May 2016: 5 Day Itinerary for Copenhagen (Part 1)

Day One

Day 1: I arrived at Copenhagen's airport at 7 am. I slept for about half the flight so I was a bit groggy. Getting through customs was super easy and quick. There is an ATM machine right near the luggage carousel, so I withdrew money from there. I took out $100 USD which was about 660,000 Danish Krones. I didn't think I would need a lot of cash for the weekend, but it turns out it's best to get some. Although every place takes a credit card, local restaurants may charge you extra if you pay by a foreign (I guess non-European) credit card. And it varies! Some restaurants added 15%, others did not add anything. By law they can charge whatever extra they want. So you should be mindful and check what the policy is. The fancier restaurants did not seem to charge extra.

After I picked up my luggage, I went to buy a 24 hour metro pass. It's worth it if you need to take the train from the airport to the city anyway. It's super easy, the train leaves right from Terminal 3. Taking a taxi would be pretty expensive (I think maybe around $50 USD when I did my research). If you just get a regular ticket, you need to scan it before you board at one of the machines. If you get the 24 hour ticket (80DKK, about $12 USD), you just show it to whoever asks to see it (and yes, the time starts at moment of purchase). You can use the pass for the water taxis too which I liked. So if you take the train, bus or water taxi more than 3x in a day, it is worth getting.

After settling down at the Air Bnb I stayed at, I ventured out to Christiania, which is known as Copenhagen's Green Light District. It was an interesting place to see, depending on how much you're into hippie communes and fascination with weed. It's easy to find, but I didn't walk deep into it. I definitely saw the main area where you can see people dealing hash. A lot of locals looked high and the air was thick with the smell of marijuana. There's also a lot of graffiti art and pieces in the area but I did a quick walk through and left after about 15-20 minutes of people watching. They're also super strict about not allowing anyone (especially tourists) to take any photos. Anyway, there is a lot of information you can find online about the history of Christiania if you're interested in learning more. I wouldn't say it's a must see, but it doesn't take long to stop by and have a look.

Christiania is really close to Copenhagen Street Food on Paper Island, which is a really cool warehouse which is lined with different food vendors and bars. There is cafeteria-style seating inside and outdoors, right along the canal. I had eaten already so just had a cup of tea but came later on my trip. After a break, I walked over to the Opera house which is very close by.

The Opera house sits directly across from Amalienborg Palace.

From here, I took a water taxi across the canal to Nyhvan, which is a bustling area of shops and restaurants and boats. Hans Christian Andersen lived in this area as well and you can catch a boat tour from here to cruise all the major sights along the canal.

Colorful homes all along the canal in Nyhavn

By then I was getting a bit tired from jetlag, so I hopped on a boat canal tour. I just took the one that's right at main end of the canal. I do recommend you get the combo ticket, which includes the boat tour and admission to Tivoli Gardens. You'll save some money and you can use the Tivoli Garden ticket later during your trip (Tivoli also charges more on the weekend, so it's a better deal to get this and no waiting on line!). The boat tour was an hour long and a relaxing way to enjoy views of the city on the canal and get some history.

After the boat tour, I had some time to kill before dinner so I walked alongside the canal towards the Little Mermaid statue and I stumbled upon this gorgeous scenery:

Such an unexpected sight! I felt like I walked into a fairy tale and half expected birds to start singing to me and frogs leaping out of the water. This place is also near a military area, but I didn't get to explore it further because I needed to go back to the canal and catch a water taxi to my dinner reservation.

So dinner was at Amass, which is a highly rated restaurant owned and operated by ex-Noma people. I initially made a reservation for one, but found out from reading reviews that you can book a communal table seating and do the tasting menu. Since I was traveling alone, I thought it would be a great idea to sit at the communal table and changed my rsvp.

Anyway, I LOVED the concept of formal communal dining. I got to meet 5 other people, all who love to travel and appreciate food as well. Two were from London, two were from Canada, and the other person was from South Korea (who was studying abroad in London). This was really the best part of dinner. Because otherwise...dinner was really expensive and blah to me! Everything is fresh and grown on the restaurant farm, but I guess I'm not a fan of Scandinavian type food. A lot of it seemed sour/pickly to me. However, everyone else at the table raved about the food and loved it. So I don't know, it just wasn't for me. This place was also far to get to. The water taxis stop running after 8 pm and at night, the buses come out there like once an hour. So I took an Uber at 11 pm back to the Air Bnb in Norreboro, which cost about $18 USD.

Day Two

Day 2: Jumped out of bed and went down to Torvehallerne Market, which is a very close walk (about ten minutes) from where I stayed in Norreboro. This market is a very modern food market with two buildings and a farmer's market outside. You can find a lot here, from baked pastries, to sandwiches, seafood, fruit, etc. and tons of seating. I was in desperate need of coffee and I read great things about Coffee Collective, which has a stand there.

If you ever learn anything about me, it's that I really try to travel efficiently. Meaning, I plan out my days and routes that are the easiest and make the most sense to go during whatever time of day it is. I hate getting lost, and I hate backtracking steps, especially if I'm pressed for time. I know that vacations are meant to be relaxing but since I only have so much time off from my normal job, I try to maximize every second of it! I do schedule in 'downtime' as well, but overall, I do a lot of research before all my vacations to make the most of every minute of the day. Anyway, I say this because after I got some caffeine in me, I jetted across to Rosenborg Castle, which was about a ten minute walk away (as opposed to going off somewhere further away).

