r/travel Dec 21 '17

Advice r/travel City Destination of the Week: Copenhagen

Weekly topic thread, this week featuring the city of Copenhagen. Please contribute all and any questions / thoughts / suggestions / ideas / stories about this travel destination.

This post will be archived on our wiki destinations page and linked in the sidebar for future reference, so please direct any of the more repetitive questions there.

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Example: We really enjoyed the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. It was $35 each, but there's enough to keep you entertained for whole day. Bear in mind that parking on site is quite pricey, but if you go up the hill about 200m there are three $15/all day car parks. Monterey Aquarium

Unhelpful: Read my blog here!!!

Helpful: My favourite part of driving down the PCH was the wayside parks. I wrote a blog post about some of the best places to stop, including Battle Rock, Newport and the Tillamook Valley Cheese Factory (try the fudge and ice cream!).

Unhelpful: Eat all the curry! [picture of a curry].

Helpful: The best food we tried in Myanmar was at the Karawek Cafe in Mandalay, a street-side restaurant outside the City Hotel. The surprisingly young kids that run the place stew the pork curry[curry pic] for 8 hours before serving [menu pic]. They'll also do your laundry in 3 hours, and much cheaper than the hotel.

Undescriptive I went to Mandalay. Here's my photos/video.

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44 Upvotes

32 comments sorted by

22

u/michaltee 47 Countries and Counting Dec 21 '17

I absolutely loved Copenhagen. Easily one of the most beautiful cities to just get lost in as it's a sight to see.

It's a cheap destination from the US as Copenhagen is a main stop for Norwegian Airlines so you can often get flights for a couple hundred bucks or less depending where you're flying from. Also, you can check out Sweden while you're there as Malmö is only an hour train ride away (and worth a visit, although that's not up for discussion in this thread).

My top recommendations depend on your preferences while traveling. I'm all about traditional food and beer so I sought out Glogg (hot spiced wine), Aebleskiver (round cakes), cheese pastries and my favorite: visiting Mikkeller and Friends where they had tons of the tastiest beers on tap. If you're into sours, they also have a sour shop next door called Koelschip. The owner is a Belgian ex-pat who loves talking bugs in beer so definitely give him a visit.

As for the city itself, again, it's super walkable or bikeable, as bicyclists have more right of way than cars and pedestrians (or so it seems). Beyond that, you can get yourself a train and bus combo ticket which isn't too expensive to get you to the farthest reaches of the city.

Visiting Nyhavn is a must, where you see the most stereotypical pictures of Copenhagen taken, since it's really beautiful, but honestly, there are countless areas that look just like it so you'll get plenty of chances to take great pictures! But do check out the other sites and see if you can visit the amusement park that's in the middle of town (I can't remember the name of it).

Danes are very, very nice and will always be willing to help you if asked. All in all, it's an amazing spot! Sorry I don't have any pictures as I'm on mobile and don't know how to properly embed pics but I can share them with you if you PM me with any questions.

7

u/MrHaxx1 Dec 22 '17

The amusement park is called Tivoli. It's pretty great, indeed.

Glad you had a good time here!

1

u/michaltee 47 Countries and Counting Dec 22 '17

Thank you! Yeah I was a bit bummed because when we were there it wasn't open yet. But there's always a next time!

6

u/ImaNeedBoutTreeFiddy Dec 23 '17

I was the a couple days ago. I walked everywhere. The city is pretty compact and nothing was more than 30-40 minutes walk away (max)

2

u/michaltee 47 Countries and Counting Dec 24 '17

Very much agreed. We were housed a bit outside of the "main" area where all the tourist sites are so we took the train into town and then spent all day walking.

2

u/Nickitydd Dec 21 '17

Thanks for this post. I'll be there in February for a few days and booked a hotel in Nørrebro last night.

1

u/michaltee 47 Countries and Counting Dec 21 '17

Awesome! You're gonna love it. Definitely bring winter clothes. I was there in October and it was already suppppper cold!

17

u/anseldiama Dec 23 '17

Freetown Christiana, the last hippie town in the world is definitely worth a visit in Copenhagen!

14

u/Eldona Switzerland Dec 22 '17

Copenhague is the bike capital so I recommend to rent one. It's just the easiest way to get around. Bike lanes are everywhere, it's very safe and faster than buses most of the time. I rented one from donkey republic an online service that lets you reserve and pick up the bikes with your phone only. The bikes are equipped with a phone holder so download offline maps and you're good to explore the city independently.

