On Friday I showed you the general sights of Copenhagen, but today I'm going to share our approach to touring the city in the hopes of giving you a starting point should you ever wish to venture there yourself.
We booked a cheap Easy Jet flight leaving London in the wee hours of Friday morning, arriving in Copenhagen around 10am. The return flight left town at 9:45pm on the Sunday night giving us a good three days of wandering around the city.
We were also able to book a (VERY BASIC) hotel with our flight, which kept the costs down. Our 'no frills' abode was called
The Absalon. While it was definitely a bare bones kind of place (we're on a student budget people), I would definitely recommend it as far as the location was concerned. It was a few blocks from the central station (there is a train directly there from the airport) and was in the meat packing district, which although we didn't spend much time there is full of good restaurants and bars.
My approach to most new cities (as cheesy as this is) is to take a ride on the 'Hop-on / Hop-off Bus' on the first day. It's great because it gives you a little history, identifies the main sights and attractions, and allows you to get your bearings. In most cities a two-day pass is under $20, and the nice part is, although not direct, you can use it as your basic transit during the first couple of days when you don't really know where you are going anyways. Copenhagen is a bit different in the off season though as the buses aren't that frequent, so if you jump off at a stop, the next bus isn't for another hour. I'm sure this changes when more tourists are in town.
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| Earphones in and ready to go. |
The company we went with was
this one. There was the option to combine the tour with a canal boat ride, but the weather was grimm so we opted not to. The bus did a quick 5 min stop at the Little Mermaid (as seen in my
day one post), so you didn't have to wait an entire hour for the bus to return if all you wanted was a quick photo of the statue.
Our Must-See List: (in no particular order)
1)
Amalienborg Palace The changing of the guards happens every day at noon. If the Queen is in residence, the guards are accompanied by a marching band (you can hear the band playing throughout the city at noon each day)
2) Nyhavn- 17th Century waterfront street along a Canal (yes, the row of very colourful houses as seen in post one)
3)
Tivoli (Amusement Park/ Gardens: though under construction while we were there, I'm told this is a must do).
4)
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (35 min train ride from the city but TOTALLY WORTH IT!) See
this blog post for more details, along with the photos below. This was S's favourite part of the trip.
It was fun to see some of Warhol's contour drawings and tracings prior to his 'factory days'.
Some other pieces in the gallery...
I loved the Children's area. It was filled with kids learning how to create their own Warhol's.
The Architecture and sculptures on the property were worth the journey alone... It was neat how the building embraced its surroundings and really brought the outside, in.
5) The Little Mermaid Statue (as mentioned above- you only need a quick 5 or 10 mins)
6)
Christiania (Get off the bus, take some pictures..without getting yelled at, and have a quick snack at the Cafe while you kill time for the next bus - it's pretty unique and worth checking out)
7) Rosenborg Castle (Your Hop-On /Hop-Off Bus stops here also- worth getting off)
8) Take a walk/ Shop along
Stroget Street (The longest Pedestrian only street in the EU)
9) Shop/ Browse / Eat your way through
Torvehallerne (for Vancouverites, it's like our Granville Island)
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| Gorm's Pizza. |
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| Smorrebrod. |
While Grazing your way through the market is great, here are some of the places we had sit down meals:
Breakfast:
Although this is a chain, you must 100% get yourself to a
Lagkagehuset. EVERYDAY. I'm embarrassed to say, I don't even like pastries and this was one of my favourite parts of the weekend. Go.
Lunch: We are sad, as we never had a chance to try
smorrebrod (basically the traditional Danish open-faced sandwich). Give it a try and let me know how you like it. The next link is the place S and I were trying to make it to, but never did-
Orangeriet
Dinner:
Another perk to our hotel, was this wonderful sushi restaurant across the street. I have high standards when it comes to sushi, and although a little pricey, S and I both agreed, this place was good.
My favourite dinner of the weekend was at a wine and tapas bar called
Pluto. We went there for my birthday and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone heading to the city. It was by far one of the best meals I've had in a long time.
Copenhagen is filled with tall beautiful human beings and this place was no exception.
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| We tried Orange Wine (created by making white wine using the red wine process). Delicious. |
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| The bottom left photo was the most refreshing and tasty dessert, and the bottom right photo, the ladies washroom plastered with boy band photos. |
Some Extra Tips...
Check out at least one Bodega (the down side is you're allowed to smoke in the Bodega's, so you head home smelling like a chimney).
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| S at the Bodega (before we were 'smoked out'). |
Lastly, below are a few more insider tips from a Danish friend of a friend. We didn't have time to get to these, but his descriptions sound intriguing and I trust the source, so when I get back there I will put these spots to the test. Notice I said 'when' and not 'if'.
Restaurants:
www.fiskebaren.dk good place combining both bar and restaurant. Mainly serves fish dishes - good quality to price I think but remember I haven't been to a number of places in a couple of years. (lots of bars and clubs in that area)
www.noma.dk the worlds best restaurant… fact(!) not just me saying it. An extraordinary gastronomic journey – but of course not cheap and maybe a bit too experimental for most people.
www.1th.dk A really cosy place where the concept is sort of being invited into somebody’s home (not buzz atmosphere but romantic and laid back)
All of the above are semi- to $$$$.
Bars:
Liedkoeb = Apparently doesn’t have a website but is located on Vesterbrogade 72 B (through the portal and continue to the courtyard and she’ll find it)
Ruby’s = owned by the same people as the one above. http://rby.dk/#/0 Very nice bar in 2 levels and great cocktails. I would probably go there instead of the other one since it is a bit more spacious.
If you have any Copenhagen travel tips you'd like to share, or things I've missed (I'm sure there are plenty), please leave a comment below.
