[Closed] Copenhagen

Just be aghast at the plethora of super models that roam the streets.

Head over to Christianshavn, in particular Pusher Street, there are lots of 'cafes' pubs, street artists and much more. Christianshavn is also near the old harbour which is a fantastic part of Copenhagen, loads of decent bars and restaurants. You can also hire a canoe from here and see the main galleries and opera house as you travel along. Once you've had enough just hop off onto one of the bars located along the river/sea.

You pretty much have to go and see the the mermaid. You might get lucky and there won't be a bus load of tourists. The fort at that end of town is worth a walk around. There's a tower in town with a spiral path to the top that has great views. Ice cream by the old harbour is nice.

The Calrsberg is actually nice over there, especially if they have the Christmas stuff still on.

Word of warning though it's the cheapest of the Scandinavian countries to drink in, but that is still way more expensive than most places 🙂

Take warm stuff as it's cold there and snow about.

The design museem behind Tivoli was worth a look, take a walr round Christainholmes (the island) and have Smorgesboard [url= http://www.cafewilder.dk/ ]Here (slightly NSFW arty naked lady painting in link)[/url] location http://goo.gl/maps/tF8y1

The city centre is good for a mooch round generally Nyhavn http://goo.gl/maps/ewjTX was great for food and bars too. If you know your HP printer cartridges (sad) but thats where the yellow one is taken 🙂 had some great food there.

You can also hire a canoe from here and see the main galleries and opera house as you travel along

Lol this time of year!!

It's going to be cold so bring a hat.
Just walk around the city centre and see the sights-
Stroget, pallace, canal tour, nyhavn mermaid etc

Forget the Carlsberg. [url= http://mikkeller.dk/the-bar/# ]This[/url] is where you need to go.

Christiania?

And the contemporary art museum that's a little north of town that's a woman's name - Louisiana?. And the velodrome (if there is something on and you hasn't been to a velodrome before).

[i]The Carlsberg is actually nice over there, especially if they have the Christmas stuff still on.[/i]
It will be Easter Carlberg at this time of year which is not quite as nice - too sweet. Carls Classic or Turborg Classic are better.
The Mermaid is an anticlimax but it's a nice walk past the palace. Take a boat tour arround the harbor / canal. Go up the round tower. Nyhavn is expensive and touristy but good for people watching, in fact sitting outside a cafe people watching is the best thing to do in Copenhagen.

Hire a bike. Ride around the city. It's up there with Amsterdam as the best cycling city in the world. Then buy some accessories you won't find over here.

found the mermaid a bit underwhelming really, walked for ages in the snow one night to get there, and it's really small...

Perhaps if the mermaid is too small, then some other town e.g. S****horpe, could get a whacking great big one in and thus steal Copenhagen's visitors?

mermaid is totally over rated.

there are a few nice cafes around Nyhaven on Nybrogarde opposite Christiansborg but its also a bit of a tourist trap so you need to be careful and judge places on sight, plastic menu places are best avoided for example. There is a good rooftop cafe in the old post office too, you can see it from the top of the round tower (which is also worth a visit as its got great views across the city)

There is a great cafe on the waterfront on the way to the mermaid, cant remember the name but its a wooden building, its pricey (fish and chips for two, a beer and a juice was the equivilent of £20) but it was ace with a carlsberg on the side and you can sit and watch boats come and go from the harbour. Its near Kastellet which itself is worth a visit. There are some good cafes and bars between there are Rosenborg too and a really good but expensive Italian in Osterbro.

There are loads of good places in Versterbro which is where we stay, one in particular on vesterbrogarde which did ace burgers and proper beer! it had a black wooden door, thats all i can remember, its on the right hand side if you head away from town. There are also some ace ice cream bars around there too.

Get the train to Malmo for a nice day out, its quite a nice little city and you can hire a pedalo for a bimble round the canals. There is a reasonable beach there too and the train is cheap and regular.

Tivoli will only appeal if you have young children or no soul. Its a big fairground, read about it in the guide book but its pricey and full of fast food places.

The Carlsberg brewery is worth a visit, the outdoor barbeque is good and you get a few free beers during the visit.

Christiania is odd, the original ideals of the place are mostly gone now and what was once a peaceful hippy commune is just a drop out wasteland, there are some veggie canteen style cafes but you need to get through Pusher Street first aka "dropout boulevard"..... the wasters just go there because smoking dope is tolerated but there is a fair bit of crime there too. Christiania Bikes is worth a visit just to chat bikes and check out teh cargo designs and there are some good bars and cafes off Torvegarde though before you get to Christianshaven though.

So in a few days, you could see the round tower, kastellet, wander down the main shopping street (Friedriksberg) and wander round rosenborg castle. Then the next day, head the other way have a walk through Vesterbro to the Carlsberg brewery, go through Friederikspark and see the elephants at the zoo (the elephant enclosure backs onto the park) and as a bonus, Friederiskpark is where the most beautiful women in the world go to read and sunbathe and then take a day trip to Malmo...