If you're there on sunday check out the weekly open mic in christiania. Loads of older hippies are jamming there all night long. Great to end a weekend with a beer and a joint

1

u/Some_Information_964 Nov 13 '22

Copenhagen is NOT the bike capital of the world. Try again, dear.

8

u/blaizedm Denmark Dec 21 '17 edited Dec 21 '17

Hello, moderator of /r/copenhagen here. Feel free to check out our subreddit, and post any questions in our weekly threads.

Other than that, let me know if you have any questions. Velkommen til!

8

u/Blackgirlwanders Denmark Dec 22 '17

We have plenty of museums in Copenhagen which are free or atleast cheap to enter. For film..Cinemateket which is an art house in the city do this thing called "Danish on a Sunday" where they will show danish movies with english subtitles.

Beer - Taphouse, Bastard Cafe, Galathea Kroen, Mikkeller (but honestly theres lots and lots of places to get beer) - Meatpacking district has lots of bars/places to get beer and food!

Go see christiania. Copenhagen is not very big so you could easily see the different parts of Copenhagen. No need to stay in one neighborhood.

Arabica has good coffee and cheap brunch.

6

u/MonkeeCatcher Dec 25 '17

The food in Copenhagen is the best I have encountered so far on my travels. Shame Paper Island has now closed, but I definitely recommend the danishes at 108 (sister restaurant to Noma) and the Torvehallerne food market.

There are also multiple Michelin restaurants if you’re into that kind of thing - Geranium is superb.

3

u/f4ilsian Dec 22 '17

Been invited to go to Copenhagen for a few days in late January. Generally, how expensive is Copenhagen? Easy to do on a budget? Thanks!

5

u/Thomasinarina United Kingdom Dec 24 '17

I’m from the UK, and it seemed quite expensive for me when I went in September just gone. If you budget and just have an awareness of what you’re spending then you should be fine-

6

u/Cruvy Dec 22 '17

Dane here! Generally Denmark is quite an expensive place (not as expensive as Norway or Switzerland, mind you). It is definitely possible to do on a budget, almost all museums are free, renting a bike is super cheap, which gets you pretty much everywhere.

5

u/aashim97 Dec 26 '17 edited Dec 26 '17

I'm not a local so these are just based on my 4 day experience in the city:

  • For us, the Copenhagen card was well worth it. Take a look for yourself and decide - and factor in the convenience if the cost will be similar.

  • Don't be afraid to find a hotel/airbnb outside of the downtown area. We stayed in Amager and the metro system is impeccable so it was easy to get anywhere.

  • Little Mermaid is an attraction you will be happy to see quickly on the Canal Tour if you chose to take one (from Ved Stranden or Nyhavn). Absolutely not worth walking there just to see it.

  • Church of Our Saviour has amazing views of the whole city - just be sure you can climb a few hundred steps that do get narrow and a little claustrophobic closer to the top.

  • Check out Torvehallerne! One of my favourite markets in Europe with great affordable food and a nice place to people watch as well.

  • Visit Freetown Christiania at the very least its interesting and unique!

  • Kronborg (Hamlet castle) is a cool visit and easy to get to via direct train (free with the copenhagen card!)

  • Do visit Tivoli Gardens it's incredible (amusement park in the city), DO NOT VISIT "VISIT CARLSBERG" any other brewery visit/tour in other cities is better.

  • Eat at Aamaan's for delicious, affordable Smorgassebrod (apologize for spelling) and Scurry Hub for delicious, really really cheap Thai food in the Stroget area

1

u/LearyTraveler Dec 27 '17
  • Church of Our Saviour has amazing views of the whole city - just be sure you can climb a few hundred steps that do get narrow and a little claustrophobic closer to the top.

  • Check out Torvehallerne! One of my favourite markets in Europe with great affordable food and a nice place to people watch as well.

  • Visit Freetown Christiania at the very least its interesting and unique!

These were my top 3 things that I did in Copenhagen!

1

u/[deleted] Jan 23 '18

Can I ask, what was your itinerary day-to-day?

