Copenhagen, Denmark

Our second travel adventure after moving to London brought us to Denmark’s charming capital city for a four-day weekend. After a few train rides and a short flight, we arrived in Copenhagen, setting out to explore after briefly settling into our home for the stay—a cozy, design-oriented, and thoughtfully-decorated AirBnB apartment with true Danish style.

The weather was beautiful, so we set off on foot. We were almost immediately greeted by large groups of people participating in a parade through the streets. With the sun shining and the smell of spring in the air, it was no surprise that there so many people—Danes and visitors alike—out and about enjoying the day. We ended up at Puk, a restaurant serving traditional Danish food a few steps from Gammeltorv, where we indulged in fried pork with potatoes and red cabbage and fish and chips. We were seated next to an older American couple whom we spoke with throughout our meal. It’s always a pleasure to share thoughts and plans with other travelers, especially when they have a different perspective from you.

After dinner we continued wandering around the center of the city. While the main streets and squares were buzzing with people and activity, we were amazed at how quiet and quaint the side streets were. The overall calmness and cleanliness of the city was a pleasant surprise and drew us further in as we walked along.

We ended the night at Nyhavn, Copenhagen’s picturesque waterfront, taking in the mix of colorful buildings and the orange and red glow of the evening sky. There is good reason why tourists flock to this part of the city—it’s absolutely beautiful!

Our second day started at Rosenborg Castle Gardens after a quick breakfast of cinnamon buns and croissants. One of our favorite parts of Copenhagen was the green space and the respect with which the residents treat it. These gardens were no exception, and the great weather called for some lingering. After taking it in, we made the short walk to Kastellet, which is an old star fortress that today functions mostly as a great place to go for a walk or run. It was so peaceful that we almost felt like we weren’t in a city. There was plenty of wildlife as well—we ran into many very large birds that we were convinced had to be statues!

Leaving Kastellet, we were in a prime location to swing by the Little Mermaid statue which certainly falls into the “must-see” category. Though the statue can leave a bit to be desired, it was very nice to relax by the water on a nearby bench and people watch for a bit while we rested our legs. We then walked back to Nyhavn along the water to catch a canal tour. It was great to get out on the water and learn more about Copenhagen’s development, history, and architecture, and we saw parts of the city that we probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise. It was also fun to watch the crew skillfully direct the boat through some very narrow passages and tight turns.

Back on land we realized how much of an appetite we had worked up. We grabbed a bus to the Vesterbro neighborhood where we shared fried sausages and chicken salad at Granola, a small eatery with an old school diner feel. We popped into a couple of small stores in the area and even found ourselves at Central Hotel & Cafe, the world’s smallest hotel!

We hopped back onto a bus and arrived shortly thereafter at Frederiksberg Park which was one of the coolest city parks we’ve ever been to. The park had plenty of space and it seemed like there were so many kinds of animals roaming around, all of whom were pretty comfortable coexisting with people. As if the park wasn’t beautiful enough, it’s capped by an exquisite palace of the same name, which used to serve as the royal family’s summer home and adds a bold splash of yellow to the scene.

As evening approached, we went back to our apartment, picking up a pancetta and potato pizza from Pizza Huset for takeaway on the way. Over pizza we planned out the next couple of days and then relaxed after a busy day. Part of the reason we love using AirBnB is that it can provide such homey and inspirational places to recharge as opposed to a lifeless hotel room, and this apartment was no exception.

The second half of our long weekend in Copenhagen started with some delicious Kanelsnegles (the Danish take on cinnamon rolls) and a shared mango smoothie at The Living Room. With our bellies full we marched on to the Round Tower, a 17th century astronomical observatory right in the center of the city. Most curious about the tower is that is was built with a spiraling ramp to the top as opposed to steps which allowed horse-drawn carriages to make the climb, both for transporting equipment and books and also to bring important visitors to the top in style! While the view from the open top was nice, we really savored our time inside the tower and honestly could have stayed there for even longer. The interior design is very minimalist, but beautiful in its simplicity, with great lighting from the outside, natural colors, and interesting textures between the bricked ramp and white-washed walls.

We walked through Orstedsparken, another pleasant park in the middle of the city, on our way to Jaegersborggade, which we had heard was full of quirky shops. Though a lot of the stores were closed on the day we were there, we did poke our heads in some of the other ones which offered a nice change of pace. At the end of the street we wandered into Assistens Cemetery, a very well-manicured space that serves as the resting place for many noteworthy Danes, which was not originally on our list.

At this point we were feeling hungry so we stopped into Aamanns Smørrebrødsdeli on the recommendation of a friend. We were not disappointed as we indulged in chicken, steak, and avocado open faced sandwiches—this was easily one of our best meals of the trip! After some recharging in our apartment, we headed out to explore Torvehallerne, a large indoor/outdoor Danish food and flower market. We were not to be deterred by the difficulty of navigating menus in Danish, which was also compounded by the breadth of choices available… where should we start!? We made it out with a potato, prosciutto and pesto pizza from Gorm’s and assorted chocolates and tiramisu from Sweet Valentine. Needless to say, we had an enjoyable dinner that night!

We started our last day with the same meal at The Living Room (yes, it was that good) and then hopped on a bus to see Copenhagen’s freetown Christiania. Christiania was first squatted on in the early 1970s on land that was previously utilized by the military. The commune grew quickly and has been criticized for its open sale of soft drugs on the main drag Pusher Street. Though the community draws criticism in some regards, it doesn’t deserve the negative reputation it has in some peoples’ eyes. Seeing it for ourselves, we could instantly see the sense of community and the area has a cool “hippie” vibe throughout.

The Church of Our Savior, a 17th century baroque church with a spiraling spire, is located right outside of Christiania and we heard that the views from the top were some of the best views in all of the city. Unfortunately the climb to the top was closed due to inclement weather (it had been rainy and windy on and off throughout the morning), so we appreciated the architecture of the building from afar while wandering the surrounding neighborhood of Christianshavn. As our time of departure was approaching, we walked back in the direction of our apartment, stopping along Laederstraede for a second time. This time we took it slow and went into more shops; for our patience we were rewarded with our souvenirs for the trip (small cloth Danish flags and a postcard print of the city)! Before getting to our apartment to pack and say goodbye, we grabbed chorizo and avocado sandwiches and a brownie at Kompa'9.

With that, we grabbed one of the city trains to the airport and were back on our way to London after an adventurous four days in beautiful Copenhagen. Farvel!