Copenhagen

Copenhagen is a city where you have a long list of must do and should do. But at the same time it is easy and convenient enough to do a good part of these lists in couple of days with a good plan.

I heard from my European friends all the time that if I look for a beautiful city I should definitely see Copenhagen. So I planned a trip to Copenhagen, also including Oslo and Stockholm to get the Scandinavian feeling all together 🙂 It was a self-planned for one person trip and I can say that it is been one of the best trips I’ve made so far.  I only went to capital cities but I’ll definitely plan another trip for not capital parts of these three countries.

As usual summary info is below and then we go to story part 🙂

Also as of this guide, I’ll also include price information on attractions and food-drink as per your request to give you a better idea, I added them in attraction details and at the end.

Enjoy 😉

Travel: You can find many direct flights to Copenhagen, especially check out SAS and Norwegian Airlines prices.

Visa: Schengen.

Food/Drink: Smørrebrød (open sandwich with many variation), Polser (hot dog with special sauces and pickles), sea foods, waffles/crepes as usual street deserts and do go to Paper Island to find all kinds of street foods from world all together. Carlsberg and Tuborg are two widely known beer brands of Denmark so you might wanna enjoy one in there.

Sightseeing: Nyhavn, Tivoli, Round Tower, Little Mermaid , Gefion Fountain,  Stroeget Street Stork Fountain ,Rosenborg Castle, The National Museum of Denmark , Visit Carlsberg, Church Of Our Savior, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Frederiks Kirke (The Marble Church ), Christiansborg Palace,  Kongens Have,  Christiania (not for everyone, check out the description!), and not in the city but as a one day travel tours around city you can go to Kronborg Castle (the palace in Hamlet), Viking Ship Museum, Frederiksborg Castle and Roskilde Cathedral.

Airport Transfer: Easiest way is to use metro, costing 36 krone per person (around 5 euro/5,5 dollars) to get to city center which tooks around 15-20 minutes.Public transport runs 24 hours so you find a metro anytime.

Where to Stay: Copenhagen really is an expensive city so try to arrange your lodgings as soon as possible to catch a good deal. After I checked the hotel prices here I found myself looking at hostel options 🙂 Yes the hostel option which I said I’ll never ever stay again in one! But hostels aren’t exactly cheap here too. I found hostels to be around 30-40 dollars/euros per night and some didn’t even include bed sheets! Yes they were much nicer, clean, organized, professional but friendly and even have common areas decorated and enjoyed like really nice cafe/pubs and they were in the top ten hostels of the world, so I really had a different experience than my first time, but still I think that hostels aren’t exactly my thing. I think it is the age 🙂 I stayed at Generator Copenhagen, it was in a very convenient location and they were really good. If you haven’t stayed in a hostel before, I definitely recommend them. I think as for the hostels go they are  “as good as it gets“. Just a reminder for anyone thinking to book a night at a hostel; do not forget to bring shampoo, flip flops and towel. Also a lock to use on where you put your luggage and stuff may come in handy. Though you can buy the lock at the hostels. (Not everyone uses a lock though, but it is the safe bet, afterall you are staying with strangers…)

Alright enough summary let’s get to the story part!

First of all weather is cold like in general, like a bit cold even in spring kind of. It is called “North” for a reason darlings 🙂 Especially if you are visiting here in autumn or winter prepare your luggage accordingly. Layers are always a good idea. For example for my 8 days trip across North Europe in September I manage to get by perfectly with a 7 kg smallest size luggage and half empty small size bag pack. I expect the same performance from you dear readers as we discussed before best luggage is the lightest!

As a first impression Copenhagen is a beautiful city and I include people living here as well 🙂 Seriously most of the employees I bought tickets or saw serving in cafes, I thought these are drop dead gorgeous/handsome people and would definitely be a model in my country! Maybe it was coincidental and physical beauty is of course different for everyone but let’s just say standards are high according the 21 century popular physical criteria.

I heard that it was the most bicycle friendly city before I came and I could see how true it was.  Bicycles are everywhere.  Actually it may be a very good idea to rent one by yourself and explore the city by it.

