Copenhagen

June, 2016.

Shuttle train

Arriving in another destination without having transfers booked is always a little nerve racking. However, in Copenhagen it was very simple. When we got off the plane and went through security, we simply just followed ‘exit’ signs through the airport, and right before the end is an information desk. The woman who served us was very lovely and helpful – we told her were we needed to go and straight away she told us what platform and time. Turns out the platform was right at our feet, too!

We were a little unsure on what train was ours as we needed to get to Copenhagen Central, which they call Kobenhavn. We risked it and jumped on a train… turns out we were right. The train was very spacious, it even had neck/head pillows like planes.

Our train ride to the centre of Copenhagen from the airport cost us 720 Krone which we worked out cost us about £7.20 – it was the same price coming back too.

Scandic Hotel

We chose the Scandic Hotel purely based on the fact that we had a one night stay voucher for that chain of hotels.  We chose wisely! Such a beautiful, modern-looking hotel with a massive wide-open space in the reception area.  The receptionist was kind enough to let us check in and go to our room to drop our bags off 4 hours early.

Our room had a lovely view. We could see the auditorium – which we didn’t go in as we had heard it was a little drab, and we also had a great view of a lovely lake, which reflected gorgeous colours at sunset.

Breakfast was possibly the best continental breakfast I’ve ever had. They had such a wide variety of food. From Rivita to pancakes, potatoes to cereal and yogurt to a full English. They actually had everything you could want at breakfast. I was pleasantly surprised.

Hard Rock Café

We found another one! We thought we would have a visit to Hard Rock as soon as we arrived into Copenhagen as to fill us up for the rest of the day. We had already prepaid our meal at Hard Rock – which made things so much easier. £20 each for a starter, main and afters, as well as a drink!

We both got a salad for the starter, I got the Legendry burger which is a burger with cheese, onion rings and bacon. Rich got…. wait for it…BBQ ribs, as always. After the mains we both got the bakers choice, which was a Strawberry tart. It was delicious!

This Hard Rock was definitely a modern set up, it reminded us both of HRC in Berlin. It was bright and colourful, although didn’t feature as much memorabilia as we have come to expect. Service, as usual, was great.

Tivoli Gardens

Tivoli Gardens is the second oldest amusement park in the world – it’s magical. Walt Disney visited years ago and got his ideas for the Disney theme parks from Tivoli, and I can totally see why.

If you added in Disney characters and Disney images it would be Disneyland/World, except smaller. I loved that it was a small-ish theme park because there was literally something going on everywhere – no empty space.

We only went on one ride called ‘The Demon’– it’s not a very long ride, however it doesn’t stop, with drops, twists and loops throughout.

While we were in the park, we followed a marching band around and watched a pantomime.

They have a few stages within the park as they also hold concerts and performances there throughout the year.

Fort

My mum and dad visited Copenhagen a few months before us and told us to pass through the fort on our way to see the Little Mermaid – and I’m so glad we did. Very beautiful and scenic.

The first thing you see is a massive statue at the top of a fountain and then looking straight ahead you see the church and the grounds of the fort. It’s a lovely place to sit down and take everything in.

Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid statue is apparently one of the most disappointing things to see in Copenhagen because everyone expects a massive statue. I was quite surprised, I thought it was cute. It’s very busy around the area, so we had to fight our way to get close to take pictures.

Its very relaxing as it is situated along the water front. It was nice after taking pictures to sit back and watch people posing with the statue. Although, bear in mind, it is a bit of a walk away from the main part of the city, but it’s a must see.

Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tale House

Firstly, it’s worth bearing in mind that the Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tale house is part of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not building – so it’s not a massive. Entry to the museum was 60 DKK each – not too much. It’s very interesting actually. When you start to walk through, the first part is based around the life of H.C. Andersen. I didn’t really know much about him, other than what I had read in primary school. One thing I took away from the first section of the Fairy Tale house was that he travelled the world, gaining inspiration for many of his fairy tales.

After that, you then start entering his fairy tales. With some of his tales, you get to take a seat and listen to a voice telling you a shortened version of it, with a small featurette/diorama acting out the story. These are accompanied by cards of the story on the wall next to it, so you can read along.

The first story you listen to is The Little Mermaid, followed by The Little Match Girl, Thumbelina and The Emperor’s New Clothes. I loved the Fairy Tale house – although the only disappointing thing was that they had no merchandise.

Round Tower

The Rundetaarn AKA The Round tower is the oldest functioning observatory in Europe. It was built in the 17th century and is encircled by an outdoor platform with picturesque views. To walk up to the top you need to walk up the spiral walk way.

As you are walking up, there are two rooms you can visit, the first being the library and the second being the bell loft. FACT: one of the reasons the Round Tower was built as a giant spiral walkway was so the king could ride up to the top on his horse.

Entry for the Rundetaarn is probably the most affordable attraction we visited in Copenhagen, costing just 25DKKfor adults and 5 DKK for children.

Christ Our Saviour Church

When Rich told me we were going to a church I was like “yeah ok, cool, that will be nice”. I didn’t realise I was going to be climbing up to the very top of it! Inside the church itself was lovely – very basic looking, but lovely.

When you are climbing up to the top, it’s just a simple collection of steps and ladders. It was such a lovely view – the odd thing about it was that you could walk around the outside (round the outside, round the outside …sorry).

I wore a dress, probably not the greatest idea, you know, with the wind.

Luna’s Diner

We popped by the Luna’s Diner for a quick bite to eat and to use the rest of our money up. We came out so full! We were on the edge of being hungry so thought we would just order a few starters and share them. Rich ordered … BBQ chicken wings (obvs!) and I got sweet potato fries and nachos.

The portions were huge; I didn’t eat it all. It definitely filled us up until we got to the airport.

Carlsberg museum

Visiting the Carlsberg museum was very last minute. It never occurred to me that Carlsberg may have come from Denmark. Entrance to the museum was 95 DKK each, but that also included two drinks, which could be specified as either a beer or a soft drink.

The tour is self-guided by the way. First, you walk through the courtyard where you will see some old cars. You then walk through to the factory, which has a lot of information boards up to read. You also get the opportunity to use one of your drinks vouchers, which we used to get a beer each. You can also feast your eyes on the world’s biggest bottle collection, which is cooler than it sounds.

Continuing, you get to see where all the production lines were and the history of it. After all of that you pass through the ‘sculpture garden’ and head towards the stables and see the horses. May I add though, if you visit the Carlsberg museum, you won’t get to see a working factory, just what remains of one.

The tour ends back in the courtyard. Just outside of the courtyard is the free shuttle bus service, that takes you back to the Tivoli Gardens.

Currency

I love the currency in Denmark- the coins are so different to ours. However, I could not get my head around how much to give people when it came to buying things bec, the main reason being because their currency has such high numerical value.

Want a chocolate bar? That’s in the hundreds! We worked out that if you put a decimal point in whatever the price was it worked out how much it would be in England (thereabouts). So, when it cost 720 DKK it was actually around £7.20.

Overall

I thoroughly enjoyed Copenhagen. It wasn’t what I expected, in a good way. If you have ever visited Berlin, there are many similarities. Everyone who we encountered was lovely. It is quite an expensive city though – but then again, it depends where you like to go.

Oh! And one thing that put a massive smile on my face was when I asked for a London fog Tea in Starbucks – the Barista knew exactly what I wanted! I didn’t have to explain, like I usually have to back in the U.K.