenhagen with a palace that looks as if it were built for a fairy tale. Frederiksborg Castle sits on three small islands in a lake, a red-brick Renaissance building with copper-green spires, towers and gables, reflected in the water. It was built for King Christian IV in the early seventeenth century and became the site where Danish kings were crowned for generations. Today it houses the Museum of National History, with portraits and rooms full of Danish history.
The town has about thirty thousand people, and it makes a good base for exploring North Zealand, a region of lakes, beech forests and gentle hills. The landscape around Hillerod is the Danish idea of wild, which is to say soft and green, with woods of tall beech trees, small lakes and meadows. Gribskov, a large forest to the north, is one of the biggest in Denmark, and in spring, its floor is covered with anemones.
The ride from here connects to Borgring, a Viking-age ring fortress found in 2014 near Koge, south of Copenhagen, one of a small family of circular forts built around the year 980 in the reign of Harald Bluetooth. The ring fortresses, including Trelleborg and Fyrkat, are among the most intriguing sites of Viking Denmark, and Borgring has been the subject of excavations that have revealed its gates and ramparts. A path on the ground is something you can follow in several places in this region.
The roads in Zealand are smooth, flat and straightforward, with speed limits that are lower than in much of Europe and enforced by cameras. The countryside is dotted with farms, thatched cottages and white churches, and the light is soft and changing. Wind is almost constant, and rain can arrive without warning. Fuel is easy to find in Hillerod, at several stations, and the town has bakeries, cafes and restaurants. Denmark is expensive, so be ready for high prices. Summer evenings are long, and the best time for riding is late spring to early autumn.