Architecture seems a bit Dutch style, but it is expected considering when the city first founded they brought architects from Holland. But nowadays Danish designers and architects are world famous themselves 🙂 You will see really nice old and new structures. I think couple of bridges needs special attention like the Circular Bridge as a modern example and the Marble Bridge to Christiansborg Palace as an old example.

It is an expensive city. and no it is not just euro/dollar to local currency loss expensive, it is expensive even if you have Danish kron as well 🙂 Imagine a Mc donalds or Burger King menu being 12-15 dollars (10-15 euro). And eating at a restaurant is of course much higher than this. Staying is expensive, even museums and atractions are not cheap. It is expensive alright 🙂 Also be careful of high commission rates when you exchange money as most of the exchange offices gets a very high rate in a already expensive city. (%13 percent! For 300 euros I paid 39 euro for comission!) But good news for you is that I discovered an exchange office without commission. Look for the office near tourist info center across Tivoli. (or any other office that specifically says no commission)

City is easy to explore on foot. You can get to most of the attractions by walking and most of them are close to each other. I didn’t need to use any transportation. But renting a bike would be a better option as it will be most convenient.
Most famous place in Copenhagen is an area called Nyhavn , with its colorful buildings and boats along with cafes/restaurants/pubs it is the main attraction. If you can only go to one place in Copenhagen this is it. It is near center and very easy to access.  I would suggest visiting here by day and also at night as both sights are too picturesque to miss. If you don’t plan to use any guide here let me give you some interesting information;

-Oldest house is number 9 (1681)

-Famous Danish writer H.C. Andersen who wrote many fairy tales books including Little Mermaid, lived in couple of houses in this area. Number 18 and 20 are some of them.

-Number 4, also known as pencil house, is as small as it looks! It has been built afterwards by an opportunist who decided he can fit a building between two buildings 🙂

One last thing about here is that there are boat tours you can join from here and it may be a good idea to do that at the first day of your trip to get a quick orientation and idea of the city. It is around 80 DKK (10 euro/12 dollars -cheap for Copenhagen) and it lasts around 1,5 hours (even though I was told 1 hour). I did the tour the last day so it was like a good polishing on my orientation but it would have been better if I did this on the first day.

One of the good places to start exploring Copenhagen is Round Tower ( Rundetårn. ) This round tower was built in 17th century as an astronomical observatory, but currently used as a tourist attraction to observe city from top. Building is beautiful and despite its age, well maintained. Also inside the tower I came across a modern exhibition which was interesting to see in an old building. (Exhibition was Dark Angels of Haute Couture which was totally my thing :))  Entry price for the tower is 25 krone (around 3-4 euro/dollars) which is a symbolic price for Copenhagen since a coffee usually costs more 🙂

After Round Tower you can go to Stroeget street or Rosenborg Castle, both are close by but they are on opposite sides so actually if you plan on visiting Rosenborg Castle it may be better to start there and proceed to Stroeget after Round Tower.

Stroeget Street is the main street, including parallel streets there are many nice cafes/restaurants/pubs and high end and boutique shops across it. It is a long street and there are two main squares with nice fountains one being the Stork Fountain and other Caritas Guldaeblespringvandet. (You will come across them anyway, no need to search for them). You can always find somebody singing near Stork Fountain 🙂 On parallel streets you can find more of Copenhagen night life and good places to eat. I even came across a street concert in one of them with a portable stage and portable pub in the middle of the road as well! Think of this street as a connection between Nyhavn and Tivoli as both are near separate ends of this street.

Rosenborg Castle is a popular attraction with a very easy to access location in the center.  Castle itself is now very big but it is conveniently located in a nice park called Kongens Have. You can visit inside the castle and see rooms that are actually used by royal family and crown jewels. But even if you don’t plan to go inside, it is at least worth checking out from outside. Entrance was 90 kroner (12 euro/14 dollars). 

Little Mermaid is one of the main symbols of Copenhagen even though it exist only for the last 100 years. You need to walk a little to reach it and afterwards seeing it really is little and hard to take a picture with all of the tourist crowd surrounding it you may feel a bit disappointed. But it is a nice statue and I really liked seeing it near sea just like its natural habitat. It is a nice walk anyway and you get to see Gefion Fountain on your way which I think might be one of the most photogenic fountains I came across. It is a big statue of North Goddess Gefion depicting a scene from North mythology where she plowed the land with oxen. I loved this fountain.

