Danish Camino routes: pilgrim ways and the best walks

A walking route is not the same as a Camino, and that difference is worth holding on to. A Camino is a pilgrim way or a route with a clear Camino identity, where you follow pilgrim symbols, can often collect stamps in a pilgrim passport, and walk in a tradition that is a thousand years old. An ordinary walking route is a beautiful trip without that pilgrim heritage. Both are wonderful. They are simply different things.

We walk all of it, both the true pilgrim ways and the fine day trips, and in this guide we sort them for you, so you can find what you are looking for. If you want the long pilgrim experience, look at the pilgrim ways. If you just want a day out in nature, there is a walking route for you further down. And if Denmark is new territory for you, it is a small, flat country in northern Europe where the sea is never far away, which makes it a gentle place to walk.

The true pilgrim ways

This is where you find the real Camino feeling in Denmark. The routes are waymarked, carry pilgrim tradition, and many people walk them with a pilgrim passport.

• Jakobsvejen is the Danish part of the Camino de Santiago. The Danish Society of Santiago Pilgrims has waymarked a network of routes across Zealand, Funen and Jutland that connects Denmark with the Way of St James onwards to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.
• Hærvejen is called the Danish Camino. It runs around 275 to 290 kilometres down through Jutland along the old road on the Jutland ridge, from Viborg towards the German border, with hostels and pilgrim refuges along the way.

The Camino-inspired routes

A handful of Danish routes borrow their name and mood from the Camino. They are not old pilgrim ways, but they are made for walking over several days, and they capture the same calm. People even talk about Denmark’s Caminos.

• Camønoen runs around 175 kilometres through the islands of Møn, Bogø and Nyord, past the famous chalk cliffs, and is called Denmark’s friendliest walking route.
• Vesterhavscaminoen takes you along the west coast of Jutland with the North Sea as your constant companion. A raw and beautiful route for those who love the sea and the big sky.
• Amarminoen is a day route of around 27 kilometres around the island of Amager. The name is a nod to the Camino, and the trip gives you the pilgrim feeling in a few hours close to Copenhagen.

Other Danish walking routes

These routes are not Caminos, and they have no need to be. They are quite simply some of the most beautiful walks we have done in Denmark, perfect for a single day in nature.

• Gendarmstien follows the coast along the Danish-German border in southern Jutland. Its roughly 84 kilometres offer beach, forest and hills, though as a walking route rather than a pilgrim way.
• The five best walks on Bornholm gather rocky coastline, crevice valleys and forest on Denmark’s sunshine island in the Baltic.
• Bagsværd Lake and Boserup Forest are calm nature walks on Zealand, close to Copenhagen.
• The Farum Lake loop is a lovely route of around 10 kilometres all the way around the lake.

How to tell them apart

The rule is simple. If you follow pilgrim symbols and a tradition that points towards Santiago, you are walking a Camino or a pilgrim way. If you are simply out for a beautiful walk for its own sake, it is a walking route. You will find Camino signs on many of the Danish routes, though far from all of them, and a stroll around a lake on Zealand does not become a Camino for that reason. Both kinds deserve to be walked. Choose based on what you need right now, a long pilgrimage or a single day in nature.