How To: A Weekend In Copenhagen

Hi people!

Last Sunday was valentine’s day, and instead of being romantic and give each other cute little presents, me and my boyfriend have the amazing tradition to explore the world with a city trip around that particular day! Last year, like a lot of young couples, we went to Antwerp. This year we decided to go to a city which is less obvious to go, Copenhagen. And that was definitely a great decision. Unfortunately we only stayed for two nights because of school obligations.

We stayed at a hotel named ‘First Hotel Twentyseven’, which was very nice. It wasn’t the best hotel I’ve ever been to, but the location was very, very good. Since we only stayed for two nights, we had to see and do everything in a very short time. We arrived around six o’clock in the evening on Friday, so we also only had two full days. We had dinner at an amazing burger restaurant with the ironic name ‘Cocks and Cows’. As far as we know they have four different restaurants spread over the city. We made a reservation in advance since we arrived late and we wanted to make sure that we were able to have dinner close to our hotel, which was a good choice since it was really busy. The burgers were delicious. Definitely a recommendation when you are staying in Copenhagen!

Copenhagen is known as the city of bikes, so we had to ride a bike there. We rented bikes at our hotel, which is possible at almost every hotel there so don’t worry about that. There are also bike rental shops on every corner of the streets. We went by almost every place of interest on our bikes. On Sunday we saw the remaining things by feet, which was also definitely doable, since the places of interest are all in the centre, which is not too big. Some of the most interesting things we saw and did are mentioned below. According to me, these are must do’s.

One of the most famous places in Copenhagen is of course The Nyhavn, or translated as the New Harbour. It is mainly known because of the nice coloured ‘canal houses’. In real it is even more beautiful in real life than on photo’s! We had a boat trip through the haven and, again, put a love lock on the bridge over the canal. 

The Church of our saviour is a normal church with a beautiful tower with a winding staircase on the outside. We did not climbed this tower because it is closed until the 27th of February, but when it is opened it seems to have a beautiful view!

Instead of that tower, we climbed the Round Tower, or Rundetaarn. You don’t climb this tower by staircase (although the last part of the climb is a staircase), but you climb it through a helical corridor leading to the top. This makes that it was also possible to be climbed by horses with a coach. The view was beautiful. Somewhere in the corridor there is a small gate to a glass floor, you can look down 25 floors. The entrance is 25 DKK which is about 3 euro’s. 

A really cool area of Copenhagen is Christiania. Actually this is not an area of Copenhagen since it is a Freetown. Christiania is regulated by their own special law. It is not allowed to take pictures, especially not in the ‘Green Light District’, a place where drugs is sold legally. It sounds scary and dangerous, but actually it looks very pretty because of all the graffiti and the people were very nice.

Amalienborg is the place to be at noon. That is the moment when the changing of the guard takes place, which is definitely fun to see! Almost next to this palace, the Marbled Church is located. This is a beautiful church. The entrance is for free and you can also visit the top of the tower for a small contribution.

Another world famous must see of Copenhagen is The Little Mermaid, or Den Lille Havfrue. The statue is really pretty and was bigger than we expected. Even though it was very cold and it was not summer season, it was very busy. We did got the possibility to take a picture together with the statue, but I can imagine it being more busy during the summer. My advice: go as early as possible!

The Torve Hallerne is called one of the best food markets of Europe. This is a perfect way to try the typical Danish Smørrebrød since you can see what you are ordering here in a showcase, in contrast to the ordering from a menu in a restaurant. Smørrebrød is actually an open sandwich of buttered rye bread. It is decorated with that much food, that you almost can’t see the bread anymore. There are a lot of different types of topping. It tastes really good.

Other places of interest we saw were Christiansborg palace, Rosenborg Castle, Kastellet, shopping street Strøget, Rådhuspladsen and the statue of Hans Christian Andersen. All definitely worth a visit!

Another must visit is of course one of the oldest amusement parks of Europe, Tivoli. Unfortunately it was closed because of the winter season. Such a shame! It is opened again from April on. In the winter it is opened during Halloween and the Christmas season. We also would have needed another day since our two days were fully planned already!

Another thing we would have done when we had another day in Copenhagen, was visiting Malmö. Yes, you read it right, Sweden. Copenhagen is located really close to Malmö, and they have a very good train connection together. A great way to spend one of your days in Copenhagen, is visiting, not only a different city, but also a different country! We didn’t have time for this unfortunately, but I would definitely give it a try if we had more time.

I would be able to write even more about things to do in Copenhagen, like a lot of museums, beer breweries, zoos and aquariums. But your trip to Copenhagen is probably fully planned too already.

I experienced Copenhagen as very cold, amazingly beautiful and I had a great weekend :)

And if you are wondering, can you entertain yourself in Copenhagen for a week? Yes definitely! Is it also doable in two days? Yes! And we are the evidence.

Lots of Love,

Daphne