Copenhagen

[DiegoDiego]

25 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

The others being Prague, Barcelona, Paris and London?

Well I wouldn't really count Barcelona as a capital, but Paris and London I'd certainly agree with.

[invergowrie arab]

I was there last month. 

It's perfectly pleasant without really blowing you away.

Looks like the entire city was put up in 2 goes, once 300 years ago and once 15 years ago.

 

[ICTChris]

Went for a few days in Copenhagen last week, really enjoyed it.  We flew with Easyjet, perfectly standard flight.  Thought Copenhagen airport was decent, train links into the town are right there for you.  We stayed in the Copenhagen Plaza, right next to the Central Station.  It's an old fashioned hotel but I liked it.  Room was absolutely fine and the staff were very helpful.  We didn't eat in the hotel restaurant at all but it looked good and apparently has a recommendation in the latest Michelin Guide.  We went for a drink in the Library Bar, which is an old-fashioned bar in the style of a gentleman's club (not that kind of club you dirty dogs).  It was very nice, although a bit creaky and expensive.

We spent a lot of time just wandering about - Copenhagen is small and walking is the best way to see things.  First day we got on a bus tour to get our bearings but it was pretty pointless as we jumped off halfway round and just wandered.  The centre has loads of great buildings, really impressive - the Parliament, the old Stock Exchange and various Royal places were all impressive.  We spent a bit of time in the Nyhavn area, which runs alongside a canal.  It used to have a reputation for sleaziness but it's now got lots of cafes and bars, as well as people working on the boats.  In the afternoon we took a stroll over to the Christianhavn, which is a peaceful island with mainly residential buildings.  It's also got Christiana, an old hippie commune.  In the 1970s various squatters took over an old Danish military base and turned it into a commune.  The residents constructed their own houses and buildings and have built their own community.  What it's most famous for is the cannabis market, Pusher Street, where dealer selling hash products are acceptable.  It's a unique place and there are nice spots to go for a walk around the commune but Pusher Street was fairly sleazy, less a commune with chiled out hippies than a load of shady drug dealers who'd likely stab you (there have been several stabbings in recent years and a crack down on some of the more open dealing).

On the second day we took the train 40 minutes along the coast to the Louisiana Gallery of Modern Art.  It's in a small village Humlebaek and is a modern art gallery.  It had some great displays and a sculpture garden.  I assume it has great views but a sea mist had come in so we couldn't really see much.  It was a great building, I really like galleries and museums that have good exhibits and great buildings so enjoyed it a lot.  The rest of that day we spent going around the 'Latin Quarter', which is the University district (not sure what's Latin about it) and has lots of small shops, cafes and restaurants.  On our final day the weather wasn't great so we went to the Danish National Museum (pretty good, although I'd have liked more on the Vikings) and the Danish Design Museum, which was absolutely fantastic, probably the best place we saw.

In terms of food, we ate in the meat-packing district a couple of times.  First we went to Biomio Organic Bistro, which was pretty decent.  I got a burger there which was nice and my wife got Danish beef (matron), it was good but the service wasn't great, we seemed to get a moody waitress and it took ages.  A table of more people who came in after us got their food first.  Second day we kind of ate on the move, went to a Paleo fast-food place in the University quarter where I got a hot dog wrapped in an omlette.  Final night we went to Nose2Tail, a steak place in the meat-packing district.  The guide book said it was less expensive, but I think they were judging it by the standards of Michelin starred places as our meal was pretty expesnive.  It was worth it though - I got the pigs nose ravioli as a starter, which was great, and then the special cut steak, which was absolutely amazing, the nicest steak I've ever eaten.  I really don't know how they got it so perfect.  My wife got a rump steak, which was also good but not as nice as mine.

For lunches we generally just grabbed some smorrbrod somewhere, which is open sandwiches on rye bread.  Our hotel did breakfast but we went across the road to the Andersen Bakery and got a Danish pastry, roll and coffee each morning, fantastic.

Overall, I enjoyed it.  it's a pricey place though but we knew this so made sure we had enough.  If we'd had one more day we'd have gone to Tivoli Gardens, which only opened for the year on the Wednesday, and probably gone over to Malmo - I really just want to go over the cool bridge.

[Michael W]

Just back from 3 nights in Copenhagen. Thoroughly enjoyed it, although it is indeed very expensive. We knew this when we booked it, so it wasn't really a surprise. 

Two days is probably enough to see all the sights and if you're pretty determined and not bothered by museums etc. you could possibly just about do it in a day. We also went to Malmo/Lund in Sweden where it was very cold and, in the latter case, was snowing as we arrived. Lund I liked quite a lot - very quaint. I enjoyed the snow as well, as it only lasted 5/10 mins and I haven't seen snow for ages. Both were very quiet, although that may have been because it was absolutely baltic outside. 

We used the metro/S train a couple of times, but the city itself is very walkable and the attractions themselves aren't too spaced out they way they are in London or Paris. It is cracking city to walk around, and I was very impressed with how well preserved it has been in the centre. We went to Tivoli Gardens on Sunday night and despite our fears (it was heaving on the Saturday night) it was actually very quiet which made it very pleasant to walk around and see it all lit up. I never found it too busy generally while I was there, though most the tourists I think used the Easter holiday to go to sunnier climates. 

