Frederiksberg Gardens

The gardens were laid out behind Frederiksberg Palace in the early eighteenth century as a formal baroque scheme and remade around 1800 in the English romantic manner, with a lake, winding canals, artificial islands, bridges, a Chinese pavilion on one island and a Swiss cottage, and long views arranged toward the palace on its low hill. Rowing boats once ferried the royal family between the islands. The palace itself is a military academy and not generally open. What makes the park unusual is its neighbour: Copenhagen Zoo backs directly onto it, and the elephant house designed by Norman Foster, with its glazed domes, is visible from the park path, so you can watch the elephants across the ditch without paying. Herons breed on the islands.

History

King Frederick IV laid out the gardens with Frederiksberg Palace, his new summer retreat on Valby Hill, beginning in the late 1690s with inspiration from Italy and France; Nicodemus Tessin drew a proposal and Hans Heinrich Scheel, a captain of the royal engineers, made the final plan. Its parterre of cascades depended on pumps that never worked properly, and Johan Cornelius Krieger replaced it with a series of terraces. In the 1790s, as fashion changed, P. Petersen drew up a new plan in 1795 for an English landscape garden with winding lawns, lakes, canals and copses, grottoes, temples and pavilions, and Frederick VI, who loved the garden, sailed its canals in a gondola from 1804. The public had access, but sailors, dogs and people in poor clothes or carrying large bundles were turned away at the gate until 1865, when entry became unrestricted (Wikipedia, Frederiksberg Gardens).

What's there

• Canals and artificial islands - the romantic landscape scheme of about 1800.
• The Chinese pavilion - a garden building on one of the islands.
• Elephants seen from the path - the zoo enclosure open to the park.
• The palace on its hill - the summer residence closing the main view.

When to go

April to October for the full effect; the park is open year round and is used constantly by locals. Two to three hours. Summer evenings are busy with picnics. Boat trips on the canals run in the warmer months.

Things to know

The palace is a military academy and only opens on rare guided tours. Canal boats run limited hours in season only. The park is very busy on warm weekends. Paths flood in places after heavy rain.

Nearby

Copenhagen Zoo shares the boundary; Cisternerne is in the neighbouring Sondermarken park.

Key facts