Tivoli with its gardens and being one of the oldest entertainments centers in old Europe dating back to 19th century and considering I spent a good 8 hours inside is one of the must go places I would suggest you to visit in Copenhagen. Yes 8 straight hours inside starting around 13.30 pm and left around just before 23 pm even though I really wanted to see midnight fireworks I was so exhausted. So if you ask me what is inside that made you spent so much time, first of all it really is a big theme park. Inside you can find many rides (with 3 level as first one being most suitable for children and increasing adrenalin for the 3rd category), many parks, many eating/drinking places, many small/big attractions like concerts, shows, marching bando…etc etc. This is a place you can enjoy with yourself with your lover or with you family.

Of course I did almost all of the 3rd level rides (the ones I couldn’t do; one was not in function and other I couldn’t find x_x) and couple of 2nd levels. And afterwards dining and drinking and walking around took all the time. And I didn’t wait much for any of the rides. Also besides rides there are old style lunapark entertainments like dart games, throw the circle games etc, and really too many kinds of food. Actually I would even suggest to go here for food since it was really convenient to reach all the variety of foods in one place and you can find both cheap and expensive options here (cheap according to Copenhagen of course :)). Again like Nyhavn I would suggest visiting here day and night so if you don’t want to plan spending too much time inside go near afternoon as you will have a chance to see pretty lightings after dark as well. Entrance is 99 krone  (around 13 euro/15 dollars but free if you have Copenhagen card), and also free for kids under 8 years old. But entrance doesn’t cover rides, so you can either pay for the rides as you ride them or get an unlimited ride pass. I would of course suggest unlimited pass because if you plan to do couple of the rides it already pays for itself. 1th level rides cost 25 krone, second level rides cost 50 krone and 3rd level rides cost 75 krone if you buy them separately. But for 209 krone (around 28 euro/32 dollars) you can get unlimited pass. Anyway even if you don’t like or plan to get into rides, enter here to walk around its lively gardens and cafes/restaurants.

When you say Denmark of course most of us will think of their famous beer brands Carlsberg ve Tuborg. Though you can enjoy both here Carlsberg has turned their first brewery into a tourist attraction in which you can visit and learn about Carlsberg history and beer brewing. It is far to walk but they have ring services (free) or you can use public buses. Entrance fee is 85 krone (around 13 dollars/12 euro) but you also get to drink two drinks so you can say it is cheap. (because unless it is happy hour you will pay around 50-70 krona per beer)
Also if you have Copanhagen card this attraction is also free for you.

Speaking of Copenhagen Card, card prices are 48 euro for 24 hours, 67 euro for 48 hours and 79 euro for 72 hours as of 2015. It doesn’t sound like you are gonna save money considering you will pay this much in the first place and need couple of days to do all the attractions. In card’s own website you can actually chose which attractions you wanna do and check if you save any money so it is better to look at that before you decide. For me I planned to do some of the attractions and in multiple days,and I didn’t need public transport so I didn’t bought it. I think Copenhagen card is best for people who plans to visit many museums, otherwise you may be better of without it.

Speaking of museums (it may look like I got distracted from the topic but these “speaking of”s are planned passages :p) there is a museum you should at least drop by because it is the The National Museum of Denmark and believe or not it is free. (Yaay a free attraction in Copenhagen!) Even if you are not a fan of museums you may want to see old Viking stuff and Golden horns. Another museum to note is Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, inside you can find many statues and a winter garden. Entrance is 100 krona (around 13 euro/15 dollars) but it is free on Tuesdays.

These museums are close to Tivoli. And Tivoli is just across the City Hall, which is a nice landmark building you will see after you leave Stroeget Street. There is a statue of H.C.Anderson which is also a tourist photo stop.

Frederiks Kirke , aka The Marble Church is a round designed church. It is a bit far from other attraction locations, I don’t think it is a must attraction but if you are close by have a look.

