Copenhagen is Opening a Stunning New Bathhouse Along Its Harbor This December—And It's Shockingly Affordable

Kai, a 62,500 square-foot ‘water culture house’ with 10 indoor and outdoor pools, will open on December 5.Rasmus HjortshøjCopenhagen is a swimmer’s city. "The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea," Danish author Karen Blixen, who lived up the coast from Copenhagen, famously wrote in 1934. Locals and visitors alike have taken her words to heart ever since.In the early 2000s, floating swimming pools were introduced to the Danish capital's harbor after the city's shipbuilding industry collapsed. These pools turned an unused space into a playground for swimmers, divers, water polo enthusiasts, and boaters, especially on hot summer days. In recent years, cold plunging has also risen in popularity as a way to help with mental and physical health—nowadays, you can expect winter swimming clubs with sauna access along the harbor to have lengthy waiting lists.The new bathing house was designed by the Japanese architectural firm Kengo Kuma Associates and has been 8 years in the making. Rasmus HjortshøjThe next time you visit Copenhagen, there's even more reason to pack a swimsuit. The city’s historic waterfront welcomes a long-awaited new addition on Saturday, December 5: a public swimming pool set to become a new landmark along the city's harbor.Designed by the Japanese architectural firm Kengo Kuma Associates, Kai is the new 62,500 square-foot bathing house that has been eight years in the making. It promises ten pools in total, including an open-air rooftop pool and a heated onsen overlooking Copenhagen Harbor. Delayed due to the pandemic and its knock-on effects, the pool was originally slated to open in 2021 and now joins the list of architecturally distinct buildings lining Copenhagen Harbor, including the modern Opera House and the Royal Danish Playhouse.This designer swimming experience comes with a surprisingly affordable price tag. Rasmus HjortshøjPools will be spread across the several levels of the minimalist interior, with a 82-foot pool on the ground floor. The building also offers year-round access to the harbor with designated swimming and dipping zones in and around a timber boardwalk. While the harbor itself can get pretty chilly in winter, the outdoor first-floor pools benefit from a sustainable vertical ground-source heat pump system providing year-round heating.This designer swimming experience comes with a surprisingly affordable price tag for visitors. Tickets are expected to be in line with other local city-run swimming pools—known as "water culture houses"—where entry is typically under 100kr (about $10). Capacity overall is capped at 380 swimmers. The 989 million DKK ($150 million) project was funded by the City of Copenhagen and Nordea Fonden.Kai will open on Paper Island on December 5, 2026. Rasmus HjortshøjSwimmers all over the city are delighted with the news, including Copenhagen’s Lord Mayor Sisse Marie Welling. “I’m really excited about the opening of the Water Culture House,” she said. “Copenhagen needs more swimming facilities, so it’s incredibly important that we are now getting new pools for adults, as well as paddling pools for children. I hope it will become the city’s new gathering point for water-loving Copenhageners and visitors alike.”The original idea for a new pool in the heart of the city came directly from Copenhageners. Surveys had pinpointed a desire for a new, central public swimming pool and the location on Paper Island could not be better. Once the site of a beloved food market, the area had stood empty for years, before being redeveloped to play home to restaurants, cafes and hospitality businesses. Directly across the harbor from the central tourist hub of Nyhavn and accessed by pedestrian and cycle bridge, the new pool brings renewed focus to the area, that links the old town with the rapidly gentrifying former military area of Holmen and the former shipbuilding area of Refshaleøen.Copenhagen's harbor is the heart of the city's year-round swimming culture. Getty ImagesMore of the best bathhouses in CopenhagenIf you are keen to explore Copenhagen’s swimming cultures, the harbor is the place to start—but brace yourself for chilly waters. At Sandkaj in Nordhavn in the north of the city, a demarcated swim zone invites bathers directly into the deep harbor for lane swimming. It’s a great place for a chat with a fellow winter swimmer; changing room access is members-only, but there is space to change on the quay. Warm up with a sauna at Saunanor, where you can also try the distinctive Danish saunagus tradition.Those seeking a more spa-like experience should head up the coast to Skodsborg Spa Hotel. The former sanatorium offers a superlative spa experience with 16 different bathing experiences, including saunas, steam rooms and access to a private swimming jetty on the beach. Alternative public swimming spots include Valby’s Water Culture House, a chic grey building a world away from typical leisure centre design with a slide, lane swimming and a hot pool area.This article was originally published on Condé Nast Traveller UK.Laura Hall is a travel writer specializing in Northern Europe, Scandinavia, and the Arctic. She writes a substack, Modern Scandinavian, about life in the north of Europe. Her favorite experience this year was hiking in snowmelt on an island in Disko Bay, Greenland. ... Read More