Twenty minutes north of Copenhagen by S-Tog: a royal deer park of 1,100 hectares, 2,000 deer, and wide flat grass avenues under ancient oaks. The S-Tog from Klampenborg runs directly to Copenhagen Airport - you go from the deer park to the departure gate on a single train.
Getting There
S-Tog Lines C and E from Copenhagen Central (Kobenhavn H) to Klampenborg: 20 minutes, running north along the Oresund coast through Charlottenlund and Skovshoved. Trains run every 10 minutes. Single ticket approximately DKK 36/€5. Klampenborg station is directly at the entrance to the Dyrehaven park and a short walk from Bellevue Beach.
Dyrehaven: The Deer Park
The Dyrehaven (The Deer Park) is a 1,100-hectare royal hunting park established by Frederick III in 1670 and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015. The park contains approximately 2,000 red, fallow, and roe deer moving through a landscape of ancient oak and beech trees on grassy hillocks and along wide, flat grass avenues designed for royal hunting carriages.
The main avenues - the broad, straight grass tracks radiating from the central crossroads near the Eremitagen hunting lodge - are the post-marathon walking infrastructure. Flat, wide, quiet enough that deer stand on them without moving for several minutes before deciding to relocate.
The Eremitagen is the baroque hunting lodge at the park's centre, built by Christian VI in 1736. Not publicly accessible, but visible from the grass avenue; its position on a low rise gives the best view across the park. Walk from Klampenborg station to the Eremitagen and back: approximately 3 kilometres each way on flat grass, 90 minutes at slow pace, through deer country.
In May the park is in full early-summer leaf. The deer in May are in their antler growth phase. Before 09:00 the park is essentially empty.
Bellevue Beach
Bellevue Beach is adjacent to Klampenborg station on the coast side - a 500-metre sandy beach that has been a Copenhagen swimming spot since the 18th century. The Bellevue Theatre above the beach (a 1936 Arne Jacobsen building of considerable architectural distinction) is visible from the beach. The water in mid-May sits at approximately 12-14°C. Cold enough to constitute a decision; warm enough that the decision is regularly made by local swimmers.
The Bakken amusement park (established 1583, the oldest operating amusement park in the world) sits at the park's southern entrance, directly adjacent to the station. Fully operational in May. Either the most or least appealing thing imaginable after a marathon.
Where to Stay
Skovriderkroen (The Forest Warden's Inn), directly at the Klampenborg station entrance to the Dyrehaven: traditional Danish inn with rooms, beer garden, park entrance thirty seconds from the front door. Bellevue Strandhotel on the beachfront is the coastal alternative.
Where to Eat
Skovriderkroen inn restaurant serves smørrebrød in a garden - the correct place to eat on a May afternoon after a slow walk through the deer park. For something more substantial: Fortunen restaurant complex near the deer park lake serves Danish food in a setting appropriate to the park surroundings.
Getting to the Airport
From Klampenborg station, take S-Tog Line C or E south. The service runs directly to Copenhagen Airport (CPH/Kastrup) in approximately 35 minutes, without requiring a change at Central Station. This is the entire logistical advantage of the Klampenborg overnight: single train from the deer park to the departure gate.