Do you want to master bicycling in Denmark and Copenhagen? – Cycling is a lot of fun, and it’s an essential part of experiencing Danish life-style and culture. But it can also be dangerous if you don’t know the rules and if you don’t know how to ride your bike properly.
This video is you essential guide to cycling in Denmark. I made this video to help you understand the joy of cycling in Denmark, but also the most common mistakes that tourists and foreigners should avoid, when bicycling in Copenhagen and Denmark.
This video will fully equip you to confidently and safely hit the road.
🔹 What You Will Learn:
1. Preparation: How to select and adjust your bike for comfortable riding.
2. Positioning on bike paths: Rules for proper positioning and overtaking on Danish bike lanes.
3. Rules for turning: How to conduct a left- and right-turn.
4. Signaling: How to signal a left- and right turn – but also how to signal that you are breaking.
5. Safety: Most important safety measures.
I also address a lot of other small tips and tricks that can help you navigate the Danish traffic.
🔹 Why Watch?
– New to Denmark: Understand the cycling culture which is an integral part of life in Denmark.
– Improve Safety: Learn the rules and etiquettes that keep you safe while biking. This is essential for your safety as well as other people on the roads in Denmark
– Enhance Experience: Enjoy the magical experience of cycling with the wind in your hair under the Danish sky. This is essential to try when you visit Denmark!
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🔹 Engage with me:
Do you have tips or experiences to share about bicycling in Denmark or other tourist or expat topics that you like me to cover in a video? – Then drop a comment below—I’d love to hear from you!
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🔹 Recommended Resources:
I’ve written a few books that might be of interest to you, if you want to understand Danish culture.
How to Make Danish Open Sandwiches
From Dating to Love (My Book About Dating in Denmark)
📧 For Personalized Advice:
Contact me at stehoj@gmail.com for direct advice or questions.
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👉 Check out our other videos for more about Denmark and the Danish way of life.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 – Introduction to bicycling in Denmark
01:12 – Content of the video
3:13 – Prepare and adjust your bicycle before bicycling
4:49 – Positioning on the bicycle paths
5:56 – Avoid bicycle road-rage
6:22 – Danish bicycle culture and view on biking
7:00 – Turning left and right
8:49 – Rules for bus stops
9:40 – Signaling: Left, right, and brake signal
12:00 – Other advice about drunk driving
13:45 – Outtro
ABOUT ME
I’m Steven Højlund, a Danish national passionate about making expat life easier. With extensive local knowledge and international experience, I provide valuable insights into the Danish way of life.
This description aims to engage viewers with detailed video content, invite community interaction, and encourage channel growth through calls to action.
how do you bicycle in Denmark that is the question that many people is particularly interested in the answer to if they just arrived in Denmark or in Copenhagen and they feel a bit intimidated by all the bicycles going everywhere I dedicated this video to this topic because it’s important not only is bicycling a fast and cheap and effective way of experiencing Denmark and Copenhagen but it’s also a cultural thing when you ride through the city with the wind and your hair and the Sun and your skin it’s it feels like magic it’s hard to describe but I really love that feeling after watching this video you will be completely prepared to hit the road on a rendered bike or a bike that you bought if you’re looking for other tips and tricks on living in Denmark or visiting Denmark then check out my other videos or subscribe subribe to the channel and get daily updates with tips and tricks now let’s hit the road and talk about [Music] bicycling hey there my name is Steven hland I’m a Danish national trying to make life a little easier for foreigners visiting Denmark as well as experts who are settling in Denmark or who have already lived here for some time one of the most important things to do when visiting or living in Copenhagen or Denmark is to ride a bicycle most Dan own a bicycle in fact many Danes own multiple bicycles the city is made for it and there is an accepting culture that accommodates bicyclists the Danish Road agency estimates that 40% of all bicycle trips made in Denmark are made to go to work or to school so it is an important cultural thing to try it out when visiting Denmark at least or if you live here then I would just highly recommend you to do the same as the de do and it’s also a fun and effective way to move around and see parts of Copenhagen or other parts of the country after all it’s a fairly small country so pretty easy to get where you want to go however bicycling can also be dangerous and to avoid that you have a bad experience in Denmark or get into an accident I hope that you will see this video to the end there are many good tips and tricks I will cover the most important things you need to know to be safe and have a good experience on a bicycle in Denmark this includes getting the bicycle ready before you head out in the traffic most important rules for turning in intersections positioning on the bicycle paths signaling general safety and I have a couple of other things that you should be mindful about when you bicycle in Denmark so let’s get started before you can go bicycling you need a bike let’s assume that you are going to rent one from many bike shops or the shared bike services available now you have a bike but before you go bicycling there are a few things we better check first first check the saddle height and adjust it if needed your saddle should be approximately where your hipbone is when standing next to the bike put it slightly lower if you are not so experienc riding a bicycle another way to see if the B saddle is in the right position is if you are able to touch the ground standing on your toes on both feet while sitting on on the saddle this is important because your knees will hurt after some hours biking if you don’t get the saddle position just right the idea is that while pedaling your legs will almost completely stretch out when the pedal is all the way down while you sit comfortably in the saddle that’s the state that you want to go for also before bicycling you you need to check that the Bell works you might need it and many things do so why shouldn’t you more importantly check the lights if you are going to use the bicycle at night the fine is up to €200 if the police catches you without light when you are bicycling in Copenhagen it’s very important to stay on the right side of the bike pass similar to when you are driving your car on the highway back home people will overtake Q on the left and you need to make room for them to do so if you fail to stay on the right Dan will use the the Bell on you H in that case it will indicate that I want to pass you can you please uh move aside if you don’t move fast enough they might start shouting at you just a warning there it’s okay to ride side by side as long