Tell me what I have to do in Copenhagen, please

[TyneAndWeary]

Heading to Copenhagen at the weekend for five nights and keen to get an idea of some interesting things to do, nice places to eat etc. if anyone could give me some recommendations, please? We’re staying very close to Nyhavn and will be going to the Christmas market in Tivoli Gardens one day.

Two able-bodied adults who are happy to walk and hop on and off public transport. We like nice food, pretty buildings, and I’m a fan of quirky things like strange little museums!

The Tivoli Gardens themselves are worth a visit. Good variety of rides from utter terror to very mild. Not usually my sort of thing but I really enjoyed it.

A boat trip from Nyhavn is quite a good way of seeing the sights in relative comfort.

The Rosenborg Palace was well worth seeing too.

It's a lovely city, great vibe.

If it's open yet for Xmas I would go to Bakken too - it's the oldest theme park in the world and is all really quirky old rides and stalls, set in woods with deer- it's very Hansel and Gretel - 15 minutes on the train- lovely coastline - blue sea, white sand - we lived there for 20 months.

I would also go to Torvehallen - really lovely indoor food market in nice area - lots of lovely fast food stalls too

I would also visit copenhill - it's a recycling plant on the inside, a ski slope on the outside with cafe etc - a fantastic modern way of combining leisure and useful

There is also a very lovely Parisian style street with lovely cafes and shops

www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/neighbourhoods/street-guide-sophisticated-vaernedamsvej#

The Carlsberg Museum is good if it's still there, I enjoyed it.

Yes, the Carlsberg brewery is really interesting. And the zoo is great (if you like zoos!)

We found the Copenhagen card excellent value. Rosskilde for the Viking museum, the hamlet castle and Frederickshof are all a train ride away but excellent.

The boat trip included in the Copenhagen card is great.

Another lovely place is Dragor - you can get there by train and bus - it's a kind of fishing village style place on the coast near airport- fantastic Ice cream shops and fresh fish places- have a Softice coated in cocoa powder - I can still taste them - cheap for Denmark and enormous!! Also the hotdog stall at the round tower - fab, comes with remoulade and pickles and crispy onions! No wonder I came back to UK 2 stone heavier!!!

There are quite a lot of car sharing apps there too

It's a very funky city !! Has a fabulous Westfield too that you get to on the metro

I always think it's a great city break if you have older kids too -

@TyneAndWeary if you want any foodie tips- let me know - although we didn't do much high end eating when we lived there- but did a fair bit of mid level - when it wasn't shut ( we had covid restrictions for 5 out the 20 months we were there)

Oh yes please! Very happy to about all the food- from snacks to high-end.

So far, I have Buka bakery, Conditori La Glace (sounds very touristy but might give it a go), Reffen- the food market at Skøjteøen, and also Delphine and Sputino. Was considering booking Den Lille Fede.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. I’ll start planning!

I was there last week! re: the copenhagen card It really depends on what you do. I thought it was bit of a rip off when I was looking at buying it. The public transport is pretty cheap anyway, and most things in copenhagen itself are very walkable or covered by a £2.40 tube/bus ticket.

If you were going to do a few expensive/"big" things every day or travelling outside the main 2 zone city area then maybe it's worth it. If you're more planning on staying in copenhagen city centre itself and only doing one paid/museum activity a day and wandering the rest of the time then you'd save a fortune just buying on the door.

WRT Tivoli, there isn't a "market" there as such, it's just the main parks and shops that are there all the time, just decorated for Christmas. The 4 christmas markets I went to were in Kongens Nytorv & Nyhavn (very close together), and the Hans Christian Anderson one & one by Christianborg palace (also within 5 mins of each other). I'd try and go in the night when the lights are on, tbh other than being slightly better decorated than most uk ones they weren't anything special at all in the day.

The shop 'Magasin du Nord' is like a harrods equivalent and all decorated for christmas, and is right by Kongens Nytorv. Very good for a 'Hugge' snoop but also very busy.

The Copenhagen City Museum is free every wednesday and was an interesting way to spend a few hours, although I think the main national museum is better.

