Copenhagen has lots of visitors and many of them just see a small part of the city (mostly due to time reasons). Seeing the classics is always possible, but a closer look shows that Copenhagen is one of the coolest and worth living cities in Europe.
‚Copenhagen is the epitome of Scandi cool‘, says Lonelyplanet about my favourite city (at the moment) and puts Copenhagen on the top of its annual ‚Best in Travel 2019‘ list. Maybe this makes you want to have a closer look at this Copenhagen and you ask yourself ‚But what can we see or do there?‘ We’ll answer you this questions with two posts.
In 5 days we could see quite a lot. To make sure nothing’s forgotten, we decided to make two Copenhagen posts. The first one is about the better-known sights of the city, the second about those, you maybe don’t have on your radar yet and only the locals know. In our heads, this makes sense.
We try to present the sights in a geographical order, so you have a quick overview of where is what. This won’t keep you from long walks. Our step counters freaked out each day.
Copenhagen Card
We mentioned it before: Get yourself the Copenhagen Card if you’re planning to do a lot of Sightseeing. You’ll save time, nerves and probably even some Øren. Get yourself this card exclamation mark.
Indre By/City Center Copenhagen (Old Town)
As most people don’t spend five days in Copenhagen (more like two to three days), it’s better focusing on the city centre. The Old Town alone has so much to offer.
Central: Copenhagen’s best known – Nyhavn
Every city has its trademark or its business card. Copenhagen’s business card is 100% Nyhavn. The cute, colourful harbour is on every Copenhagen postcard and therefore very well visited. As pretty as it is, you don’t want to spend too much time here with the crowds.
Next time in Copenhagen we’ll try to get up very early to capture the beautiful harbour with a different light.
There’s a great photo spot at the entrance gate to Kunsthalle Charlottenburg. Very instagramable.
More or less central: Strøget, Hay House, Gråbrødetorv, Pistolstræde
The Strøget is Copenhagen’s main shopping street. Everyone who wants to get rid of their money here is welcome to do so.
Between Strøget and Amagertorv, around the Stork fountain is a designer furniture store called Hay House. There’s another famous photo spot from inside through their windows. A perfect place to see anyways with all the great furniture especially when it starts raining outside.
Pistolstræde is a nice, calm street and a dream come true if you feel like Strøget is too loud.
Gråbrødetorv is a nice square with colourful houses and some restaurants, which are a little bit expensive for us (surprise), but actually stunningly affordable for this city. You’ll definitely find something to eat here.
North of the centre: Amalienborg and den Lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid)
Two other highlights of the city centre are Amalienborg and den Lille Havfrue, the little mermaid. While Amalienborg Castle was pleasant to see, the situation around the little mermaid was hilarious.
We saw the crowds from far making their pilgrimage and thought about going or not. We then decided to go with the masses anyway, because it’s actually a must-see. Now it’s done and we’re not going to do this again.
South of the center: Christiansborg & Frederiksholmskanal, Den Sorte Diamant, Mægstræde
A really nice corner of Copenhagen is the one around Christiansborg and Frederiksholmkanal.
Our highlight was the view from the castle tower with an around view over the city – for free.
Not far from here is the colourful Mægstræde and the architecturally beautiful Black Diamond. ‚Den Sorte Diamant‘ is the building of the Royal Library. Its location at the water is another plus.
Northwest of the centre: Rosenborg Castle, Botanical Garden, Torvehallerne, The Lakes
Almost every corner of Copenhagen has something to offer. On the one hand, there’s the amazing Rosenborg Castle and the beautifully landscaped Botanical Garden of the city.
On the other hand, you’ll find the Lakes not far from here. It’s not spectacular, but it’s nice and was on our way to food paradise Torvehallerne anyways. The Smørbrødet looked so unbelievably delicious, we almost forgot the prices.
Southwest of the centre: Town Hall, Tivoli, Axeltowers, Palads Teatret
One of the many talents Danes have is obviously architecture. Proof? Axel Towers. No need to say more. You just generally see it in the cityscape.
The obligatory spot of colour in this area is brought to you by Palads Teatret. You don’t see it from the outside, but it’s actually Denmark’s largest cinema. It’s definitely nicer to look at than all those boring cinemas here in Germany.
The Town Hall is one of the places you’ll pass anyway. It’s really impressive but at the same time, we couldn’t care less about it.
The more we were eager to see Tivoli, the second oldest amusement park in the world. If you have enough cash on the bank, big and small will both be very happy spending their day on a hedonistic fun cloud. We were just watching as poor people do. It’s an amazing park and worth the visit.
Well, that’s it. I mean, what we’ve seen from the City Center. Click here to see part 2 of our sightseeing posts and the other beautiful corners of Copenhagen.