Copenhagen on the cheap??!

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I have just returned from a very enjoyable few days enjoying the sights of Copenhagen with Barry. Despite being the capital of Denmark, Copenhagen is not necessarily at the top of everyone's holiday hit lists. I must admit that it does not have the same charm as other cities, and certainly not as many sights as Rome or Paris. But having said that, it still provided us with a very enjoyable 3 days away from hectic life in London and provided plenty of entertainment. However, one word of warning... prices! Copenhagen is expensive - more than London - which certainly limited what we were able to do. However, there are ways around these things, and we still managed to eat and drink plenty. Read on to find out how..!

We left for Denmark very early on a saturdady morning, taking an Easyjet flight from London Stansted. We were in the centre of Copenhagen (after a very quick train journey from the airport) by mid-morning. We went to our hotel - the Saga hotel -which was just one street away from the Central Station. We were too early to book into our room and so dumped our bags to go for a wander and take some time out before coming back to check-in. We walked North to Skt Jorgens So - a nice series of lakes in a part of the city you wouldn't normally expect to see them. We sat down on a bench in the sun and watched the world (and plenty of joggers) go by. We also decided to eat our lunch. This had been made in London the night before and brought on the plane with us. Cheese and pickle sandwiches, yum! We also bought a bag of Danish crisps and this was plenty to keep us going. After lunch we wandered around the lake and then back South. On the way we popped into a supermarket to stock up on water. Temperatures were well into the twenties (celsius) and we were downing water like we might never get a chance to again! We walked through the Vesterbro area, which is basically Copenhagen's red light district. Lots of sex shops, etc, but nothing too threatening.

We popped back to the hotel and were finally able to check into our (basic but clean) room. We were so hot and exhausted (very early start!) that we decided to have a quick snooze to re-power before heading out to do more exploring. We headed east this time, past the main station and past the main entrance to the Tivoli gardens. We continued along Vesterbrogade and stopped at a quiet Irish pub. Having an Irish boyfriend unfortunately means that I have been to nearly every Irish pub in Europe! However, there was an extra reason to go this time as England were playing again Paraguay in the World Cup and Barry was keen to see how they did. We were both cheering for Paraguay! We left at half time to find a pub with a bit more atmosphere (and maybe cheaper prices - a pint and an orange juice had cost us £8 - yikes!). We walked on to the Radhuspladsen (a very large square with the Town Hall at one end and the bus station at the other). We went along the main drag 'Stroget'. This was very busy (not surprising for a sunny saturday afternoon I suppose), with lots of big shops selling high-street fashion.

And so we found another Irish pub (along Stroget) called The Dubliner where we watched the 2nd half of the football. England won 1-0, but all in all not the most exciting match ever. And so finally we were able to leave the pub and forget about the football (at least for a little while!). We continued along Stroget and stopped outside the Guinness World Records Museum. This looked like it would have been lots of fun, e.g. seeing the man who had eaten 20 bikes and numerous plates in his life! but we decided it was probably a luxury we couldn't afford.

We continued along to the massive Kongens Nytovv square. This is really a big roundabout, but so big that when you are on it, you don't notice. The very nice looking national theatre is at one end of the square. We wandered past this down to the water (not sure whether to describe these parts the river, canal or sea?!). We turned left and reached the beautiful Nyhavn. This basically consists of a little canal running up the middle of a street. Despite its simplicity, it is by far the most attractive place in Copenhagen. However, it is also very busy. Particularly along its northern side there are loads of cafes and restaurants. We were tempted to go to one of these places, but the prices were clearly inflated because of the location. And so after a quick bit of scouting around, we found a small 'kiosk', basically a shop selling beer and sweets. We bought a bottle of Carlsberg and a Tuborg grun. With our yummy beers we sat at the head of the canal in Nyhavn and relaxed. Then when we had finished these I went and got 2 more beers! And then after those (is there a pattern emerging), we went and bought some takeaway pizza and 2 more beers! We enjoyed these sitting overlooking the canal, basking in the evening sunshine. This made for a really lovely few hours, and is definitely something I would recommend to anyone coming to Copenhagen in the summer - especially if they are trying to save some money.