Copenhagen is a nice, compact city and its safe and friendly. you will need to be up early to get one of the city rental bikes though as they are popular with the locals too, to be honest, its a great place for a bike geek, loads of cool bikes going past, some good shops and a very positive cycling culture and you can alwasy find good coffee and some epic pastries too!

Louisiana is a great gallery - pretty easy to get to on the train. And there's some interesting contemporary architecture around. Otherwise, it's a good city for pootling about. I skipped the mermaid when I visited.

Church of our Saviour is another good place for views over the city. It has an external staircase that winds around the steeple.

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Tivoli will only appeal if you have young children or no soul. Its a big fairground, read about it in the guide book but its pricey and full of fast food places.

Appreciate that theme parks are not everyone's tastes but I've had some wonderful fun times at Tivoli. Classic rides from the 1920's rubbing shoulders with some state of the art thrill machines. If you like that sort of thing then do consider it.

TM
p.s. reopens on April 11th

I've enjoyed Tivoli but the fact that I've also never paid to go in may have some bearing on this 😀

If it's as cold as it was when I was there, stay in your hotel and drink.

The church of our saviour is great but closed in the winter. I think Tivoli is closed at the mo as well but that is a blessing. Malmo is nice as is Dragør, a small typical old town a short bus ride from the airport.

Da Vinci Cykler was a interesting bike shop I found in Copenhagen.

Just avoid drinking Gammel Dansk - it vapourises brain cells and memory.
Worked for a Danish company for 3 years and they made me drink the stuff, I'm certain it was what they used to fuel the ships!

Amsterdam has a completely independant cycle network and you only end up on the same tarmac as cars in the histroic centre where there's hardly any traffic. In Copenhagen there's just a cycle lane you have to share with beligerent Danish cyclists and angry Danish drives (whose drunken passengeers may lob empty beer bottles out at you).

Amsterdam has a lot more cyclists but less than half the cyclist deaths.

I'd been led to believe Copenhagen was some kind of eco-city and found it a car-strangled urban sprawl no more pleasant to cycle around than Paris.

Stop to read a map in Amsterdam and someone will stop and offer help. Stop on a cycle lane in Copenhagen and you'll be sworn at for stopping.

Mate - you and I visited different cities entirely!

Did you visit that dog shit filled hole Christiania, Kona? Chritiania bikes excepted the reality of the hippy dream is some run-down buildings inhabited by some lazy dope heads short on soap and roaming dogs.

The Mermaid was 'away on tour' when we visited 😯

They'd lent her to some other city. Worth checking before you trek all the way over there to look at an empty plinth or whatever.

The boat tour was good - lets you check out other bits that might be worth visiting. You also hear the tale of how Nelson gave the Danish a kicking way back when, and about the modern glories of the Danish navy, notably the 'Oops Missile'.

If I was there without kids I'd be spending a lot more time in the nice-looking cafes and bars, of which there are many.

Edukator - Member
Did you visit that dog shit filled hole Christiania, Kona? Chritiania bikes excepted the reality of the hippy dream is some run-down buildings inhabited by some lazy dope heads short on soap and roaming dogs.

I went, Liked it had a great smorgesboard and walk round the frozen moat and the canals.

The cyclists looked like some of the most hardcore I've seen out in 3" of snow happy and smiley.

Would happily head back there for a long weekend.

Likening Christiania to the whole of Copenhagen is like saying Peckam is London.

I don't recognise your description either Edukator everyone has their own opinions though.

But I didn't liken it to the rest of Copenhagen. The rest of Copenhagen is dull and protestant and lacking in colour or life aprt from the streams of traffic. It's boring and not even a little bit ecological, and the main thing the Danes we met talked about was how much tax they pay.

Having spent time camping on "idylic" but expensive and boring campsites we headed back to Germany. Suddenly the seaside resorts had bands playing, people playing on the beach, colourful buildings, strandkörber, shops with goods on the pavement rather than drab grey facades and no signs of life.

So I'm stereotyping but at least Peckham has signs of life.

The rest of Copenhagen is dull and protestant and lacking in colour or life aprt from the streams of traffic. It's boring and not even a little bit ecological.

Wow did the train stop somewhere by mistake?

not sure where Edukator went, but i loved the city, nothing more to add then the already great comments above. fantastic coffee and pastry's to die for - as well as a wide range of breads i can not pronounce!

