Copenhagen, a city that in some ways caught us by surprise, the truth is it was one of the most exciting cities that we have ever been to and that really wasn’t what we expected to have been the case before we traveled. The people, the diversity, the open spaces, the variety, the food, and the overall experience of this city was just amazing.

The Danes enjoy a wonderful quality of life, the taxes they pay with their hard-earned salaries are clearly very well spent by the authorities, something that is evident due to the cleanliness, the amazing green spaces, and fantastic infrastructure and developments. Copenhagen really is ‘up there’ amongst the very best cities as a place to live. We do have to point out that there is one drawback to all the wonderful things Copenhagen has to offer, and that is that it is rather expensive, so be ready to pay at least €5-6 for a coffee, €20 on a very basic breakfast or a decent evening meal can cost you €75- €80 for two. This, of course, is only part of the story so don’t let that scare you.

As usual, we wanted to be as close to the city center as our budget would allow and we plumbed for the Radisson Royal by Collection for the first couple of nights… Something special as it was also Andria’s birthday and then on to the more affordable Wake-Up Copenhagen for the remainder of our stay. Both were great choices, one a bit more luxurious than the other of course but both come highly recommended as they are both in perfect locations for anyone wanting to be within walking distance of the city center.

As with all our trips, we walked everywhere but during the last couple of days, we decided we wanted to go slightly further afield so we hired a couple of bikes – available for rent from Wake-Up Copenhagen – and it turned out to be a great idea. Copenhagen is such a bike-friendly city, as was the aim of the Danish government in order to try and eliminate as many cars from the roads as possible. Most of the hotels provide bikes with a daily hire rate which we found quite reasonable at €10.

Our first port of call on the bikes was Reffen Street Food Market, this is a must-visit while in Copenhagen. It’s a little out of the city but more than accessible on two wheels from the city center. Along the way, you will experience some of the aforementioned green spaces and lakes, and the ride getting there is fantastically scenic. Reffen itself is an area full of food stalls, arts, crafts and even an on-site micro-brewery, it is an outdoor area during the summer months and indoors in the more wet and wintery ones. There is an abundance of food options and entertainment and it is right on the water’s edge which was gorgeous when the sun was shining. It is also a cash-free society so make sure to have any type of electronic payment method at hand…Otherwise, you won’t be eating here!. A meal for two may cost in the region of €20-25. Check the above link to the official website for more info and check out our own walk-around video below on this very unique place.

Moving away from Reffen, Copenhagen offers lots of other food markets and halls and The Bridge Street Kitchen was another one of our regular hangouts during our stay. Another absolutely brilliant Street food type market that is literally heaving at any time of the day. Right by the water, it is a great place to go and hang out, have a bite to eat, enjoy a beer and the music. There are loads of communal tables, you order from whatever stall takes your fancy, grab your food, sit down to enjoy the kind of quality that you would usually only expect to find in restaurants. There are so many options and everything we tried really was top draw. Like Reffen, Bridge Street is cash-free too.

The food stall market thing is becoming a bit of a theme for this blog and for good reason. Regular readers of our blog will know that we travel regularly to South East Asia where street food is totally part of the culture and something they have done for over one hundred years. It is a wonderful thing that allows people to enjoy a meal at unbelievably affordable prices and without having to worry about booking a table. This is why we search for them everywhere we go and Denmark was no exception, on the contrary, once we realised how amazing these food stall markets were in Copenhagen, we made a b-line for a different one each day! So it was with great excitement when we found Torvehallerne Market. Hard to describe it as anything other than awesome! There were so many cute cafes and food places to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner here…Which was probably the reason we visited so often during our time in Copenhagen. Torvehallerne is in two sections in two separate buildings, one opposite the other, with a lovely little fresh produce market in between them. One building houses all the cafes, food stalls, and bakeries and the other has the fresh produce, delicatessens, and an amazing selection of fresh flowers. There are seating areas inside and outside and depending on the weather you sit where you please to enjoy your coffee, cake, or meal.

Tivoli food market was also another good option if you are looking for a place offering different meals from an array of different cultures. A little bit more on the expensive side but the quality really is exceptional here as you would expect from walking around this amazing Tivoly amusement park – more details below. We went to eat here a couple of times as we loved it so much. We ate at Kung Fu Street Food, oh man! the food was sooooo good and Wok Wok with their authentic Thai food. As regular readers of our blog are well aware, we both love Asian food so we needed to try…For purposes of research of course... Entrance tickets to get into the food hall are not required, it is part of the park but has a separate entrance from the main road.

Avobaren…. Do you like everything Avocado? We certainly do! If so, put Avobaren on your list, we had a gorgeous lunch here, it’s located in the Frederiksberg area with indoor and outdoor seating… we paid €30 for a wonderfully tasty and healthy lunch. 

