Copenhagen's Secret Places

For more than 250 years, Copenhageners have buried their dead at Assistens Kirkegård — but today the cemetery does double duty as Nørrebro's primary green space, where locals stroll, cycle, jog, or simply spread out a picnic blanket among the gravestones.

Wander the paths and you'll pass the graves of some of Denmark's most famous names: storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, physicist H.C. Ørsted, and physicist Niels Bohr among them, alongside more recent figures like poet Michael Strunge and singer Natasja Saad.

It's a genuinely unusual combination — a working cemetery that's also a lively, well-used public park — and one that visitors rarely think to seek out, despite sitting right in the middle of one of Copenhagen's most vibrant neighborhoods.

Climb up onto Christianshavns Vold and you're standing on what remains of Copenhagen's 17th-century ring of fortifications — built to protect the capital, with cannons once trained across the wide moat (Stadsgraven) toward Amager.

Today the old rampart is a scenic, peaceful green corridor: winding paths between old trees, open grassy stretches, and viewpoints looking down over the moat. Between the branches, you'll catch glimpses of Christiania's famously colourful houses and small gardens below.

It's an easy escape from the city without actually leaving it — birdsong, wind in the treetops, and light on the water replace the usual sounds of central Copenhagen almost as soon as you climb the rampart.

Opened in 2012 in Nørrebro, one of Copenhagen's most diverse neighborhoods, Superkilen was designed by architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group together with Superflex and Topotek1 as something like a world exhibition made into a park — filled with objects sourced from countries around the globe.

Look for a fountain from Morocco, swings from Iraq, benches from Brazil, and a black octopus slide from Japan, scattered across three distinct sections: the Red Square (urban life, cafés, music, sports), the Black Market (a classic square with fountain and benches), and the Green Park (picnics, dog-walking, casual sports).

It's become one of Copenhagen's most photographed spots and a magnet for skateboarders drawn to its smooth open surfaces, while still functioning as an everyday neighborhood park for the people who live around it.