Where will you hop on two wheels first - Copenhagen or Amsterdam?

By Amy Cooper

We knew Princess Mary's transformation from Tasmanian to great Dane was complete when she pedalled the snowy Copenhagen streets in a Christiania cargo bicycle, with her twins bundled up in the front.

Riding a bike is more Danish than Hamlet, hygge, bacon or knowing all Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales. This is the country with a Cycling Embassy. Nine out of 10 Danes own a bike and use it daily on more than 12,000 kilometres of nationwide cycleways.

Copenhagen, capital of the world's second happiest nation (the Netherlands is number five, just sayin'), has five times more bikes than cars and half its workers commute on two wheels, on about 400 kilometres of wide, safe bicycle lanes with cycle-centric facilities - railings to grab at traffic lights, angled rubbish bins for two-wheeled tossers.

Cycling defines Copenhagen's layout and enhances its aesthetic, with more than a dozen dedicated cycle bridges considered architectural masterpieces in a city already big on built beauty.

Cirkelbroen, designed by Olafur Eliasson, with its five conjoined circular platforms, is a stunner and Cykelslangen ("bicycle snake") soars for 200 metres over harbour and streets with prime views of monuments and spires.

A year ago today, Copenhagen's cycling supremacy was confirmed when the Tour de France kicked off in the city. You can still cycle the Grand Depart route, taking in major landmarks including Queen Louise's Bridge, probably the world's busiest bike street with 40,000 pedalling across daily; the copper-bedecked Maersk Tower; Mary and Fred's rococo-fabulous Amalienborg Palace, and the enchanting, nostalgic Tivoli, in fairytale gardens illuminated nightly with up to two million twinkling lights.

Tivoli is the world's second oldest amusement park. The oldest, 16th-century Bakken, is a delightful 12-kilometre bike ride from Copenhagen along Danish Riviera beachfronts to Dyrehaven, one of the country's oldest forests and deer park.

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Rent wheels or join any number of guided bike tours focussing on architecture, galleries, museums or even Cykelkokken - a gastronomic cycling tour with a travelling five-course menu served from the chef's bike.

Aboard your iron horse, you can access everything up close - no fuel, no fare - from Copenhagen Cathedral to the Carlsberg brewery. But as Mary knows, cycling in this beautiful harbour city isn't just a convenient, green transport mode - it's a way of life.

You don't just cycle to see Copenhagen; you bike to belong.

Only on wheels, with the wind in your hair, can you connect fully with the freewheeling, egalitarian Danish spirit, immerse yourself in the landscape, and grasp why those biking Vikings are so darned happy.

By Mal Chenu

With due deference to the Sydney Mardi Gras parade leaders, and their preferred spelling, if you want to see dikes on bikes you need to cycle in the Dutch capital of Amsterdam. You'll look so pretty while you are riding along in either Amsterdam or Copenhagen, but "tulip town" is the undisputed cycling capital of the world, boasting more than 400 kilometres of dedicated lanes between the roads and footpaths.

Riding around at your own pace without a helmet ruining your hairdo is a sheer biking bliss we don't get to experience in Australia. Motorists in Amsterdam show tremendous respect to cyclists on the roads, too, which is another thing Aussies will find strange.

Amsterdam has more bikes than people and half of all transport trips in the city are of the two-wheeled variety. Don't ask a cabbie about trying to make a living here or you might get into an argument that escalates into a chips and mayonnaise melee.

Once you hire your deadly treadly (about 10 euros for the day) you can ride alongside medieval architecture and the pretty World Heritage-listed ring of canals, head to the famous Anne Frank House, to the Rijksmuseum to check out the Rembrandts and Vermeers, or to the Van Gogh Museum and lend an ear to the guided tours.

Pedal-heads who are also petal-heads will love Vondelpark and Keukenhof Gardens, which are colourfully resplendent from March to May when the tulips bloom. Amsterdamse Bos forest on the city's edge is a peaceful place to take a break and pig out on bitterballen and stroopwafels, and sip your coffee.

Speaking of which, the coffee shops in Amsterdam's Red-Light District were the first places in the world to sell cannabis legally. This is not so unique these days (and if you're reading this in Canberra, how good are Twisties?) but it is important to note that Amsterdam was cool way before everyone else, and that the Red Light District is now totally clean and tourist-friendly, dude.

Beyond Amsterdam, the whole of the Netherlands is criss-crossed with dedicated bike paths, bringing all of the picturesque countryside, stately castles, tulip fields, windmills and dikes within easy two-wheel reach. You can cycle to Amsterdam Beach, Haarlem, Old Holland and the quaint fishing village Volendam, and then ride back, known in this environmentally conscious part of the world as recycling.

Wherever you ride, you'll pass an impressive array of ornate and clever statues in almost every square and park. I wouldn't deign (geddit?) to criticise Copenhagen but - I have to say - The Little Mermaid is the second most disappointing statue in Europe, after the urinating Manneken Pis in Brussels. If you want to see a small chick on the rocks straining to get in touch with her humanity, check out Madonna.