Mad & Kaffe was our absolute favorite in terms of breakfast/brunch, they have a tapas-style menu that is priced depending on whether you choose to order the 3, 5 or 7 piece menu. It’s a simple system of a menu with a pencil, you just tick the things you want to order and you pay the set price for either 3, 5 or 7 choices. Brekkie will set you back at around €15-20 per person including a drink or coffee and it’s totally worth it. There are 3 different stores scattered across the city and they open for lunch and dinner. We highly recommend it. 

Coffee Room was another great find… Gorgeous avocado & roasted tomatoes on Danish bread and a beautifully presented muesli with fresh fruits and a great coffee to start your day. Brekkie for two cost us €33

Gasoline grill serves, in our opinion, the best burgers in the city and for all us vegans/veggies there is their delicious Green Burger. There are 7 locations across the city and the most unique one of all was Landgreven 10 which is an actual petrol station so you can fill up your car and grab a burger as well. We opted for the combo meal that includes a drink and fries for €16 each.

Kini Kini is THE most amazing Indonesian restaurant we have had the pleasure of eating at! and the first Indonesian restaurant opened in Copenhagen. We stumbled across this restaurant by chance as we were in the Göteborg Plads area… What a gem!! Gorgeous setting, wonderful staff and the food was delicious. A meal for two cost us €75 which included an entrée, two mains and two drinks….  JUST GO, IT’S AMAZING !! Nyhavn is famous for its iconic colourful townhouses which line the water’s edge. When you think of Copenhagen you picture Nyhavn as its one of the most popular areas in the city. With so many restaurants and cafes, you are really spoilt for choice. We did find the restaurants a little touristy for our liking, to be honest, and only had one meal here during our 10-day visit. Regardless we loved spending time taking pics and watching the world go by. With the beautiful harbour and ferry tours on offer, I can understand why Nyhavn is loved by so many, and rightly so, it is absolutely beautiful! Tivoli Gardens Amusement Park is one of those places you just have to see when in Copenhagen, whether young or old. It is one of the oldest in the world, located in the center of the city and seriously, one of the most beautifully laid out and magical places we have been. If Disney World makes you dream them Tivoly makes you feel like you have been granted access to a different world.  The entrance fee is around €18 per person but this does not include rides, there are different tickets available depending on how you would like to spend your time there and depending on which one may suit you and your family. We felt like grown-up kids in here and enjoyed every minute. The park does not only have rides it has lush gardens and beautiful ponds, specialty shops, and not forgetting the great food hall we mentioned earlier too. The theme changes for each season whether it’s summer, autumn, spring, and Christmas, so any time of the year you are able to visit will be as magical as the last! 

Christiania Freetown  

Well, this is a super interesting place and its ‘attractiveness’ totally depends on the individual. Thousands of people visit Christiana each year and in our opinion, rightly so, but it also is a place that has stirred debate and is why many would not step foot here. It is a former military base that was ‘occupied’ in 1971 by locals in the area. Initially, they wanted a playground for their kids, and as it was unused land they thought they should make good use of it. It slowly turned into something more as people started to construct shelters and small dwellings as it slowly turned into a ‘hippie’ commune for want of a better description. Christiania has very much retained this hippy image with its hand-built homes and cannabis culture. It was independent of the Danish government until recent years when they had their own rules, weed and alcohol were commonplace although hard drugs were prohibited and the people of this area paid no taxes either. It’s a super liberated and very colourful place. At first, you may feel intimated, however, if you roam around and mind your own business no one will question you or bother you and personally there was never a moment where we didn’t feel safe. We have read many conflicting stories but for us, everyone was friendly and welcoming. Photos are definitely not allowed and even if the temptation is strong due to its wonderful diversity, put away your phones and cameras because you won’t make many friends here waving them about…Oh and don’t run either! They think that your running away from something or someone and will endeavour to catch you to find out why you are running, they look after each other and are a very tight, loving community in this way. You will find lots of graffiti as Christiania is a place of freedom of expression, we’re not talking about some idiots spraying swear words but real art. Pusher Street, as it’s fondly known, is the main street, signs in the notorious area warn that you are approaching the Green Light District, an open market for marijuana and all types of paraphernalia, although this was ok years ago is no longer tolerated by the Danish authorities but still takes place just like it does in all other places in big cities, Illegal or not. You will find Christiania in the Christianshavn area. It’s a lovely walk from the city center. Everyone is welcome as long as you respect their way of life and the way they’ve decided to live it, this way you will enjoy the wonders of Christiania Freetown….we certainly did!

Rosenberg Castle was a place we decided to visit in the hope it would give us an interesting segment for this blog, but, to be honest it wasn’t what we had hoped and took very little time to walk around, although it was a beautiful place. The architecture of the 17th-century building itself is spectacular and the interior is stunning too. The main reason for visiting would be the Crown Jewels that are on display, knowing that these came from that era is quite breathtaking. There is a fee to enter at €16 each, which we found a bit too steep for what is essentially only a couple of hours’ worth of wandering around.