After our dinner we walked back up to Kongens Nytorv and got an ice-cream (£2) to share for dessert. We walked along Stroget, and turned left to take a detour onto Slotsholmen. This is where the parliament, etc is located. It contains some lovely architecture, and late in the evening was very quiet, and we had it pretty much to ourselves. We especially enjoyed looking at the paintings outside one of the museums there. We also walked past the back of the Tivoli gardens - It looked like there were some very scary rides inside! We wandered back to the hotel (via a shop for chocolate of course) and relaxed before an early night. From our window we were also able to see the great Tivoli garden fireworks - for free of course!

On sunday morning we were woken up early as our south-facing room reached ridiculous temperatures in the strong Scandinavian sunshine! We enjoyed a big buffet breakfast (plenty of bread, and even Danish pastries!). We got out early and returned to the Radhuspladsen again. We looked in more detail at the town hall, which is a nice building, with strange animal statues outside. There is also a statue of Hans Christian-Andersen to the side of the building. This is of course the world-famous fairy tales writer who hailed from Denmark.

We walked on for a few minutes to the Glyptoteket which is the large national art museum for Denmark. However, much to our disappointment it was completely closed for restorations. And so we walked on to Christiansborg, which is the main palace building in Slotsholmen. It was busier than it had been the previous evening, with quite a few tourist groups. We walked through to the Borse (the stock exchange) which is housed in a lovely old building. We carried on walking east, past Nyhavn to the pretty Skt Annae Plads and then on to Amelienborg (another palace). This is a very impressive location, consisting of a large circular crossroads, surrounded by palace buildings, with guards on duty outside them.

We continued north to reach the Frihedsmuseet (Freedom museum), showing the history of the Danish resistance movement during WW2. This was a fascinating little museum (and free), with plenty of interesting displays. I learnt a huge amount about the role Denmark had taken during WW2, and as always with these kind of displays, was amazed with the actions of those in the resistance movement. The museum is situated just at the edge of Churchill parken (park) and so after exploring the museum, we went in to the park to enjoy an orange juice in Churchill cafe. After our re-fuel we wandered into the park and enjoyed the views out over the water. We also went to see the Little Mermaid statue. As far as I can tell this is one of the most disappointing tourist attractions in the world. I am afraid I was not very impressed, and sad to see that this was place was filled with tourists, with not one Dane in sight. We soon left this strange sight, and went to see the less visited Kastellet just behind the little mermaid. This is the home of the old fort of Copenhagen, situated inside a star-shaped moat, and still contains a military base. We were able to walk through, but only under the understanding that we stuck to the main street!

We then left the park and went to Frederiks Kirke (also known as Marmorkirken). This is a very beautiful building, and is modelled on St Pauls in the Vatican. We were too early to take the guided tour (which only runs twice a day), and so went to Nyhavn first to have our lunch. We got takeaway pizza again (very Danish!?) and sat in the sun to eat our lunch. We then returned to the church and were taken on a tour. We were able to walk up a back staircase to reach a gallery which runs all of the way around the (circular) inside of the church. We then continued up more stairs (including some dodgy spiral staircases!) to get to the top of the tower on the church. This offered great views across Copenhagen, and the clear weather just helped to improve this.

We returned to ground level and enjoyed a coffee (Barry) and smoothie (me) before continuing on. We went north-ish to the big open park of Kongenshave. After our busy day I was very happy to lie down here and take it easy for half an hour, with a snooze in the sun. I got the feeling that this was the "people's" version of the Tivoli. Most people can't afford to go to the Tivoli every time they want to relax in a park, and so this is the preferred option. And I thought it was lovely - very clean and friendly - and would recommend once again as a good way to save some cash.