Denmark's per capita energy consumption is slightly higher than Ireland and the UK (world bank). As a country pretty much devoid of industry that's poor to lousy and yet they were bragging about their eco-credentials when the summit was held there. Perhaps they tax the population so much they can't afford double glazing but I was surprised by the lack of signs eco in the buildings.

fantastic coffee and pastry's to die

We rode in from the south staying at the campsite, visited the city on bikes and rode out to the west past the Zoo. That way we saw the suburbs as well as the waterfront view and main street that are the symbols of the city.

. Home is France and we rode in from Germany so you'll perhaps forgive me for being unimpressed, however if you normally have Greg's and Starbucks... .

From France you say, couldn't tell...

It's very different to France and a lot friendlier than Paris. The pastries were great (though you need to go to the right place and not expect things to be like France) also every country has dog sh*t streets and run down hell holes (France has quite a few - not picking on it just pointing it out)

We stayed with a Danish friend about 30mins out of the city and saw some of the local towns too.

Very impressed.

Clearly you'll find a place friendlier if you visit a friend there. I'm intrigued by what you were impressed by though.

I was impressed by Freiburg for example. A busy university town with affordable places to eat. Plenty going on in the evening if that's your thing, bike paths and lanes everywhere, you can walk straight into the Black Forest from the city centre in 15 minutes, there are eco-quarters with no cars, windmills on the hils around, solar panels in every direction you look, bike shops, the usual German high street shops, friendly people, brothels should you seek more than friendship. A joy for life that seems absent in Copenhagen.

Edit: isn't everywhere friendlier than Paris? 😉

Edukator is a troll and I claim my 5 euros 😆

Whilst my contribution is a little biased it is based on experience which says Copenhagen is amongst the cities I'd least like to live in, scoring just above Augsburg.

Nice bars & cafe's, architecture, museums, being able to wander through a city and browse and feel relaxed. We spent 2 days walking in the snow taking photos, looking in shops, visiting cafe's and having a great time. Didn't go searching for Solar Panels & Brothels, Solar panels may be a little wasted with all the snow and grey and I had the missus with me 😉

We only spent part of the time with friends and rest solo. The people in the city were friendly, happy and getting on with life in a cold climate.

There's definitely one thing going to Copenhagen then: you won't find the unedukated one there.

(who, I concur) has clearly been somewhere else entirely.

Did Edukator go there with a girlfriend and she ran off with a Dane? Might explain the sour taste the place left in his ungrateful mouth...

[EDIT ALERT] for mws 😉

Lol Solo as in without the mate! Hence not looking for Edukators house of friendliness 😉

On the list of criteria I'd suggest BrisVegas for the next trip.....

Worked for me.

Both the actual Design museum and Design Centre (the one near Tivoli) I though were great. Tivoli - not my thing though. A swim at the Islands Brygge open air pool* and a meal at the little cultural centre nearby were nice non touristy things to do. Sea kayaking with the Kayak Rupublic* company was also a highlight as were early morning runs and generally drooling at the seemingly effortlessly beautiful people. The ability to temporarily suspend one's understanding of the value of money is a definate bonus!

*maybe not the best for February!

I used to live in Copenhagen, uni exchange in 1999. Loved the city. I need to go back sometime. Easy to take a wander over to Sweden as well.

I don't know who expects Christiana to be some kind of idyll or heaven. Certainly not the people who live there - their displays and historical materials make it clear that the "social experiment" was far from easy or always pleasant.

Is there any city in Europe that doesn't have brothels? Certainly they weren't too hidden when I was reeling around CPH, drunk.

Edukator is a troll and I claim my [i]37 Kroner[/i]

FTFY

Thanks for all your suggestions. Looks like we'll be checking Mikkeller and the design museums and generally walking round and looking at stuff!!

Got a night in malmo planned too, so should be a good few days!

Christiania... better than Amsterdam. just don't run or take any (and i mean ANY!) photos.

I was impressed by Freiburg for example. A busy university town with affordable places to eat. Plenty going on in the evening if that's your thing, bike paths and lanes everywhere, you can walk straight into the Black Forest from the city centre in 15 minutes, there are eco-quarters with no cars, windmills on the hils around, solar panels in every direction you look, bike shops, the usual German high street shops, friendly people, brothels should you seek more than friendship. A joy for life that seems absent in Copenhagen.

i spent a long weekend in Freiburg with a mate who used to study there. it is perhaps one of the coolest towns/cities that i have ever been to.

surrounded by hills with between 200-500m of gain, some awesome trails - both natural and sculptured (one trail, Borderline, is said to be one of Germany's best - it is pretty good!), so many people there rides bikes. we went to a bar and lined up outside were bikes. proper bikes with knobbly tyres. everyone there seems to ride and talks about riding.

the old town is indeed lovely and very pretty (it stands out when compared to other German market towns which are also generally very pretty) and there are lots of parks, too.

i'd move there in a flash if the GF was to find work there.

i'd never consider moving to Augsburg. full of inbreds and they talk funny. the Schwabs.