The bicycle is an important mode of transport for Danes and visitors to Denmark alike. Bikes outnumber cars in some city areas, where the streets have bicycle lanes and traffic lights.
Denmark has thousands of miles of cycle paths, and bikes may be taken on most trains and ferries. Tourist offices can provide detailed maps of routes. Hærvejen is a bicycle and walking trail that stretches from the German border to Viborg in north-central Jutland.
Traders and travelers beat this path a few thousand years ago, and much of it still looks as it did during Viking times. All along the route there are inns, hotels or hostels, as well as shops for provisions.
Cycling is also a popular outdoor sport for Swedes, and there are many well-designed and well-lit routes all over the country. You could spend a week touring the islands of Gotland or Bornholm on a bike. Keen cyclists alsp head for Östergötland, particularly along the banks of the Göta Kanal where the towpaths make ideal cycling tracks.
Bikes can be hired at several places along the canal, and the most popular stretch for cyclists is between Berg and Borensberg. For the truly ambitious, there is the Sverigeleden (Sweden Bicycle Route), from Stockholm to Gothenburg – a distance of 2,600km (1,600 miles).
On Two Wheels in Scandinavia, written by Tor Kjolberg
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