Copenhageners have long treated their harbour as a giant swimming pool. Ever since the shipyards closed and floating baths appeared in the early 2000s, the waterfront has been the city's summer living room — and, increasingly, its winter one too, with oversubscribed winter swimming clubs proving locals will happily plunge into near-freezing water for the health kick.
The latest chapter opens on Saturday 5 December: Kai, a 5,800 square-metre public bathing house on Paper Island, designed by Japanese studio Kengo Kuma Associates. Eight years in the making and delayed by the pandemic (it was originally meant to open in 2021), the building arrives with serious architectural pedigree — it sits on a waterfront already lined by the Opera House and the Royal Danish Playhouse.
Ten pools are spread across several levels. There's a 25-metre pool on the ground floor, an open-air rooftop pool, and a heated onsen with harbour views. Designated swim zones on and around a timber boardwalk give year-round access to the harbour itself, while the first-floor outdoor pools stay warm through winter thanks to a sustainable vertical ground-source heat pump. Capacity is capped at 380 swimmers at a time.
The best part for visitors: the price. Entry is expected to match the city's other 'water culture houses' — under 100 Danish kroner, roughly £7.50 — a bargain for a designer bathhouse. The 989 million DKK (£110 million) project was funded by the City of Copenhagen and Nordea Fonden, and grew out of resident surveys calling for a central public pool.
Location-wise, you can hardly do better. Paper Island sits directly across the harbour from Nyhavn, reached by pedestrian and cycle bridge, and links the old town with Holmen and Refshaleøen — the former military and shipbuilding districts that are now among the city's most interesting neighbourhoods. The site once hosted a much-loved street food market and has been redeveloped with restaurants and cafes, so you can pair a swim with a proper lunch.
If one bathhouse isn't enough, the source rounds up alternatives. Sandkaj in Nordhavn offers lane swimming straight in the deep harbour, with saunagus (a Danish aromatic sauna ritual) at nearby Saunanor. Valby's Water Culture House is a chic grey building with a slide, lanes and a hot pool. For full spa indulgence, Skodsborg Spa Hotel up the coast — a former sanatorium — has 16 bathing experiences and a private swimming jetty on the beach.
Why it matters: winter swimming is Denmark's favourite wellness trend, and Kai makes it accessible without club memberships or waiting lists. Pack a swimsuit on any Copenhagen trip from December onwards, budget pocket change for entry, and you get a warm soak, a skyline view and a very local experience all in one. Source: Condé Nast Traveller UK.
