Copenhagen
THREE DAYS IN COPENHAGEN
"Almost Utopia" Denmark's capital city of Copenhagen ranks very high on any list of great places to visit. And yes, it is one of the most-popular cities in Scandinavia, most likely due to the mix of sophisticated modern culture and a well-preserved historic past. The architecture and town plan reflect this mix - a picturesque harbor surrounded by the old town, with many palaces, museums, gardens and shops to keep everyone happy.
We have some classic old videos from the vault to share with you.
Copenhagen is a medium-sized city of 1.5 million that gives you the benefits of a cultured metropolitan center without the problems of a vast, congested city. It is similar in size and character to Stockholm and Amsterdam, with historic old brick buildings lining a picturesque waterfront that extends for 30 miles along the edge of the town.
"Hagen" means harbor, so water is integral to this alluring city's identity and history, including that Viking chapter when they ruled much of England and parts of Europe. (They say "Copen Hey gen" not "Copen Hah gen" because they want no association with WWII Germany.) Copenhagen has been an important commercial town ever since the time of the Hanseatic League in the Middle Ages, when it was connected into a vast northern Europe trading network.
Highlights of Copenhagen include Rosenborg Palace; Amalienborg Palace; City Hall Square and the Little Mermaid. You will also want to see Tivoli Gardens and several of the art and history museums in town. But the greatest attraction of all is the city itself, especially along the narrow pedestrian lanes that run through the heart of the old part of town, lined with historic buildings, shops, cafes, bars and restaurants.
Like the rest of Scandinavia, this is an expensive city, but you can save money by spending most of your time walking, which is always free and offers the best way to truly see any city. You can also save money by visiting in July when hotel rates are lower and the weather is fine, with extended summer daylight giving more time to explore. If you plan to visit a lot of museums you could also save money by purchasing the $60 Copenhagen Card for three days of admission to 70 attractions and free travel on all city buses and trains.
Copenhagen is perfect for walking, as the center of town is small enough to cover on foot and the narrow streets that wind through it offer wonderful discoveries to the attentive explorer. You cannot really get lost here, so wandering a little off the beaten path is well worth the effort. There is an amazing shopping lane called Stroget that runs for a mile through the center of town, claimed to be Europe's longest pedestrian street, with various side lanes that are also free from automobile traffic. This central square mile will be a major focus of the visit, supplemented with a few easy excursions to nearby palaces and attractions. In the evening, try Tivoli Gardens -- a fun amusement park for adults and kids that is a world unto itself.
DAY ONE
Boat tour; walk through center; Amalienborg Palace; Rosenborg Palace
Start your day with a short stroll through the town center, walking along the famous pedestrian street of Stroget. You will come back here frequently during your stay in Copenhagen since this is really the center of action in town. Oddly enough, this appealing lane changes names five times during its course but is never officially labeled as Stroget, even though that's what everyone calls it; so don't look for Stroget on a map or on street signs. Starting from the Tivoli end it is named, in turn, Frederiksberggade, Nygade, Vimmelskaftet, Amagertorv and Ostergade.
For now, enjoy a simple reconnaissance stroll along the Stroget and some of the small side lanes that catch your eye, with a goal of getting to the excursion boat dock nearby. The canal boat tour offers one of the best ways to get a quick overview of the city, for it gives you an easy orientation, enhanced with narration from a guide who fills you in on a little history and provides descriptions of the passing sights. The 50-minute tour can be started at two different locations in the heart of town, depending on which is more convenient for you: either from Gammel Strand, or Nyhavn, which would be closer to the next activities. The circular route will be the same either way. The boat winds along through several canals, passing under the bridges and into the harbor.
Water is very much part of the national identity, for Denmark consists of 406 islands and a large peninsula on the west that is connected to Germany. Copenhagen is on the largest island, Zealand. Denmark is a small country of just 5.3 million people, with a total land area only about 10% the size of Sweden, or equal to Switzerland. Most of the country is flat, making for useful agricultural land, so the population density is higher than elsewhere in Scandinavia, which is heavily forested.