Bear in mind the public transport tickets last for 1hr15mins, so you can hop on and off as much as you want during that time - useful if you just want to pop in somewhere and then see something else. You can buy tickets at the station or get the app on your phone which I found easier. Although there aren't any barriers or checks when you get on the bus or metro DO NOT be tempted not to bother - there are a lot of ticket inspectors!

Christiania is definitely worth visiting although ideally when it's dry. While you're there go to Vor Frelsers Kirke - ornate church with a huge spiral (that you can climb) and the biggest organ I've ever seen!

There was a really pretty park by the zoo - even if you didn't want to go in there are viewing areas outside to see the llamas and elephants.

Little mermaid statue very underwhelming but if you do go you can walk through another nice park and the army barracks/old windmill about 5 minutes away (Kastellet).

Think that's it!

Oh - as you mentioned 'quirky' Copenhagen has some of the last paternoster elevators in the world that you can ride, which was fun as a random thing!

Also Jens Olsen World Clock - you can go into city hall for free and have a look round (don't be put off by the door being shut, it's just to keep out the cold) and see the clock and a mini museum about it.

Ooh, looks like Saturday is the last day of the year this incredible atmospheric place is open. A disused vast underground reservoir cum installation/gallery. The Cisterns

frederiksbergmuseerne.dk/en/cisternerne/

I do love a good paternoster lift! Saw one in Budapest- fascinating things.

Thanks for the recommendations- will check them out.

We like a mix of wandering and see where we end up, alongside having a few “anchor” things to make sure we don’t miss the obvious things.

Not sure if my mild claustrophobia would cope with that but looks really cool.

the aquarium is also really impressive, not just in terms of the exhibitions, which are amazing, but the architecture and coastal setting too.

Go and see the modern tapestries in the royal palace. They are amazing.
Boat trip along the canals.

We just came home yesterday from a weekend there! Had a great time.

Just wanted to give you a heads up re Tivoli. We went at dusk on Thursday and walked straight in and had a lovely time strolling around. So pretty with all the lights. On Saturday we were walking from city centre to our accommodation and saw an enormous queue, not even on the road the entrance was on, the queue spilled around the corner onto the main city street. It was so long initially we didn’t even click it was for Tivoli as the entrance was so far away!

So, strong recommendation to go on a non weekend day. Would definitely be a different experience if it was super packed and had queued for an hour or so to get in.

have a great time.

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek is a lovely museum and great in winter when the internal courtyard garden is warm nd dry

Going this weekend also so thanks for the thread OP!

Take ALOT of money. It's so expensive

@TyneAndWeary You might like the David Collection. It’s got interesting Islamic art. The Design Museum is also very good. We too enjoyed the Royal Tapestries. Such a good idea! Danish history and culture in huge tapestries. They are at the Christiansborg Palace.

There are plenty of restaurants recommended by Time Out. Excellent suggestions! The Meatpacking district close to the station has lots of restaurants too but it’s a bit seedy in parts.

For something different, go out to the Louisiana art installations or go to Lund in Sweden and go into the cathedral, I would also recommend Nyhaven and a boat trip. Hope it’s warm enough. Cristianshavn might interest you too. Have a look at Culture Trip for ideas.

@TyneAndWeary totally agree with @another1bitestheduck

i was a bit wary of going to Christiana by myself, but it was a good experience. Bought some nice biscuits 😉

Agtee the Mermaid was a bit underwhelming, but it was a nice walk out to her & further in, you just got to don't you!!

Agree all the little markets are well worth going to!!

ate at a lovely little food 'market' I think someone mentioned it earlier on, it's kind of a market in one building & a kind of food hall in the other, it was lovely fresh food place (not what a food hall is in the UK)

I want to go again now!!!

I bought some felted Christmas Deciration at a market stall down in the harbour, looking forward to getting them out this week. Loved stopping for coffee/hot chocolate/drinks wrapped in a blanket outside.

Just explore!!

fabulous trip ❤️. Have fun!!

That’s interesting about the Tivoli queue. My sister & I are in Copenhagen for the day on a Saturday soon & bought tickets online - is the queue for people who need to buy tickets or for everyone?

I'm sure it will be interesting - but the fact that nothing stands out as such already for you, why are you going? Hopefully it's cheap flights or something.

Second a walking tour of Christania.

It's one way to experience a police raid ! Didn't personally try the cookies...