Swimming in Copenhagen – harbour baths, hotel pools and spas
Copenhagen is among the world's finest swimming cities — with free harbour baths, architect-designed sea baths, private spas and heated hotel pools. Here are some of the best places to swim and unwind in the Danish capital.
CNN Travel places Copenhagen among the world's finest swimming cities — ahead of coastal icons like Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro.
For a capital city better known for design and gastronomy, it's a striking accolade.
The reasons are straightforward: the harbour water is clean enough to swim in, the public baths are free, and the city has invested steadily in its waterfront for decades. Swimming here is less a seasonal activity than a year-round habit.
Photo: Daniel Rasmussen, Copenhagen Media Center
Our top picks for swimming, soaking and relaxing in Copenhagen
The list below mixes public and private — free harbour baths, hotel pools reserved for guests, and spas worth booking in advance. All are worth knowing about.
1. Villa Copenhagen – rooftop pool and wellness
Rooftop pool • Pool bar • Massage available on request
As a guest at Villa Copenhagen, you have access to a 25-metre rooftop pool heated to 28–30°C, sustainably powered by the hotel's own surplus energy. Alongside it: a sauna with city views, a 24-hour fitness room set within the historic building, a pool bar, and massages bookable through the concierge. Everything is included in the room rate — no extras, no booking required for pool or sauna. It is the kind of wellness offer that makes leaving the hotel feel optional.
2. Clarion Hotel® Copenhagen Airport
Indoor pool • Sauna • Gym and yoga studio
Staying at Clarion Hotel® Copenhagen Airport, you have access to a heated indoor pool at 28°C — warm, quiet and open year-round, regardless of what the weather is doing outside. A dry sauna sits directly beside it, and a fully equipped gym and yoga studio complete the offer, all included in the room rate. Central Copenhagen is 15 minutes by metro, and Kastrup Søbad is a 15–20 minute walk away
3. Kastrup Søbad
Free • Open year-round • Changing rooms and showers
Designed by White Arkitekter and known as The Snail, Kastrup Søbad is a circular wooden structure on a pier whose walkway spirals upward to a five-metre diving platform above the sea. It is free, has changing rooms and showers, and is open throughout the year — including winter, when cold-water bathing draws a loyal crowd who will tell you, with complete sincerity, that it is good for you. They are probably right.
4. Islands Brygge Harbour Bath
Free • Open daily • Lifeguards in summer
Designed by internationally renowned architect Bjarke Ingels as one of his very first projects, Islands Brygge Harbour Bath floats on wooden pontoons in the middle of the harbour. The five-pool complex features a 75-metre lap lane, diving platforms at one, three and five metres, and separate pools for children and toddlers. It is free, central and open almost around the clock. Few places in Copenhagen feel more like the city at its best: unpretentious, well-designed and genuinely for everyone.
5. Amager Beachpark
Free • Sandy beach • Lifeguards in summer
Five kilometres of sandy beach, a sheltered lagoon and the Øresund stretching towards Sweden — Amager Strandpark is Copenhagen's great escape, barely a cycle ride from the city centre. CNN Travel cites it as one of the defining reasons Copenhagen ranks among the world's finest swimming cities, and on a clear summer morning it is easy to understand why: the water is calm, the beach is wide, and the city feels far away.
6. DGI Byen
Paid entry • Open year-round • Indoor pools
DGI-byen is one of Copenhagen's largest indoor swimming complexes, with a superellipse-shaped main pool, a diving pool with trampoline and climbing wall, a warm-water spa pool, and a children's basin. All under one roof near Copenhagen Central Station, which makes it a natural option when the weather turns — and particularly convenient for guests staying at Villa Copenhagen or Comfort Hotel™ Vesterbro, both within easy walking distance.
7. Aire Ancient Baths
Thermal baths • Massages and rituals • Booking recommended
Eight thermal pools at different temperatures inside the historic Carlsberg brewery buildings, with vaulted brick ceilings, candlelight, and a treatment menu that includes massage and exclusive rituals. AIRE Ancient Baths is unhurried by design, and the setting does most of the work. It is the kind of place that rewards having nowhere else to be.
8. La Banchina
Public bathing zone • Bookable sauna • Café and wine bar
On Refshaleøen, a free public bathing zone, a bookable sauna and a tiny walk-in restaurant come together in one of Copenhagen's most laid-back waterfront spots. La Banchina brings its own rhythm to the surrounding area: a 16-seat café and wine bar where you show up, order at the bar and settle in by the water — organic, seasonal, no reservations, no fixed menu. Salt water, harbour views, and a pocket of Copenhagen where the day is allowed to unfold.
9. CopenHot
Outdoor spa • Fire-heated hot tubs • Book ahead
At CopenHot on Refshaleøen, Denmark’s largest outdoor spa turns wood-fired heat, cold water and old shipyard scenery into a sauna garden by the harbour. Choose one of many fire-heated hot tubs, a small private sauna for two, a barrel or larger saunas, the panoramic sauna overlooking CopenHill, or the large Timber Sauna built for gus sessions — all with access to cold plunge tubs. The setting is raw and industrial, while the experience is warm, social and deeply restorative. Book ahead, especially at weekends.
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