Grønholtvangen south of Grønholt Vang and Borgring

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Grønholtvangen south of Grønholt Vang

   North of Copenhagen the Danish landscape turns into a mixture of beech woods, lakes and open meadows, a fragment of what the whole country looked like before the farmers took over. Grønholt Vang belongs to that world, a patch of countryside near Hillerød and Fredensborg in north Zealand, where woodland and open ground sit side by side. The word vang is old Danish for a field or open ground, and it hints at the pattern.

   Read the complete Grønholtvangen south of Grønholt Vang write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Grønholtvangen south of Grønholt Vang is where the day begins. Next is Kronborg Castle.

2. 2. Kronborg Castle

   Hamlet never lived at Kronborg, but Shakespeare put him there, and the castle has been Elsinore in the imagination of the world ever since. It stands on a point of land at Helsingør where the Øresund narrows to about four kilometres, with Sweden clearly visible across the water, and for centuries it controlled one of the most important shipping lanes in Europe. King Frederik II built the castle in its Renaissance form in the 1570s and 1580s, and every ship passing through the strait had to stop and pay the Sound Dues, a toll that made the Danish crown rich for over four hundred years until it was abolished in 1857. Kronborg was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2000.

   Read the complete Kronborg Castle write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kronborg Castle comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Roskilde Cathedral.

3. 3. Roskilde Cathedral

   Roskilde Cathedral is where Denmark keeps its kings. Since the fifteenth century, almost every Danish monarch has been buried here, and the chapels and crypts hold around forty kings and queens, from medieval stone tombs to ornate baroque sarcophagi and modern designs. The cathedral itself, begun in the late twelfth century under Bishop Absalon, the warrior-churchman who also founded Copenhagen, was one of the first big brick Gothic churches in Scandinavia, and it set the style for church building across the region. UNESCO listed it in 1995. Inside, look for the clock with the figure of St George slaying the dragon, which strikes the hour, and the pillar where royal visitors have marked their height.

   Read the complete Roskilde Cathedral write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 94 km into the recorded legs you reach Roskilde Cathedral. Next is Borgring.

4. 4. Borgring

   In 2014, archaeologists using laser scanning of the landscape noticed a faint circle in a field near Køge, on the Danish island of Zealand, about forty kilometres south-west of Copenhagen. Excavations confirmed what they had hoped: it was a Viking ring fortress, one of a small group of perfectly circular fortresses built in Denmark in the late tenth century, probably under King Harald Bluetooth. It was named Borgring, and it was the first new ring fortress to be found in Denmark in over sixty years.

   Read the complete Borgring write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Borgring, about halfway. Next is back through Roskilde Cathedral.

5. 5. back through Roskilde Cathedral

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Roskilde Cathedral write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Roskilde Cathedral sits at 168 km, about halfway. Next is back through Kronborg Castle.

6. 6. back through Kronborg Castle

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kronborg Castle write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Kronborg Castle comes up about 221 km into the recorded legs. Next is Grønholtvangen south of Grønholt Vang.

7. 7. Grønholtvangen south of Grønholt Vang

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Grønholtvangen south of Grønholt Vang write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Grønholtvangen south of Grønholt Vang closes the day.