The fashionable riviera the Danes want to keep to themselves – The Times

Early morning on the beach at Liseleje, north of Copenhagen, an elderly couple in dressing gowns walk hand-in-hand to the shore, disrobe and enter the sea (no flinching) for a naked immersion. It seems to be a local ritual as others follow suit (sans suits). Its a vigorous start to the day the North Sea is about 18 degrees and my 14-month-old, Lyra, noisily objects to dipping in even her toes, but its a refresher. And thats why we are here and not, thankfully, sweltering in southern Europe.

I didnt fancy the heat, the sweat and the stress of sun-creaming a moving target who refuses to wear a hat. A friend who lives in Copenhagen told me the Danish Riviera, as this stretch of coast in North Sealand is known, is great for families with plenty to do in all weathers (summer here is much like our own changeable and anorak-friendly), lovely stretches of beach, and a gentle, pastoral landscape.

It is also accessible Liseleje is our first stop, about an hours drive from Copenhagen airport. Its a favourite among Copenhageners too and the village is busy with Stokke prams and casual-boho families (even the rubber rings come in chic shades all very hygge) when we visit in July.

A room at Liseleje Badehotel

STUDIODESIGN

One Danish family we meet have brought their three children to the Liseleje Badehotel, where we are staying, for the past three years. Summer houses are a big thing in Denmark, but badehotels (bathing hotels) are having a resurgence, and this one has been newly refurbished by a Danish/Norwegian couple, Dorte and Paul. It was a fishermans house and still has a simplicity; that easy-on-the-eye Danish aesthetic that seems effortless (neutral striped wallpaper, tongue-and-groove panelling).

The rooms are in a one-storey building, in the style of a US motel, opening on to a slim, sheltered deck and shared garden blooming with pink roses. Here coffee or wine is drunk, books read (in theory in my case) and children overseen as they communicate in international squeals. Dorte and Paul host small concerts and barbecues. Dinner is in the excellent restaurant Mamas & Tapas (the couple once lived near Malaga), which welcomes children, supplying ours with a high chair (vintage style, naturally). The food has a Scandi twist the salmon comes from Norway and the bread comes with Lurpak.

The beach at Liseleje

MARIUS KARLSSON

The dune-backed beach that draws the early morning dippers is less than a five-minute walk down a path lined with wild flowers. Its windy on our visit better suited to kite-surfers than swimmers. Once sandcastle-splatting and rosehip-plucking has been exhausted, theres pretty Liseleje to wander. Theres a stylish interiors boutique, Liseleje Beach House (striped beach bags for about 32), and thatched-cottage gardens filled with flouncy hollyhocks, lupins and borage. Its as charming as Rye and as spotless as Nantucket. The neighbouring forest with its wide cycle paths is walkable from the village.

This stretch of coast has pavement appeal. To the west (a 15-minute drive from Liseleje) is the coastal village of Kikhavn, which feels like a set designed by Hans Christian Andersen more thatched cottages with fairytale windows and a stall selling lavender posies and beaded bracelets. Its an easy coastal walk from here, even with a buggy, to the home of the explorer Knud Rasmussen, the first European to cross the Northwest Passage by dog sled. He came here to write and presumably spend long periods staring out to sea from his perfectly positioned window seat (9; knudrasmus.dk).

Further south in Lynaes, theres a buzzy, youthful scene thanks to two locals, the twins Jeppe and Johan Ingversen, who set up a surf centre with a campsite (sauna-like cabins and canvas tents), relaxed caf and restaurant overlooking the harbour. They started the business aged 19 and their restaurant, the Food Bar, is a great spot for coffee, cocktails or pizza plus there is a playground opposite (pizzas from 11; surfcenter.dk).

To the east (a 20-minute drive from Liseleje), theres upmarket Tisvildeleje with its antique shop selling vintage Royal Copenhagen crockery behind the petrol station and a row of dress shops and bars (rhubarb summer spritzes from 11; cocks-andcows.dk) leading down to a lifeguarded beach. Driving along the coast to Sealands northernmost town, Gilleleje, look out for the slim, striped bathing huts on Rageleje, which are dismantled each year at the end of the season.

Boats in the harbour at Gilleleje

ALAMY

We time our visit to Gilleleje for an alfresco fish and chip supper Lyra is popular with the pigeons and gulls on the harbour at busy Adamsens (fish and chips 11; adamsensfisk.dk).

When the beach is too windy (or wet), theres Tothaven, a farm and brilliantly family-friendly day out close to Kikhavn. The goats (as well as the homemade ice cream) are met with arm-flapping glee from Lyra (tickets 6, under-twos free; tothaven.dk).

Denmark travel guide

And on the east side of Sealand theres the gallery with perhaps the most all-round appeal of any Ive visited. Not only does the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art have a great collection (Bacon, Picasso, Warhol), a wonderful sculpture park (Henry Moore, Alexander Calder) and a dedicated childrens wing with daily workshops, visitors can go for a swim (which we do) at the beach below (17; louisiana.dk).

Thanks to our cost-of-living crisis, eating out in Denmark no longer feels quite so expensive and it is generally excellent. Plus our daughter is welcome, even in the smarter places (the trick is a 6pm table). Lunch in the elegant greenhouse with a view of the pony field at Rabarbergaarden (rhubarb garden) in Vejby near Tisvilde is delicious (potato open sandwich, freshest hake; mains from 13; rabarbergaarden.dk). As is dinner in Skipperhuset by Lake Esrum in Fredensborg where the restaurant ripples with reflections from the lake and the childrens menu is as delicious as the adults (mains from 16; skipperhuset.dk).

We stay the night after dinner at Mangholm farm. Here, the owners, Tine and Torben, have created a farm-to-table restaurant that is hyperlocal. We eat courgette in a light tempura batter from their garden, bread from grain grown in their fields, and a Roman-inspired beef stew from their cattle (five-course tasting menu from 63; mangholm.dk). Thrillingly, especially for Lyra, chickens and kittens wander past the restaurant windows. The farm supplies veg to some of Copenhagens top restaurants, Alchemist and Selma among them, and they use old techniques, leaving harmless weeds, for example. The couple fell in love with it because there is history in the landscape, Tine says. There has been a farm here since 1778, and they have found Stone Age tools.

We are the first guests to sleep in their new garden house (there is also a rustic forest cabin). The two-bedroom cottage, built by a Dutch couple when they got stuck here during the pandemic, is in a wildflower meadow and has been kitted out with rustic Danish flair: a gingham counter curtain in the kitchen, Hay dressing gowns in the bedroom and the dinkiest cot our daughter has slept in. Its cosy and calm with views on to wild grasses; a thin Danish flag flickers in the distance.

The forest cabin at Mangholm farm

It is glamping, though, and the bathroom is in the main barn next to the restaurant, so we shower in the evening listening to the chefs techno music as they clean the kitchen. But its wonderfully homely a breakfast of freshly boiled eggs, warm sourdough and homemade granola and jams is delivered to our door in a basket and you cant say that of many top-end restaurants.

Unique but understated seems to be a theme of the Danish Riviera its no wonder the Danes have been keeping it to themselves.

Jenny Coad was a guest of Visit North Sealand (visitnorthsealand.com) and Visit Denmark (visitdenmark.com). B&B doubles at Liseleje Badehotel from 184 (liselejebadehotel.dk), and in the garden house Mangholm farm from 206 (mangholm.dk). Fly to Copenhagen

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The fashionable riviera the Danes want to keep to themselves - The Times