Dear Readers,
So two years ago, I lived in and went to school in Sweden for a year, at Lund University. Lund is located at the southern point of Sweden, so it is actually only a forty minute train ride to Copenhagen, Denmark, which is where I always flew in and out of. During my last week in Europe, before moving home the flights leaving Copenhagen back to the UK were better than out of Gothenburg, so Chloe and I decided to fly out of Copenhagen. Our flight was not until 9pm so we were lucky enough to get to spend the afternoon in Copenhagen. The train from Gothenburg to Copenhagen was about three hours so we arrived around 1:30pm!
Since we had to be at the airport by around 7:00 that meant we had just a quick visit to one of my favourite cities. Lucky enough since I have spent a significant amount of time in Copenhagen in the past I knew how we should spend our day! I thought a would share a few tips on what to do in Copenhagen if you only have a few hours!
Copenhagen is laid out well in the sense that the Central station is only a fifteen-minute train ride to the airport, and only about a twenty-minute walk towards the best shopping and tourist attractions. Making it possible to do a lot in a short period of time.
First stop, of course, is Nyhavn. Nyhavn meaning New Harbour is the iconic image of Copenhagen. Nyhavn is a 17th century brightly coloured waterfront that was established by King Christian V between 1670 and 1673. Christian wanted to make Copenhagen look more like Amsterdam so designed canals and ports similarly to what you see in Amsterdam. However, Nyhavn became the “rough” area of Copenhagen as it was known as the drinking location of sailors. It was also the home to one of Denmark’s most well-known authors, Hans Christian Anderson, the author of The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling. Nowadays Nyhavn is one of the most expensive destinations in Copenhagen!
My next suggestion for a limited amount of time in Copenhagen is having Danish food… my recommendations would be seafood or a Smørrebrød (an open-faced sandwich). This time we went for seafood!! Just at the end of Nyhavn before crossing the Inner Harbour Bridge we found a little restaurant boat Thorupstrand that had a great menu. We both ordered their fish cakes, which were delicious!!
A great way to see any city is by taking a tour, I always like to take some sort of a bus tour to get my groundings in a new city. In Copenhagen, they have a great harbour tour (which I had done at least four times) so we decided to do it again! The harbour tour leaves from Nyhavn and goes all around the city. You are able to see the Opera House, The Little Mermaid Statue, Christianshavn, The Black Diamond and so much more all in just one hour.
Following our boat tour, we walked around the city a bit. From Nyhavn it is only about a twenty-five-minute walk to the Little Mermaid statue, and on the way, you pass Amalienborg, the Palace where the Royal Family currently lives. Behind the palace is Frederik’s Church, or more commonly known as the Marble Church. We did not have time to visit the Church on this trip, but I have been in before and it is stunning (so I definitely recommend making a stop).
The Little Mermaid statue is an interesting tourist attraction, it is known as being “The Mona Lisa of Denmark” but she is a very small statue that sits out in the harbour. The city has had to keep moving her further into the harbour to prevent people from harming the statue (she has lost her arms on more than one occurrence). The statue was made in 1913 by the sculptor Edvard Erikson, commissioned by Carl Jacobsen, the owner of Carlsberg Brewery.
Copenhagen will always be one of my favourite cities. I was so lucky to spend so much time in such a beautiful city in 2015-2016 and I was just so thrilled to get to go back, even if it was only a few hours!