2

u/aashim97 Jan 24 '18

Roughly, it was:

  • Landed Friday evening and we got an Airbnb in Amager (in between airport and downtown which was perfect)

Saturday

  • Did a canal tour to get our bearings
  • Checked out Stroget area and ate near there
  • Checked out Nyhavn and people-watched for a while
  • Climbed the steps of Church of Our Saviour for the view
  • Spent a couple hours in Freetown Christiania
  • Dinner at Copenhagen Street Food (now closed I think)

Sunday

  • Took the train to Kronborg castle
  • Came back, visited Torvehallerne market and ate lunch there
  • Spent second half of the day in Tivoli Gardens

Monday

  • Went to Visit Carlsberg which was terrible
  • Walked through botanical gardens
  • Saw Rosenborg castle
  • Ate some smorgassebrod at Aaman's for lunch
  • Just did some random exploring around Stroget and surrounding area
  • Ate dinner and took our flight!

Hope this helps :)

1

u/[deleted] Jan 24 '18

That is a big help. Anything you would have done differently if you did it all over again?

2

u/aashim97 Jan 25 '18

Hm Frederiksborg is another castle we heard great things about from locals and might have made time for had we known (it is a train ride away so takes significant time). Would 100% have skipped Visit Carlsberg. Also skipped museums because we were a bit tired out from them from previous cities but there are a bunch that sounded interesting you should definitely look into. Last thing, we were on tight student budgets but still had great food in CPH so wouldnt do it differently but if you can afford it, Copenhagen seems to be quite the growing hub for awesome restaurants/chefs. Otherwise awesome experience and we felt it was the perfect amount of time for the city.

4

u/gafftaped Dec 27 '17

I've been thinking of going to Copenhagen and decided to look at the travel subreddit for the first time in a while. This is a sign.

2

u/VaDiSt Dec 25 '17

Hey well wat a coincidense. I will travel to Copenhagen coming thursday. Will stay from 28th of december untill january first.

Few questions:

Anything special with new years? In the netherlands we have the national fireworks in Rotterdam, is there something like that? Or is it not really planned.

I got a sort of itinerary planned, are there some people who would like to see it so they can add suggestions? Dont want to flood this post with it.

Day trip to malmö, is it recommended if that leaves me 2 and a half day in Copenhagen? (Will arrive on the 28th at 8.40 AM at the airport so i have half a day)

Has anyone some cheap restaurant tips? Went to iceland last year and i still suffer from nightmares because of the prices.

Next point... money, any indication what the current costs are?

  • average dinner at an average restaurant.
  • average cost of a beer
  • etc

Looking forward to Copenhagen and i will post my findings and tips here once im back.

1

u/aashim97 Dec 26 '17

I went a few months back and cheap street food (hot dog, doner etc) will cost between 25-50 DK (4-7 Euro), low end meals at markets or hole in the wall type places for about 100DK (13-15 Euro) and regular restaurant meals from about 200 DK up. This is all without drinks I was on a pretty tight budget so I didn't order drinks at restaurants and don't know the prices for those very well.

Recommendations for cheap meals:

  • Obviously hot dogs/doner is always a good option
  • Find markets! We walked by a random outdoor one with affordable food but the one you should definitely visit is Torvehallerne - we ate at a popular place called Grod there which had food for 60-90 DK. There's plenty of other options as well
  • Scurry Hub in Stroget was a fantastic hole in the wall Thai restaurant you can easily eat for 60-80 DK
  • There are many buffets in Copenhagen where especially for lunch you can go for under 100 and just eat a big meal.
  • We always go to the grocery and buy a few small things to eat breakfast before heading out. Grocery prices were actually not totally awful so definitely can save by doing that
  • A relatively higher end restaurant called Tight that's very popular with tourists actually has a ridiculously affordable lunch menu, where you can get mains for 100 DK (for dinner, people spend from 200-400 DK/person there)

1

u/VaDiSt Dec 26 '17

Thanks for your reply, much appreciated

2

u/aashim97 Dec 26 '17

No worries enjoy your trip!

1

u/VaDiSt Dec 28 '17

Landed at CPH 2 hours ago... im already getting masochistich feelings... its so good but the prices hurt xD

Ah well only 30 minutes before my friend lands with his plane and i can finally leave this airport.

1

u/aashim97 Dec 28 '17

Haha I felt pretty much the same when I landed - combination of copenhagen and airport = scary prices. It's a bit less crazy once you leave. Realistically if you go to some of the places I mentioned and research some others, you won't get to eat at high end places but you can eat well no problems for a few days without burning a hole in your wallet.

1

u/WolfmanWizard May 27 '24

Hi everyone! I’ll be travelling to Copenhagen this June for the first time. Looking for some non touristy recommendations. We love bike riding, punk bars, small art galleries and good food. Any ideas?