Eating out, like pretty much everything else, is really expensive. If you like kebabs/shawarma then you're in luck as you can find stalls selling these everywhere and they seem a fairly cheap way of doing lunch. For breakfast, we visited the Andersen bakery ICTChris mentioned, which was excellent. I had an hot chocolate and cinnamon swirl. We also went to another bakery called Lagkagehuset (I had too google this and c&p it!). I had the same there and preferred the cinnamon swirl (it had icing and the Andersen one didn't) but found their hot chocolate to be a bit too rich. Again this was pricey compared to what you'd pay here, but the quality was much better so I didn't really mind. 

I'd recommend it. I probably wouldn't hurry back as I think we managed to see everything we wanted to, but it's a great place to visit.

[The Minertaur]

Been invited on a stag do in Copenhagen.  What's it like for night life?  Decent activities for during the day?

[doulikefish]

Night life is good dont know much about stag type of activities unless it involves drinking in pubs

[The Minertaur]

22 hours ago, doulikefish said:

Night life is good dont know much about stag type of activities unless it involves drinking in pubs

Sounds good to me   I'm presuming there's a brewery to go tour? 

[doulikefish]

Sounds good to me [emoji38]  I'm presuming there's a brewery to go tour? 

http://www.visitcarlsberg.com/

[Deego]

Going Friday - Monday (arrive Fri eve, back Mon eve), any advice on how much spending money I should be taking? Eating out and drinking every night, probably.

[doulikefish]

Going Friday - Monday (arrive Fri eve, back Mon eve), any advice on how much spending money I should be taking? Eating out and drinking every night, probably.

I normally plan on a 100 quid a day as a guestimate when im on holiday

[ICTChris]

Copenhagen is pretty expensive.  If you are going out for meals every night it'll add up.  I'm trying to remember how much we paid but think the steak I had in the meat packing district was more than  £50.  It was the nicest steak I've ever eaten though.

[Guest Moomintroll]

It is astonishingly expensive in the touristy areas & not much better away from them. Just back from there and still getting the shakes at paying 9 quid for 500ml of lager & 4 quid for a small bottle of water. Great place but your bank account will take one hell of a hammering.

[welshbairn]

35 minutes ago, Moomintroll said:

It is astonishingly expensive in the touristy areas & not much better away from them. Just back from there and still getting the shakes at paying 9 quid for 500ml of lager & 4 quid for a small bottle of water. Great place but your bank account will take one hell of a hammering.

If it's like Norway, stick to the local lager/beer and expect to pay double in sit down restaurants. They do massive hot dogs on stalls which aren't too much, and supermarket stuff isn't too bad, so stick to one restaurant meal a day and leave the Guiness alone. Again, if it's like Norway.

[Guest Moomintroll]

If it's like Norway, stick to the local lager/beer and expect to pay double in sit down restaurants. They do massive hot dogs on stalls which aren't too much, and supermarket stuff isn't too bad, so stick to one restaurant meal a day and leave the Guiness alone. Again, if it's like Norway.

Agreed, the hot dog stalls are far better value than sitting down for food, but even Carlsberg or Tuborg are ridiculous price wise no matter where you go. I resigned myself to having breakfast and dinner at the apartment we were staying in and treating us to lunch which was way more than we would expect to pay.

[Highland Capital]

Does anyone ever used the Copenhagen Card?  I'm heading off there on Sunday.

[Guest Moomintroll]

Does anyone ever used the Copenhagen Card?  I'm heading off there on Sunday.

Worked out ok for us when we went there, spent 4 nights there and used it loads including travelling out to Legoland. If you are happy to cram lots of things in & be out and about all day it's decent value if you plan ahead.

[Flybhoy]

Going here next month for the Celtic match, was in Stockholm in August for our game there and everywhere took card payment which was encouraged, is Copenhagen similar? Would save getting too much of the Krone and having to change it back once home (Spare Euros I just keep for my next trip)

We arrive late on the Wednesday night, match is on Thursday and flying back first thing on the Friday so barely there for a day, was thinking £150 worth of Krone and card for anything extra/emergency. 

[Eednud]

7 hours ago, Flybhoy said:

Going here next month for the Celtic match, was in Stockholm in August for our game there and everywhere took card payment which was encouraged, is Copenhagen similar? Would save getting too much of the Krone and having to change it back once home (Spare Euros I just keep for my next trip)

We arrive late on the Wednesday night, match is on Thursday and flying back first thing on the Friday so barely there for a day, was thinking £150 worth of Krone and card for anything extra/emergency. 

Card payment won’t be a problem even at a lot of hot dog stalls. From memory bus was only place where card wasn’t accepted but that was 6 years ago.

[DiegoDiego]

So few people carry cash in Denmark that beggars write their MobilePay number on a bit of cardboard.

[Guest Moomintroll]

Going here next month for the Celtic match, was in Stockholm in August for our game there and everywhere took card payment which was encouraged, is Copenhagen similar? Would save getting too much of the Krone and having to change it back once home (Spare Euros I just keep for my next trip)
We arrive late on the Wednesday night, match is on Thursday and flying back first thing on the Friday so barely there for a day, was thinking £150 worth of Krone and card for anything extra/emergency. 

You have endured the incredible alcohol prices of Stockholm so Copenhagen is more of the same over the bridge from Malmo. Be wary of using your card too much as you can rack up an astonishing bar bill quickly, use Krone as a method of knowing that you have spent too much.