The Best Way to Spend A Day in Copenhagen, Denmark
One might argue that a single afternoon is not enough time to really get to know and enjoy a city and, while we would typically agree with this, we were surprised at how much exploring we were able to do in Copenhagen with just a few hours on hand. Having an accessible public transport system and a city center chocked full of glitzy shopping, restaurants, and even a theme park makes Copenhagen a pedestrian’s paradise. If, like us, you happen to be in the city for a short time and feel up for a little adventure then keep reading to see how we got the best bang for our buck, so to speak, in just one afternoon in Copenhagen.
With our flight into Denmark arriving in the early afternoon and knowing that we would have a full evening and night in the city we figured that a few hours wouldn’t be enough to uncover all the charms of Copenhagen but would be enough to at least get a feel for what landed this city on the best-places- to-live-in-the-world list. We chose to spend the night at an airport hotel which meant easy access to the trains departing for the city center.
We took the train from the airport to København H aka the Copenhagen City center. The ride, which cost about 5 USD per person and lasted 30 minutes, dropped off into a terminal that was somehow both medieval and modern with its enormous brick façade complete with turrets and spires and its sleek trains and state of the art conveniences. We easily could’ve spent an hour just admiring the terminal!
If trains are not your thing, then you can also take a taxi which, if you’re traveling from the airport to the city center, cost about 50 USD per trip. Keep in mind that while taxis are readily available in high traffic areas like bus/train terminals and the airport you may need to download a Taxi App like “TAXA 4×35” or “Viggo” to actually book a cab from other parts of the city. This might seem a little inconvenient but is really no different than using other ride share apps like Uber or Lyft which are not available in Copenhagen due to certain taxi laws. Also, all taxis require credit card payments in the city so no need to worry about lugging around and guarding a bunch of cash.
Since we didn’t plan an itinerary ahead of time we looked up some points of interests within walking distance of the train station and decided to tackle as many of those as we could before our feet gave out on us. Seriously though we didn’t see a need for a cab as the city was well laid out with plenty of pedestrian paths and as we needed to work off 3 days worth of fish and chips! Anyway, here are some of our favorite stops on our walk through the Copenhagen city center.
Tivoli Gardens
We intended our first stop to be Tivoli Gardens which just happened to be located across the street from the København H station. If you don’t know what Tivoli Gardens is don’t feel too bad because neither did we! Again, we did not do our due diligence prior to arrival and having come across the name previously we made the erroneous assumption that this was a botanical garden of sorts that we could simply walk through and admire. Well, you can imagine our surprise when we arrived to a ticket booth set off by a spectacular backdrop of screaming people on a rollercoaster! In fact, we now know that the park is famous for having one of the oldest wooden rollercoasters in the world. While Tivoli Gardens might seem like just another theme park, what really sets it apart from its competitors is the lush gardens amongst which the various thrill rides are set, lending some truth to its name. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to explore the park ourselves. So having jealously ogled it from the outside we started making our way into the city where we incidentally bumped into our next stop just about 50 feet away from the entrance to the park.
Tivoli Food Hall
After concluding that we definitely did not have enough time to visit the park followed by the squandering of another precious 10 minutes spent jealously gazing at the roller coaster, we turned around to leave and bumped right into a sign for the Tivoli Food Hall. We had intended to have dinner later in the evening but the disappointment and despondency of not getting what we wanted right off the bat really worked up an appetite that we were all too happy to satiate with the smorgasbord of food before us. The Tivoli Food Hall is exactly as you might expect: a bright, cheerful, and loud building packed with people good-naturedly vying for tables and served by restaurants offering up all manner of cuisines from around the globe. With options like Cocks and Cows, Le Petit Paris, and Kung Fu Street Food, what’s not to love? We tried the Lobster Shack for their mouthwatering fusion style lobster rolls and Chicks by Chicks for their fall-off-the-bone Rotisserie chicken both of which exceeded expectations. Sadly, we could only eat so much and regret to say that we had to leave many worthy-appearing restaurants unexplored. Suffice it to say that we would return in a heartbeat if only we didn’t live thousands of miles away. Check out the food hall here to get inspired for your visit!
