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IntroductionCopenhagen had always been on my radar in terms of places to go to - but I never got the chance because the opportunity never presented itself. However, when I was planning my vacation for summer 2018, I was struggling to find a cheap one-way flight from Europe to Asia. Then one day, the opportunity presented itself as a very reasonably priced one-way ticket from Copenhagen! I quickly booked the ticket as I killed two birds with one stone, and I have no regrets.
Copenhagen is one of the most unique places I've ever been to. The amount of the city that is surrounded by the sea is impressive, and there seems to be a very relaxed vibe here - no one seems like they're in a rush. I definitely appreciated the chance of pace and after this visit, I'll be sure to visit again!
Day 0To get to Copenhagen, I took a Flixbus that was around a 12-hour ride also stopping in Hamburg and a few other smaller cities in Denmark. Everything about the ride went smoothly - we left reasonably on time and the bus wasn't delayed. However, I definitely struggled to find a comfortable sleeping position which left me very groggy once we were in Copenhagen.
The seat on my particular bus felt very small - there was no seat pocket in front of me, and one of the USB outlets was acting weird. However, I was able to move my seat back and go to the bathroom when I needed to (you'll be surprised at how many buses don't have a functioning bathroom). Also, it helped that my seat mate was very quiet. The bus ride mostly consisted me waking up every 1-2 hours because of some interruption. Examples include a 15-minute break at a gas station, stopping in Hamburg at 2:30am, Danish immigration officers coming onto the bus to check our passports, and quick stops in towns on the way to Copenhagen. Somehow I was awake when we arrived in Copenhagen. Now, despite all my complaining, the overnight bus is a GREAT value - I paid $62 USD to go around 750km. However, you do have to be prepared for an uncomfortable ride,
Day 1Since I only had about 1.5 days in Copenhagen, I really wanted to make the most of it. Once the bus dropped us off at the train station, I went inside to go to the bathroom, withdraw money from the ATM, and get a CityPass for the 2 days I was going to be there. Copenhagen has a confusing fare scheme where the city and the outskirts are divided into zones. However, I wasn't going to be there for a long time so I decided to get the CityPass, which allows unlimited travel on public transportation in Copenhagen for that time period. You'll get a slip of paper, which is what you show the bus driver to "pay" as your fare.
I decided to head towards the hostel I was staying at, Sleep In Heaven, in order to drop off my bags for the day. After I did that, I decided to head towards Copenhagen City Hall as my first stop. The outside and inside of the City Hall building was very open and had a lot of space. The attention to detail on the building was impeccable, and everything looked absolutely pristine - it's definitely a nice building to look at! Afterwards, I went to Tivoli, which is a small-dish amusement smack-dab in the city. I was kind of excited to go here because I haven't been to an amusement park in a while. Basically, you pay a fee to get into the park and then either pay for an unlimited amount of rides or individually. I chose to not pay for any rides because I knew that I would stay there for the entire day if I could. It reminded me a little of Disneyland, but on a way smaller scale. I was surprised at all the food options that were offered - it felt like there were more restaurants than rides. Tivoli seemed like a luxurious food court with some rides here and there. However, I would still recommend visiting because it's simply so unique. Plus, the rides looked really fun!
After visiting Tivoli, I decided to visit Bowl of Heaven, which was a porridge/acai bowl place my friend recommended to me. I ended up getting one of their signature porridge bowls and it blew me away. It was one of the best oatmeal bowls I've ever tasted! There was a little fruit and sugar here and there, but it was way better than anything I've ever tasted in America. Also, I thought how it was very cute how they had magazines for people to read as they eat - I started reading this traveler's magazine that was very interesting. I would definitely recommend this place!
After eating the porridge, I took the bus to Langelinie, which is one of the many harbor-like areas in Copenhagen. It was very peaceful since there wasn't a lot of people, and it was a nice walk to the tip where you could see a huge ship getting ready to head to Sweden. I ended up getting an ice cream cone to eat while taking a rest.
After that, I decided to work my way downtown by briefly stopping at The Little Mermaid and Amalienborg and passing by Kastellet. The Little Mermaid was very underwhelming, and I didn't get to see much of Kastellet. However, Amalienborg was a very spacious plaza which was great for taking pictures.
I ended up taking a rest at the waterfront area between Amalienborg and Nyhavn. The area was near Skuespilhuest, and I just took a seat in one of the chairs lying around to just take in the sea breeze. There were even some children diving into the harbor!
