After three days in the capital of the oldest European monarchy, we must say that there is nothing rotten in Denmark ?. Life there is calm, unobtrusive and somehow gives you a sense of freedom. You are impressed by the “green thinking” of the Danes, who ride bicycles on the city’s wide boulevards instead of cars, as well as the lack of curtains on the windows, because people in Scandinavia value openness. On the streets you pass nice and smiling faces, and around the popular sights is not as crowded as in many other famous destinations. Inspiring architecture, old castles and a modern urban environment – in short you will find this in Copenhagen and the surrounding area. After the initial summary, it is time to give some details about the route and the more interesting places in the area.
Nyhavn
Day 1
Arrival in Copenhagen. The airport is not so far from the center, so we quickly settled in and went to explore the city. We started with a boat trip on the canals, where we get an initial idea, ie. something like the cliché “sightseeing tour” ?and meeting with the first sights of Copenhagen:
– the statue of the Little Mermaid (den Lille Havfrue) from the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, turned into a tourist symbol of Denmark, – its architecture building of the Opera (Operaen), – Amalienborg Palace
(Amalienborg) can also be seen from the boat. It is the winter residence of the Danish royal family and consists of four palaces. One of them houses the Amalienborg Museum, which in addition to the permanent royal collections can be seen special exhibitions organized by the royal family every year. Since we chose a one-way ticket, we went down to the pier in Newhaven
(Nyhavn). The area, whose name literally means ‘new port’, is one of the most picturesque and lively places in Copenhagen. Elegant colorful buildings from the 17th and early 18th centuries, restaurants and bars located on both sides of the canal dotted with wooden boats. We decided that there is no better place for a cup of coffee in the open air, remaining a little more in the captivating atmosphere of the old architecture in the center of this otherwise modern European city in every way.
Then we continued on foot. There is no way to miss:
The longest pedestrian zone in Europe Strøget – for the more tireless shopping enthusiasts it is a long street with shops and restaurants, just remember that on Sunday almost none of the shops are closed, and after 5 hours on Saturday afternoon.– The Town Hall Square (Rådhuspladsen) and the Town Hall (Rådhus) itself are also among the most important sights of the Danish capital. – The building of the Old Stock Exchange (Københavns Fondsbørs) is one of the oldest buildings in Copenhagen, erected in the 17th century by King Christian IV. It was home to the stock market until 1974. The spiral blade of its tower is easily visible among other city roofs. ” Tivoli Park .” It is one of the oldest amusement parks in the world, opened in 1843. Halloween was approaching and the whole park was glowing orange, decorated with glowing pumpkin lamps, and all sorts of souvenirs on this theme were sold everywhere. Carnival processions passed one after another, mostly accompanied by music. In general, the place remained in our memories as a noisy and colorful mixture of fabulous scenery and adrenaline attractions. It’s as if we can still hear the laughter and the screams coming from the high-speed trains?
Tivoli
Day 2
During this day we took an organized half-day tour of the castles outside Copenhagen, which would be more difficult to tour alone. We bought tickets in advance from a Danish tour site. It turned out that the minibus was leaving very close to the hotel where we were staying – to the Town Hall Square. While traveling, we had the opportunity to explore the outskirts of Copenhagen and the small villages in the neighborhood. Pleasant, quiet and peaceful places, with beautiful houses and landscaped courtyards with carefully landscaped gardens…
So we came to the first point of the route – the baroque castle Fredensborg (Fredensborg slot). We only looked at it from the outside, because as the spring-autumn residence of the royal family, neither he nor his gardens were open to the public.
Frederiksborg Castle – main entrance
Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerod. Originally built by Frederick II, it was later completely reconstructed by King Christian IV and gained the fame of the largest Renaissance palace in Scandinavia. The strongest emphasis in today’s tour was placed on this castle, which since 1878 houses the Museum of National History, established with the help of the founder of Carlsberg JCJacobsen. Rich collections of paintings, portraits, furniture and decorative art show the history of Denmark over the last five centuries.
Kronborg Castle (Kronborg slot) in the town of Helsingor (Elsinore), known as the castle of Hamlet. This huge and cold castle, towering among vast green hills, is the setting for Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Kronborg Castle
Free time from Copenhagen.
Day 3
The last day in Copenhagen we spent in more walks around the city and quietly exploring the other places we had planned on the route:
Rosenborg Castle (Rosenborg Slot) – a Renaissance castle built as a summer residence by the same King Christian IV, mentioned above. In fact, he is one of Denmark’s most revered monarchs, not only because of his long rule, but above all because of his will and ambition for reform and construction, which eventually led to the kingdom’s prosperity. Of interest is the Royal Regalia Collection, in which you can see the symbols of the Danish monarchy, and especially remarkable is the crown of King Christian IV. The gardens and the pond are also worth seeing.
Carlsberg Beer Museum (Visit Carslberg). After all the halls, going through the history and technology of beer production, through the collections of bottles, you finally find yourself in front of an impressive bar with two vouchers for beer tasting – one dark and one light of your choice. It is clear how the visitors came out of this museum – with a high spirit and wide smiles?
Visit Carlsberg
In fact, our trip to Copenhagen ended that way.
Space and freedom are the main associations whenever we think of this city. A place where you immediately feel comfortable and cozy. The cool and fresh wind, the turbulent waters of the Baltic Sea, the old castles, the bright colors of Newhaven – we dream very much to see and feel them again one day…
Rosenborg
