The Best of Copenhagen

The Danes are known to be some of the happiest people in the world (according to various random rankings), so we thought we’d give this city a try in August (2019).

Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark, and is situated on the 2 coastal islands of Zealand and Amager. Despite it’s slightly uncommon format, the capital is very well connected to other parts of the country and even to Malmo in Southern Sweden by bridge – and it is very easy to get around.

The Scandinavian countries and Denmark is particular are renowned for being quite expensive, so this was a real challenge for us to keep to our budget. Read on to see how we did it and what we did in this wonderful and quirky city.

Getting around

Airport: Although, as always, one can catch a taxi from the airport directly to the hotel, we always opt for the much cheaper and greener method of public transport. Getting to the centre of Copenhagen from the airport is very easy, just hop on the M2 metro for 20 or so minutes and you’re there.

General: As we were going to be exploring the city for a couple of days and our hotel was a little out of the centre, we knew that we were going to be using the public transport quite a lot. Because of this, we decided to get a City Pass Small, which gave you unlimited use of public transport in zones 1-4, which includes to and from the airport. The 48 hour ticket cost us 150 DKK each (around £17) which we didn’t think was too bad especially when you compare it to London!

The only thing we struggled with a bit was working out which side of the platform we needed to be… sounds silly I know, and it may just have been us but we ended up on the wrong train more than once! There didn’t seem to be signs anywhere which I think is what really threw us, but getting lost is all part of travelling right?!

What we did

Amagertorv

Also known as Amager Square, this area is often described as the centre of Copenhagen, as it is part of the Strøget pedestrian area where the two main shopping streets meet. The centrepiece of the square is a magnificent Stork fountain, surrounded by a plethora of unique buildings with a lot of history. Unfortunately when we went there was a lot of construction work which sort of spoiled some of the views, but there was no denying it was a beautiful square.

One building of note was the Church of the Holy Spirit, one of the cities oldest churches. We did not get a chance to go inside, but the exterior was stunning to look at. The original church actually burned down in 1728, but was rebuilt in 1732 and still stands to this day.

Børsen

The 17th century Stock Exchange building located on the riverside has one particularly imposing and intricate feature – a spire consisting of 4 intertwined dragon tails. It really is something you need to see, as describing it doesn’t do it justice. The actual building is now used as the HQ of the Danish Centre of Commerce. It is a fine example of the Dutch Renaissance style buildings.

Christiansborg Slot

Known as Christiansborg Palace in English, this royal complex has an 800 year history. As with a lot of places on this list, we decided not to venture inside the palace as we wanted to keep the costs down, however we did have a wander around the outside which was well worth it. It is also worth noting that under 18s go free, and there is also a reduced student cost as well.

Den Lille Havfrue

Possibly in the rankings for one of the most well-known statues in Europe or even the world, we didn’t think we could visit Copenhangen without seeing The Little Mermaid. The thing that we were most surprised about what how small she was! I think she seemed smaller because she was positioned on the waters edge but further down the embankment so when we first caught a glimpse of her through the throng of tourists, she looked tiny.

If I’m honest, I personally wasn’t overly taken by the attraction – it just seemed very hyped up to me. However, I did find out that this statue has bared the brunt of vandals over the years, from her head being sawn off in both the 1960s and the 1990s; to her being entirely blasted off her rock in 2003… that poor girl!

Marmorkirken

Although its official name is Frederik’s Church, its more popular name is the Marble Church (Marmorkirken). We didn’t actually plan to visit this building, but instead stumbled across it when we were exploring. However, we thought it worth mentioning as it was actually very pretty to look at and made a great photo. It was only afterwards we found out that this church actually has the largest dome in Scandinavia at 31 meters, which I thought was a pretty cool thing to just find in a city.

Nyhavn

This beautiful row of buildings on the canal front is a wonderful place to have a wander and maybe even a meal if you feel like splurging. Sitting out in the sunshine for an hour or so was a nice change in pace from the rest of our trip. The multicoloured houses are found on many postcards and articles on Copenhagen, and its not hard to see why – it really is picture perfect. The oldest house on this promenade is number 9, it has remained unchanged since 1681 which is pretty remarkable. If you go to one place in Copenhagen please make time to go here, it really is a lovely environment to spend some time in.

Rosenborg Slot

This famous and majestic castle in the heart of Copenhagen is a must see – from the outside at least. The Renaissance design that is found throughout most of the city is strikingly beautiful, and the surrounding gardens mean you can go for a lovely stroll around the grounds and see the castle from all angles.

There is the option to go inside however we did not due to our limited time schedule (and because we’re trying to save money!). From what I remember the tours are set in time slots so you don’t need to worry about overcrowding inside, which is definitely a good thing if you were to spend some time looking around.

We made sure that we were there in time for the Changing of the Guard that happens at 11:30 every day. This was a fun and unique thing to see, the whole procession lasts about half and hour as they walk all the way to 11:30 changing of the guard was fun to see but didn’t end up following them down to Amalienborg Palace where another procession takes place (again, due to timing restrictions and anting to see as many different things as possible!). It is not quite as elaborate as your London changing, but we still really enjoyed it.

Other places of interest we passed

Rundetårn

Kastellet Military Barracks

City Hall (inside and outside)

What and where we ate

Meyers Bageri

This was a little bakery that we just walked past when we were feeling a bit peckish so decided to pop in and see what they had to offer. I opted for the Brød Og Kager (pictured) as it looked the most fancy, and I later found it out to be a cinnamon swirl. David decided on the Tebolle m. chokolade which was basically a chocolate brioche. Both were very tasty and slightly warm which make them even more special. The staff were all very friendly, I can’t fault this place at all!

Gorilla

Now, we all know Copenhagen is very expensive, especially when it comes to food. On our last day here we needed to get something to eat before our flight, so had a google to find the best value options. Gorilla was the best option we came up with and was only about a 20 minute journey away from where we were at the time so we decided to give it a try.

It was certainly on the fancier side of places we have eaten at before, we did feel a little under dressed but went in anyway. Turns out we didn’t quite read the menu right as the way it worked is that you bought a variety of smaller dishes to enjoy, but that would have been way too much money for us! So we instead had one dish each, which was nice and filling enough for me but still very expensive for what it was.

The bottom line is, eating out in Copenhagen is expensive, try to avoid it if you can unless you have the money!

Hanegal

These hot-dog stands can be found all over Copenhagen – some do many different varieties of sausage and fillings but we opted for the simple roasted sausage in a French baguette bun – with ketchup of course!

Where we stayed

Copenhagen Go Hotel

As you may have seen me mention, Copenhagen is expensive – and this goes for accommodation as well. Unfortunately our normal go-to of Airbnb was out of the question as the prices were just too much for our budget.

We instead opted for this hotel slightly out of the centre of Copenhagen, but with a train station a few minutes walk away. Yes it is a budget hotel but it had everything we needed and was super clean and comfortable – for an okay price too.

Final comments you’ll be pleased to know, I would highly recommend visiting Copenhagen to tick it off your list of European City breaks. It can easily be done in a weekend which is great for busy people, but just make sure you have the budget for it – even after following our money-saving shortcuts we were still slightly over-budget.

It is a lovely destination with rich history – have we missed anything you think should be on anyone’s list when visiting Copenhagen?

Happy travelling!

Zoe and David x

Written by Zoe