KING'S NEW SQUARE
Nyhavn canal ends at one of the city's two main centers, the King's New Square, or Kongens Nytorv, built by King Christian IV. When he ascended the throne in 1596, Christian wanted Copenhagen to become a major trading center for Northern Europe, so he built up the city in many ways, including the network of canals, town squares and warehouses. A great admirer of France's Louis XIV, Christian presided over a period of massive expansion, doubling the size of the city and creating many of the landmarks buildings that still stand today. He was the most important monarch in Danish history and, with 23 children from three wives, could almost be considered father of modern Denmark.
TIVOLI
Tivoli Gardens is undoubtedly Copenhagen's most popular major attraction, with 3 million visitors each year drawn to its entertaining mix of amusement rides, forty restaurants, live music, tree-lined gardens with 400,000 flowers, evening illumination by 115,000 colored lamps and generally festive atmosphere. The private park has been operating for 150 years, which lends a historic elegance to the mix: carnival games on one side, rides all around the perimeter, with a peaceful atmosphere in the center offering sedate pleasures of promenades, tea service and flower gardens.
DAY TWO
Government center; art museums shopping; and street party.
CHRISTIANSBORG
Just ten minutes walk from the Stroget, Christiansborg is a large complex of monumental government buildings and gardens on a small island. It has always been the political center of town, starting from 1167 when Bishop Absalon founded the city by building his castle on this spot. This was the site of the royal residence for many centuries, but fires burned down a series of castles and palaces until finally the huge Christiansborg Slot was built at the beginning of the 20th century. This complex is the only building in the world to contain the three main branches of a government: Parliament, High Court and Prime Ministry.
FINE ART MUSEUM
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek is the artistic gem of Copenhagen, with the nation's highest quality collection of fine arts, spanning thousands of years from ancient Egypt up through French Impressionism. The Renaissance-style museum opened in 1897, funded by Carlsberg beer owner Carl Jacobsen, who called it a place where art is "displayed in joy and harmony, to grace life for the living." The building complex is as beautiful as the art within, starting with the Winter Garden -- a large, glass-domed greenhouse just inside the front door.
NYHAVN
Most shops close at 5:00 or 6:00pm, which is a good time to hit Nyhavn, just beyond the end of Stroget, across the Kings New Square. An amazing outdoor party happens every evening along the picturesque Nyhavn canal in the heart of town, where people gather by the thousands to drink and talk. This is the biggest ongoing party in Europe! It is one of the world's most amazing gathering places, in a beautiful setting framed by sailboats tied up along the dock on one side and a long row of bars and restaurants facing them, with colorful old houses on both sides of the canal.
DAY THREE
History museum; working-class neighborhood; and some day-trip options.
NATIONAL MUSEUM
The magnificent National Museum covers 14,000 years of human history in a huge former palace that occupies an entire block, located between the Glyptotek and Christiansborg. About half the space is devoted to Danish history, from the Stone Age through modern times, with thousands of artifacts arranged in chronological order -- so you want to be sure to walk through the displays in the proper sequence to get the full effect.
ROSENBORG SLOT
The area around Rosenborg Slot (Palace) is filled with so many interesting things to see you could spend the rest of the afternoon here, enjoying fine art, royal history, geology and exquisite gardens. Enter this district through the Royal Gardens, originally built for King Christian IV in 1606 to provide food for his kitchen, but now the oldest park in town with its original plan still intact, offering broad, green lanes and narrow paths to explore.
Rosenborg Palace is the museum of the Danish kings, containing the Crown Jewels, a royal throne, original furniture, detailed stucco decorations and dark wood paneling throughout. Built in Renaissance style so typical of Copenhagen at that time, with red bricks, sandstone accents and the green copper roof, it appears to be a fairy-tale castle right out of Hans Christian Andersen.
There is no utopia, but Denmark comes as close as it gets.
Watch the Copenhagen video 1 →