Gentofte is Copenhagen's wealthiest neighbour — an arc of leafy suburbs stretching north along the Øresund coast, home to embassies, old money, and a handful of attractions that genuinely warrant the short S-tog ride from the city centre.
The big draw is Dyrehavsbakken — Bakken for short — the world's oldest continuously operating amusement park, founded in 1583 beside the freshwater springs of Jægersborg Dyrehave. The deer park itself is one of the finest places within the Copenhagen city region for a walk or a bike ride: a UNESCO World Heritage Site covering nearly 10 square kilometres of ancient beech forest where red deer roam freely. On the coast to the south, Charlottenlund Palace sits behind a sandy beach that draws Copenhagen families all summer; the palace grounds are open daily and free.
The Ordrupgaard Museum in Charlottenlund is the cultural centrepiece: a superb collection of French Impressionist and Danish Golden Age painting in a converted manor house extended by an extraordinary black concrete and glass wing by Zaha Hadid. Few museums in Scandinavia can match the quality of its Gauguin, Degas, and Hammershøi holdings per square metre.
Bernstorff Palace, an 18th-century royal summer residence, stands at the heart of a large public park that is good for an afternoon away from the city. South of the palace, Gentofte Lake offers calm water and cycling paths in an otherwise busy suburban setting. The Experimentarium science centre in Hellerup is the best family option in the municipality — interactive and well-resourced in a way that Copenhagen's city centre attractions rarely match.