After taking a rest, I made my way towards Nyhavn and walked on the main boardwalk. It was very touristy, but the houses lining the street were definitely very stylish and iconic, which is probably what you think of Copenhagen when someone mentions it. The architecture and color of the buildings were very creative, and there were lots of places to sit and eat alongside the houses. You could also book canal tours pretty easily from Nyhavn, even if they're touristy. Overall, this was one of the highlights of the day!
I made my way past King's New Square and The King's Garden. The New Square was very underwhelming since most of it was under construction, but it still looked pretty nice. I walked around the King's Garden for a while and it was very unique to me. Upon walking inside, you might think of it as just a traditional park. But then, you could see a part of the park has a very unique garden pattern, while there is a fountain elsewhere! There were lots of people just lounging around. If you walked deeper into the park, you could see Rosenburg Castle. I only had chances to take pictures of the exterior, but the building itself looked very elegant. It reminded me of a 17th century home for lords.
I was getting quite hungry at this point, so I took the bus to Torvehallerne, which serves lots of fresh food. Once I arrived, I realized that it was basically a food market. There were many stalls selling various items with a little farmer's market in the middle, selling fruits and such. It was hard to make a choice on what to eat because there were so many choices! I ended up going to this one stall and getting a bowl containing two kinds of fish and quinoa. I forgot what the two kinds of fish were, but they were both really good! It wasn't anything I've ever tasted before. Then, I decided to get some dessert at a gelato stall and it was also insanely good.
After eating, I decided to head back towards the hostel because it had been a very long day. But overall, I really liked Copenhagen so far and I couldn't wait for the next day!
Day 2To start off my last day in Copenhagen, I decided to take it easy as it was my last day in Europe! I had to get up a little early to pack my bags and check out. After I was finished with that, I left my bags at the hostel to pick up later. I decided to go to a Mad & Kaffe, a brunch place my friend had told me about. I really like how the menu was set up. There are several categories, such as your greens, meats, bread, etc. and you can mix and match any of those items to make up your brunch! You can either mix up to 3, 5 or 7 items. I chose to do the 5 items which would allow me to choose an item from each category. In the pictures below, you can see what I chose and what it ended up looking like - it was one of my most favorite meals in Copenhagen so far! Everything tasted amazing and each item had a unique twist on your typical traditional breakfast item.
After eating brunch, I decided to make my way towards Christiansborg Castle. The castle itself shows a lot about Danish history, but I didn't choose to actually pay and go inside the castle. I decided to go to the Tower section of the castle and wait to go up to the top. I heard that the top of the tower gives a very nice view of Copenhagen for free. It turns out that when I went, they hadn't opened yet and there was already a sizable line. My advice is to come early, because they can only have 40 people at the top at once, and only about 8 people fit in the elevators. It turns out that the wait was worth it, as the view was breathtaking. You could see all parts of Copenhagen, and one of the signs said that you could see all the way to Sweden on a clear day, but I didn't see it.
After walking around the castle, the hot weather was taking a toll on me so I decided to take a rest at a McDonalds. After that, I decided to walk down Stroget, a pedestrian street. The street had a lot of shopping, from high end stores to discount stores. Although I didn't do any shopping, I just liked how I was able to enjoy myself.
After walking around the shopping street, I decided to stop by the The Round Tower. Then, I just chose to wander around Copenhagen aimlessly just to explore some new places. I put my phone and my camera away, and I just started to walk wherever I chose to. I eventually ended up at Church of our Savior, which had a very pretty exterior. You could also pay to climb all the way up for a view, but I chose not to do it because I already did it earlier on in the day. I walked inside the church and there was some nice organ music playing! I sat on one of the benches for a little bit, just taking it all in. At this point, I was starting to get a little hungry. So, I decided to walk around some more and I ended up on the other side of Nyhavn, where there was a little food street market selling all sorts of interesting foods! A lot of the stalls only accepted credit cards, which was annoying because I was trying to get rid of my last kronas. I decided to try a Danish hot dog, which was surprisingly tasty. Then, I walked across the street to eat at a restaurant on Nyhavn, where I got an assorted herring dish. I thought herring had a very odd taste, but I was sure that the food was top notch - the taste didn't really appeal to me. After that, I decided to stop by the nearby gelato shop to treat myself to a scoop of hazelnut and strawberry ice cream! It was delicious.
At this time, I had to go to the airport to catch my flight. So, I went back to the hostel and got my bags, and then I went to the airport. Looking back, I wished I could have explored Copenhagen more - everyone I met was very nice! I definitely will come back someday - until next time! |
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