Over the summer John and I had the pleasure of visiting Copenhagen, Denmark for several days as our Baltic cruise started and ended there. After our delayed baggage fiasco on our many connecting flights home to Canada, we decided to spend the extra money and fly directly with Emirates to Copenhagen. It was a 6 hour flight and getting from the airport to our hotel was quite easy as well. Copenhagen has a population of around half a million people, and felt much smaller than other cities we had recently visited. I really enjoyed the ease of getting around this city, and how clean it was. The people were also very friendly and even though Danish is the main language, everyone speaks English as well.
Before we started our cruise we stayed at a hotel on a quiet street in the trendy neighbourhood of Osterbro. The transportation mode of choice by most people seemed to be bicycle, and the streets all had bike lanes. Copenhagen also had a lot of bus, metro, and train options.
One of the highlights of Copenhagen was visiting a place called Nyhavn, which is famous for its colourful buildings. Nyhavn was packed with restaurants, street performers, and tourists strolling along the canal.
After visiting Nyhavn, we spent an afternoon at the Rosenborg Castle grounds. We didn't pay to enter the castle, which houses the Danish crown jewels, but just visited the "Kongens Have" (The King's Garden) which was free. The King's Garden is a great place to people watch and relax. It was nice to lay down on the grass and enjoy the warmth of the sun.
From Rosenborg Castle we walked to the famous statue "Den lille havfrue" ... The Little Mermaid. Hans Christian Andersen, the most famous Danish children's author, wrote the story of the little mermaid and her statue is now a symbol of the city.
We also enjoyed walking down Strøget, which is one of the oldest and longest pedestrian streets in the world. Along the street you can find many cafes and souvenir shops. We stopped into the Lego store to admire the amazing Lego creations. Lego was invented in Denmark, and in the store we saw displays of famous places like Nyhavn made out of Lego.
Along the pedestrian street you can also see many food stands. The most famous street food in Denmark is the "pølser"... the hot dog! Hot dog wagons are everywhere in Copenhagen, and they usually serve a large variety with some interesting toppings. The classic Danish hot dog is topped with crispy fried onions, raw onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and remoulade sauce. It is really, really good!
Before we started our cruise we stayed at a hotel on a quiet street in the trendy neighbourhood of Osterbro. The transportation mode of choice by most people seemed to be bicycle, and the streets all had bike lanes. Copenhagen also had a lot of bus, metro, and train options.
One of the highlights of Copenhagen was visiting a place called Nyhavn, which is famous for its colourful buildings. Nyhavn was packed with restaurants, street performers, and tourists strolling along the canal.
After visiting Nyhavn, we spent an afternoon at the Rosenborg Castle grounds. We didn't pay to enter the castle, which houses the Danish crown jewels, but just visited the "Kongens Have" (The King's Garden) which was free. The King's Garden is a great place to people watch and relax. It was nice to lay down on the grass and enjoy the warmth of the sun.
From Rosenborg Castle we walked to the famous statue "Den lille havfrue" ... The Little Mermaid. Hans Christian Andersen, the most famous Danish children's author, wrote the story of the little mermaid and her statue is now a symbol of the city.
We also enjoyed walking down Strøget, which is one of the oldest and longest pedestrian streets in the world. Along the street you can find many cafes and souvenir shops. We stopped into the Lego store to admire the amazing Lego creations. Lego was invented in Denmark, and in the store we saw displays of famous places like Nyhavn made out of Lego.
Along the pedestrian street you can also see many food stands. The most famous street food in Denmark is the "pølser"... the hot dog! Hot dog wagons are everywhere in Copenhagen, and they usually serve a large variety with some interesting toppings. The classic Danish hot dog is topped with crispy fried onions, raw onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard, and remoulade sauce. It is really, really good!
Just off of Strøget you can find the Rundetårn (The Round Tower) which was built in the 17th century as an astronomical observatory and is attached to a chapel. The Round Tower has a winding sloped ramp leading to a short staircase at the top. From the top you can have a great view of Copenhagen.
However, the best thing we did in Copenhagen was visit Tivoli Gardens, which is an amusement park dating back to 1843 - one of the oldest in the world! Tivoli Gardens has several "old school" rides, including one of the world's oldest wooden rollercoasters. There are also some modern rides of course, but overall the place has a very vintage feel. It is a nice place to visit even if you don't want to go on rides, as there are restaurants, gardens, and a concert stage which has performances throughout the summer months. We ended up paying for an all-access pass which let us go on any rides we wanted. Although I'm not a big rides person since I get pretty dizzy, my favourite was the "Star Flyer" which is the world's second-tallest carousel at 80 metres high. After you strap into your chair, the Star Flyer lifts you up slowly into the air, and before you know it you're swinging around in the sky with an amazing view over the city.
Copenhagen was very charming and a place that I'd love to spend more time in. Despite the city being fairly expensive, it is definitely a place I'd recommend on a visit to Europe.
Once again, excellent commentary on your visit to Copenhagen!!!
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