as you both move to the right if someone wants to pass from behind therefore it’s good bicycle etiquette to always keep an eye on who’s behind you and if they want to pass you so always look over your shoulder some bicyclists They Ride really fast so you have to stay alert and look over your shoulder once in a while which brings me to the next topic which is bicycle road rage bicycle road rage is a thing in Denmark while Danes are are not displaying negative emotions very often in public you will probably see at least some passive aggressive eye rolling head turning or head shaking when you are out bicycling for the first time in the night oh this guy Dan cyclist depend on their bicycle to get from A to B on their daily commute to and from work picking up kids and so on so forth so they are not out having fun on the two Wheels in many other countries bicycles are considered recreational in Denmark it’s your preferred mode of transportation and if traffic is dense or some Parton my French idiot is fooling around on the road the patience is not always there unfortunately so my advice to you is to think of the bicycle path as the highway you took to work every day back home you stay on the right on otherwise you will have some aggressive dude late for a meeting on your bumper very soon right turning left on a bicycle in Denmark uh is one of the most essential things to get right it’s also conceptually the most complicated even though it’s actually not really complicated anyway here’s how you do it you go you see a green light on the intersection cross the intersection and and make a stop on the opposite corner here you wait for the green light in the left Direction you want to go to while turning your bike in that direction when the light changes to Green in this new Direction you are safe to go and get where you want to go and you have now completed a left turn while it’s actually not illegal to make a left turn together with the cars in the middle of the intersection it’s very dangerous nobody will expect a bicycle there and you are very likely to be hit by a car essentially so promise me that you will never do that turning right on a bicycle in Danish traffic is simple like in a car you roll forward into the intersection when the light turns green then you wait for pedestrians to cross on your right side when there are no pedestrians in the intersection you can make your right turn don’t turn if the light is red even though you will see some thingses doing so that is super dangerous because passing cars they might try to avoid the possible collision with you as they see you head right into the intersection and therefore that might cause damage to people or property what to do when a bus offloads passengers to the bicycle path in front of you when a bus overflows passengers you have to stop so that the passengers can enter and leave the bus safely many Danes don’t stop and it’s super dangerous a child or elderly person might be going out of the bus or into the bus and if you hit them in the high speed it can be fatal if the bus stops at an island so to speak I don’t know what the real term is then you can continue and the bus passengers need to wait for your for you to pass but pay attention as many people don’t know the rules and might just walk right out in front of you when you are on your bike pay special attention to tourist buses as tourists forget to look for cyclists uh when you bicycle in Denmark you need to Signal left uh and right but also signal if you are breaking but actually many things don’t use the signals so you don’t have to take it too seriously especially the Breaking part right and left are straight forward stretch your arm to the left or right depending on the direction that you want to turn to but breaking is a bit more tricky before you break you have to raise your right or left hand over your head like this the tricky part is that it’s quite hard to do while you are breaking and breaking is something or sometimes not planned right so just do it if you have the time for it and you can do it in a safe manner in Denmark and Copenhagen in particular you have to lock your bicycle bcle otherwise uh poof it’s gone sometimes you see large Shady men loading whole racks of bicycles into trucks and driving them away police cannot really do anything about it every day about 130 bicycles are stolen in Denmark mostly in Copenhagen so it’s a real problem so you need to lock your bike and preferably lock it to something if you have an expensive bike then it’s not enough to lock it it will get stolen either way if you are a tourist it should be sufficient just to lock the bike that is in with the luck that is installed on your rental bike if you have moved to Denmark and you want to own a bike then I recommend you to buy a used and not too fancy bike to drive in the city if you want a more fancy road bike I would luck it in the basement never on the street you don’t need to wear a helmet when your bicycle in Denmark but it’s highly recommendable if you fall or get bumped into by a car or another cyclist then you might fall a fall might result in a concussion which is pretty hard to get rid of so I recommend using a helmet you will see many things that don’t wear helmets I don’t when I ride in the city because I like the feeling of wind in my hair but if I write my fast Road b i do it due to the speed if I had kids as well I would do it for their sake too don’t bicycle if you are drunk actually you are allowed to uh in Denmark as long as you can control the bicycle and ride it in a safe manner it is up to the police to judge if you can do so and you can get a fine of up to 1,500 Kona if you are drunk and bicycle in an unsafe manner you will see many Dan’s bicycle from bar to bar a bit tipsy or maybe just pissed all together sometimes someone lose their life like that don’t be uh like them and let that not be you if you’re are not used to biking then I recommend that you walk instead even if you get a couple of drinks only that is just more safe there are a couple of other things that are good to know as well when you are bicyc in Denmark on a bike you you are considered to be a part of the traffic on par with cars therefore you of course need to adhere to traffic signs the same way as they do you need to stop at red light and give way to pedestrians in intersections and crossings you also need to make sure that your brakes work and that the bike is in good safe condition while many of these rules are not really enforced by law enforcement clients can reach up to 700 corner for these minor offenses but most importantly is that you pay attention to the traffic slow down and drive carefully respecting other people in the traffic okay I hope I gave you a good idea of how to bicycle in Denmark if you like this video please like it and subscribe to the channel down below and if you have a follow-up question or an idea to a video you’d like me to make then write a comment to this video down below as well you can also check out my other videos here and here about how to do various things in Denmark how to make money how much you can earn and so on so forth but until the next time take care [Music] he [Music]
2 Comments
Realy appreciate your effort, 👍
Thank you for the tips, very helpful.