Christianshavn area of the city is also an area to include in your plans since famous Church of Our Savior is in this location. You can climb this church and see the city view from top as well. Also free town Christiana is here. This is an interesting place as it is a self-proclaimed town with its own laws and having around 850 residents. Cannabis usage is legal inside this area (though hard drugs are forbidden) and with free spirited residents that likes to meditate and do yoga and create art it was supposed to be peaceful unique experience to visit. But a quick search on the internet will give you really conflicting experiences as some found it to be amazing, peaceful, must see place and others found it dangerous, overstated, and loss of time.  Here are actually violent incidents in the history of the area so if you interested I would suggest to go during day time and stick with the main streets . Also no photo is allowed inside. Despite conflicting reviews I planned to visit here to see it with my own eyes, but on my 3rd day I wasn’t feeling well and it was raining too much so I had to skip so parts of my plan including this area. But since it is being one of the main tourist attractions of Copenhagen I wanted to mention it here anyway. Just know what you are up to and you can then decide if you want to visit it or not…

Christiansborg Palace, is one of the oldest buildings of Copenhagen, survivor of two serious fires and currently home to Danish parliament. Actually it is the only building in the world to be the home of all three important part of a country’s branches of government. I didn’t visit inside, only from outside but some parts of it are open to public if you want to visit inside as well.

Lastly I want to mention a place, I regret not going. It is the “Paper Island”. I noted this place before I started my trip but somehow I forgot to go here. This place was previously used as paper storage hence the name but currently it is the home for Copenhagen street food with around 35 stalls. These stalls not only covers Danish street food but also food from other world cuisines as well. And I really wanted to visit it, I can’t believe I skipped it 🙁 Also next to it there is an interactive science museum named Experimentarium which may be nice to visit if you are with children as well. 

Besides all of these attractions, there are daily tours from Copenhagen which you can take to visit nearby attractions in other cities. Most popular option is the one that covers 4 major tourist attractions in one day; Kronborg Castle (also known as “Elsinore” castle from immortal play Hamlet), Viking Ship Museum, Frederiksborg Castle and Roskilde Cathedral. The thing to watch out is that you should reserve you place before because it is quickly filled and you may miss it if you try to book it while you are there. (like a certain person :()

So let me give you more info on prices in Copenhagen and the part where everyone loves, what to eat in Copenhagen.

Water is around 4-10 krone in markets (around 0,5-1,5 euro/0,6-1,5 dollars). Coffee is between 30-50 krone (around 4-7 euro/4,5-7,5 dollars), beer in happy hours around 30 krone but usually around 50-70 krone (around 6,5-10 euro/7,5-11 dollars). Eating out even in not fancy places starts with 100 krone, like a burger costs usually around 100-150 krone (around 13-20 euros/15-23 dollars). Cheapest food options would be street food like that gives you a good box of 3 kinds of Chinese food for 35 krones (4-5 euros/5-6 dollars) or falafel and kebap places costing around 45-65 kroner.  McDonalds and Burger King menus cost around 60-80 krones (around 8-11 euros/9-12 dollars). Coffee in Starbucks is same like cafes, an Americano costs 27-31 krone depending on the size. If you want to try some Danish street food you can try Polser, a kind of Hot dog which you can get around 30 kroner (around 4 euro/4,5 dollars). Also waffles and crepes are popular street food as well costing you again around 30 kroner.  If you are really on budget check out markets like 7/11 as well. They have various food options with relatively good prices.

Lastly one Danish food you should try before you leave is 
smørrebrød. It is an open sandwich in which one wonders if somebody challenged Danish people to who will put the most ingredients in one piece of bread. But it has many variations on what type of ingredients used and the appearance are sometimes beyond food level and could be considered art.  Usually it is preferred as a lunch or afternoon snack. You can try vegetarian, meat, fish, mixed versions. Check out cafe promotions on smørrebrød since around lunch time or afternoon they can offer 2 types of smørrebrød with a drink in good prices like 70 kroner. But price of smørrebrød really changes from one place to another. Usually without promotion you can find one starting between 60-150 kroners (around 8-20 euro/9-23 dollars). One place suggested is Ritas Smørrebrød, though it was closed when I went so careful on opening days and times. Also another option can be food courts of shopping malls as they have always have various types  like the picture.