The Round Tower in the city centre is definitely a must for any first-time visitor. The clue is in its name and gives away the building’s design. It was built with a spiral interior and you walk, literally winding your way up to the top. Any person whether young or old, on foot or by bike can reach the top without being out of breath. It’s approximately a 200-meter spiral reaching the top. The views are wonderful as you can see the whole city from above and admire Copenhagens great skyline. €5 entry fee is really cheap if compared to the usual entry fees for attractions around Copenhagen

Parks

Parks and gardens that we visited during our 10-day stay, each garden is absolutely immaculate as they take recreational areas seriously in Denmark and know the importance of green spaces for all walks of life. The Danes in the warmer months use their parks to relax, to exercise, take their children to play, or just simply go for walks or sit on a bench and enjoy a good book and we absolutely loved how many people were using and enjoying them. They also have a very refreshing view of cemeteries, unlike the usual morbid and macabre cemeteries, the Danes try to avoid segregating the dead from the living, so you will often see gravestones in openly accessible parks and open areas, something we found to be beautiful. Some of our favourite parks are listed below. 

Kings Garden  –  Botanical Gardens  –  Frederiksberg Gardens  –  The Citadel  –  Assistens Cemetery

Neighbourhoods in Copenhagen 

Vesterbro  –  Norrebro  –  Oesterbro  –  Christianshavn  –  The City Centre  –  Frederiksberg

We visited all of these and more and each one has its own charm and character; we loved Christianshavn as its waterfront living and is absolutely beautiful during the summer months. Frederiksberg took us by surprise with its leafy streets and of course the City Centre as there was such a buzz day and night. All neighborhoods are worth visiting if you have enough days and luckily for us, we did

Strøget is a pedestrian, car-free shopping area in Copenhagen. It’s constantly buzzing with locals and tourists, I admit that it is very touristy but what we loved about this place was the little side streets that you could get lost in, away from all the crowds. There are all kinds of stores, cafes, bars and street food…of which included a stall selling the most delicious Danish hot dogs…with a vegan option for us! Happy days! You could literally walk around for hours as it’s the longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe. Honestly, it really is a cool place to visit.

Jumping on the train to Malmo, Sweden was another great idea and is also a good idea when in Copenhagen… It would be a crime not to! Having the opportunity to visit another country for the price of a cheap train ticket really wasn’t something we were going to pass up. It was an absolute breeze, we bought a family ticket which was €40 return (this option is a lot cheaper than buying two return tickets so keep this in mind), a very comfortable 40 minutes from Copenhagen central station and here we were, in gorgeous Sweden! The two countries are connected by the Oresund Bridge and it’s just so cool to be able to see another country in a single day without feeling totally exhausted by the end of it. Malmo is a pretty city, tiny in comparison to Copenhagen but still plenty to do and enjoy in a day.

We walked around the town and enjoyed their parks which are scattered around the centre. It is a very pretty city but to be honest we managed to walk around it within a few hours so decided it was time to indulge in some of the local food. We visited Malmo Saluhall for lunch, another brilliant artisan food market and somewhat more affordable than the majority of similar places in Copenhagen, unfortunately, it didn’t wow us as found limited options for vegetarians, so would we go back again? Possibly not.

We decided to visit the town of Lund which was literally a few stops on the train line from Malmo. We had read heaps about it and we were intrigued to see Lund University as it is a prestigious university with centuries of history, it is huge and spread across the entire town. It is plain for all to see with the masses of students everywhere that this is of course a university town, which is very refreshing and gives Lund a wonderful, youthful vibe.  We visited Kulturen which is a spectacular open-air museum with historic buildings and beautiful gardens. It will take you back in time and gives you a glimpse of Swedish life dating back to the middle ages right through to the 1930’s. We highly recommend Kulteren as it was so beautiful and a great way to spend a few hours. We found Lund town slightly more exciting than Malmo but both should be visited if you have enough time in Denmark to enable you to jump on the train to Sweden. Make sure to be carrying some form of ID as you are crossing borders, we were checked in Copenhagen for this before we boarded the train.

A few extra photo’s from this great trip…

So, how do you even begin to sum up a trip as amazing as this? A city as cultural, as forward-thinking, as welcoming, as diverse and as friendly as Copenhagen? We don’t actually want to sum it up as this would feel far too close to an ending, and we don’t want to have an ending, we don’t want to feel like this book is closing, we want to hold on to the idea that this trip to this city of wonderment was just part one, page one of a story and a love affair that will continue for many many a year. Copenhagen, not only will we be back, we will be returning on a very regular basis… That’s how sensational you are!!

Mick & Andria

@theadventurousbug

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