Nyhavn
As we were finishing up our impromptu dinner and our blood sugar levels rose enough to kick start our brains again, we realized that wandering the streets without a place in mind might not be the most effective way to actually see the city. So, when we could pause long enough between bites, we continued our search for points of interest and came across Amalienborg Palace. We could not pass up the opportunity to see the royal square, which was just over a mile away, so we entered it into the Maps app as our final stop of the walking tour. Incredibly, the route the app chose took us first through City Hall Square where we were surrounded by an eclectic but gorgeous mix of well-preserved baroque revival style buildings and modern storefronts.
Continuing on from City Hall Square down Stroget street we took in the various shops and restaurants lining what we now know is the main shopping area of the city. This was fortunate as it turned our purposeful march to the palace into an fun hour of dodging into and out of all manner of shops on the hunt for the perfect souvenir and those oh-so-yummy Danish butter cookies. Before we knew it we reached the end of Stroget Street and entered Kogens Nytorv also known as King’s New Square.
Kogens Nytorv, founded in the 17th Century by King Christian V, is located within Copenhagen’s Oldtown and is a great hangout spot from which the history of Copenhagen could be felt and admired. The Square is also home to the statue of Christian V atop horseback resplendent in a landscape of colorful flowers. The dramatic setting of the statue and bright flowers against the almost perpetually gray skies makes for impressive photography unless, like us, you insist on posing in front of every landmark as awkwardly and with as goofy a grin as you could muster up.
After our our sadly lacking but completely fun photo shoot in the New King’s Square, we forgot to follow our directions and just began walking towards what appeared to be water directly in front of us. We were of course going in the wrong direction but didn’t really care as we had inadvertently landed at Nyhavn also known as New Harbour. We didn’t immediately know it was the iconic harbor even though we had just 20 minutes earlier purchased an exact replica of it from a souvenir shop. Don’t bother to ask why we would buy a souvenir of something we didn’t know about because there’s no real answer to this except that we like shiny things.
Anyway, like the New King’s Square, the harbor was founded in the 17th century and is essentially a canal lined on both sides by colorfully painted and vibrant homes, restaurants and cafes making for a stunning and cheerful vista. The area is also known for its entertainment offerings, but we found that simply walking along and taking in the bright orange and yellow hues of the buildings and admiring the small vessels, some of which were centuries-old wooden boats, plying the waters was entertainment enough for us. Too bad for us that we had eaten dinner before we found this romantic spot!
Amalienborg Castle
Leaving the harbor, we finally paid heed to our gps and arrived at the palace square just as the sun began to set. Entering the square, the most immediate captivating sights were the equestrian statue of King Frederik V set in the center of the square and the four castles that made up the corners of the square. Each castle sported a flag indicating whether the Danish Royals occupying that castle was in residence. Entrance to the square was not restricted and we were free to roam and peruse all we wanted as long as we kept a respectful distance from the entrances of the palaces.
There to make sure we didn’t get overzealous were the Royal Palace Guards clad in their blue trousers and black coats and their impressive bearskin hats and rifles. Truth be told, the chance to take goofy pictures with the stoic Royal Guards was the main reason we wanted to visit the square, but it occurred to us how unbearable it must be to do the job and deal with annoying tourist so decided to take our pictures from afar. We completed our tour of the Palace Square by following King Frederik V’s line of sight to the Marble Church arriving in time to see the descending sun set the already magnificent cathedra cathedral aglow. It took about 45 minutes to retrace our steps from Amalienborg Palace to København H station with one quick stop at a KFC for a much recommended and we-must-agree delicious Zinger sandwich which, let’s face it, anyone would need after all that walking.
We were completely won over by this amazing city and since we were barely able to scratch the surface we plan to return soon to finish what we started. In the meantime, if you happen to get there before us, be sure to check out these sites and to also get the behind-the-scenes tour of Amalienborg Palace, watch the changing of the Royal Guard that happens at noon each day, visit the Seal Woman and enjoy at least one meal along the Nyhanv canal!