There are about three main attractions to see in Copenhagen if you want to learn about the Royal Family and the country's history: Rosenborg Castle, Amalienborg Palace, and Christianborg Palace. Rosenborg Castle can be seen pretty quickly within an hour, if you don't stop and take a million pictures. I bought the combination ticket to Rosenborg and the musuem at Amalienborg. I had a purse with me, which was NOT a large size--it was your basic handbag size and I couldn't bring it in! You really can only carry a very small bag with you. So I had to dump my valuables into a plastic bag and store the rest in a locker that they give you. So FYI when visiting these places bring a really small bag if you don't want to put your things in a locker (although I thought the locker was safe--you have to put a coin deposit for the locker as well, but you get it back when you leave). Rosenborg Castle was nice to see, I got there a little bit before 11 am and hordes of tourists bus came in after me. The coolest thing to see there were the crown jewels, which is located in the bottom of the castle. I rushed thru it in 45 minutes though because I wanted to hustle over to Amalienborg to catch the changing of the guards at noon. To get there, I exited towards the gardens (which is a public park and where a ton of locals go to hang out) and it's pretty much a straight walk towards Amalienborg.

Amalienborg Palace, where the Royal Family lives. The Crown Prince and his family live in the left building, the Royal Mother to the right. The changing of the guards takes place to the right side of this plaza.

I was really impressed with the architecture here. Straight across on the other side of the canal is the Opera house, and when you look at Amalienborg palace from this viewpoint, the plaza and the buildings where the Royal Family lives lines up with a church, which looks like it's part of the palace when in fact, it's hundreds of feet away.

The changing of the guards happened right at noon and everyone in the plaza lines up around to see it. It lasts for probably about 15-20 minutes...I didn't stay for all of it, it was interesting but I wouldn't say it's a must-see. Basically, groups of soldiers switch places to stand guard but for some reason for formality purposes, it's not a quick change. I was also really starving by this time (I only had coffee, no food earlier) so after about 15 minutes I left to go find lunch.

The new guards brought in to stand post.

Thanks to the magic of Yelp, I found a nearby place to eat called Union Kitchen. I really try to write reviews on Yelp or Trip Advisor when I can, but I can barely find the time to write this blog! Not all recommendations I've seen on there have been helpful, but that's to be expected. Everyone has different tastes and preferences. Well, I really liked Union Kitchen! It was casual yet trendy, had free wi-fi, an interesting menu, good service, and good food. Chicken and waffles seems to be the thing to get here, but I was in the mood for breakfast so I got the croissant stuffed with eggs, bacon, tomatoes, and lettuce with a side salad and truffled fries. Was delish.

After I was fed, I went to check out the church by the palace (was nice) and then to the museum at Amalienborg. Spent about 30 minutes in here, it's not too big. You do learn much more about the Royal Family and their lineage and history here, so that was interesting. By the time I was done, I was feeling a bit tired when I remembered that there were free water boat rides! The weekend I was in Copenhagen coincided with the 3 Days of Design, a festival to promote interior design and art. I had no clue about it until I saw signs about it the day before. Anyway, to promote people going from place to place, the fair provided free transportation around the city. So for this particular day, I did not have a metro pass but I did get on a fun-size speedboat and got whisked down the canal for free over to the other side of the city near Christianborg Palace.

Whee! Fun-size speedboat during the 3 Days of Design Fair

I love being on the water. The canals of Copenhagen are so clean and swimmable, by the way. This was a great way to wind down a bit and enjoy more of the scenery. Once I got to Christiansborg Palace, I headed to the tower, which has free admission to the top for panoramic views of the city. I got here around 3 pm and there was a line to the elevators but it moved pretty quickly. Once you're up at the tower, you can really see all of Copenhagen. Click on the images below to scroll through the vistas.

From there, I went to check out the famous DOP Organic hot dog near here. There are many different styles to try, I got the French one. It was really juicy and not heavy. Definitely good for an afternoon snack. From here, I decided to trek over to Tivoli Gardens, which I do recommend people go visit. I thought it would be silly but it's really cute. It's one of the world's oldest amusements and it's so pretty! I can see why locals return. Not only do they have rides, but they have wide pathways for casual and relaxing strolls. The images below are a gallery, so click on each one to view more of Tivoli.

As you can see from this already incredibly long post, I did a lot on my second day and I'm not even done! After spending a couple of hours walking around Tivoli Gardens (and taking in a mime show to relax), I decided to go grab a drink at a bar before dinner. Again, through the magic of Yelp, I found a great cocktail place that hit the spot called Curfew. It's a bar that I could totally see fit in NYC or anywhere cosmopolitan. Great ambience and bartenders, this place has an award-winning cocktail menu but doesn't feel pretentious or stuffy. I only stayed here for one drink, and this was the only time during my trip I wish I had a friend to hang out with so I could try more drinks :)

Finally, my last stop of the day was at Radio, another restaurant owned by ex-Noma people. I was so disappointed with Amass and hoped for the best for Radio. I'll just say this: Food was a little bit better for me, and I loved that you can get a juice pairing instead of a wine pairing. However, given that it's been a month since my visit and I don't remember having overwhelming feelings about this place (whereas I remember the hot dog and Union Kitchen and Curfew), I'd say you can skip. Service was friendly though! And I remember I definitely paid cash here because I read somewhere they charge more if you use a credit card. Click through the image below for more food pics.

The rest of my trip report is to be continued...