We also went on to see the Botanic gardens (free as well!). These are very well manicured, and interesting for anyone with even a passing interest in flowers. We also some some very cute newborn ducklings, which added to the natural beauty. Unfortunately the hot houses had closed by this time, but we were still able to peak in at all the tropical plants. By this time we were getting hungry and walked back into Copenhagen town centre to find a place for dinner. After some debate, we decided to try a place that Barry had seen mentioned on the internet. The restaurant, called RizRaz, serves Meditteranean/Middle Eastern food. Most of the meals are pricey enough, but they do an all-you-can-eat buffet for 69kroner (about £7). This is all vegetarian, with very nice salads, falafel, homous, etc. To be honest we probably ate too much, but when it is all included, it is impossible not to fill up the plate 10 times over! After dinner we went back to Nyhavn (of course) for our evening bottle of beer and sunshine. We then wandered Stroget a little bit before going back to the hotel and bed.

On monday morning we woke up early again (that sun is so hot!). After another big breakfast we dumped our big bag to collect later and headed out into Copenhagen again. We went though town and up North to the University area. This seems like a very nice spot, with lovely buildings. I am always attracted by university areas of cities, and Copenhagen is no exception. I could imagine happily studying here for a year or two! (although the prices would probably be restrictive after a while). We also saw some statues of what I assume were famous Danes - but the only one I recognised was Niels Bohr, the theoretical physicist.

We wandered back south through town, past the Borse to cross the Knippelsbro bridge onto Christianshavn. This is a very pretty island, with lots of nicely painted houses and canals. We went to visit the Vor Frelsers Kirke which has an amazing and unique design. It is relatively normal looking until you look up at the spire, which has stairs going up around the outside of it, rather than the usual inside. We decided to climb it and although the staircase so high up was a bit scary it offered great views out over Copenhagen and a great experience. On the way up to the spire you also pass all of the bells inside the tower, and can see the engineering up close. The inside of the church is less exciting, but does include a very ornately decorated organ.

Outside the church we saw some bikes to hire. Copenhagen has this crazy system where if you see these bikes on the street you are welcome to pick them up and take them after leaving a £2 deposit. You can then leave them off at any designated spot around the city. However, on this occassion unfortunately there was only one bike available to use, and so we just rode it around for a while for fun before dropping it back off!

We then went to explore the crazy area of Christiania. This is a self-declared "free state" in a rather confusing political position compared to the rest of Denmark. It was founded by hippies, on beliefs of love, peace, etc. However, because of this it quickly became an area where hash was openly smoked, and harder drugs followed. This has meant a very strained relationship between Christiania and the wider Copenhagen population. It is certainly a very different place to the rest of the city. It does not have any paved streets (more mud, really) and lots of people there look midly threatening! I think though that this might have more to do with the big dogs that wander around freely... We only stayed long enough to wander around before heading out to get back to normal Copenhagen.

We walked along through Christianshavn and across some of the bastions (now basically green mounds) that surround a lot of the island. After a decent walk we reached Havne badet. These are a series of small swimming pools which use canal water. I was happy to laze by the pool whilst Barry went to jump off some high diving boards. We stayed there for a very pleasant 45 minutes before going up to Stroget for one last visit and to buy some sandwiches to takeaway for our lunch, which we enjoyed sitting at a fountain on Hojbro Plads. Finally we walked back to the hotel to grab our bags and head to the airport.

We were only in Copenhagen for two and a half days, but had a great time. It is a nice, clean and pretty city - in an open and Scandinavian way. We also found that it was very quiet (often we were asking "where is everyone?"), which made for a real change from our life in busy London. However, the one problem is that this is an expensive city - especially for food and drink. But it is possible to work around this - especially if you go in hot weather, when it is easier to eat outside. Also, we walked everywhere and so didn't spend any money on transport (apart from travelling to and from the airport). All in all, a good location for a weekend break!

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Photos

The lovely Nyhavn
One of the prettiest streets in Copenhagen

Enjoying a beer in Nyhavn
Yummy!

Slotsholmen
I think it's the Royal Palace?

Beer!
Carlsberg and Tuborg - 2 Danish beers for you to enjoy...

Freedom museum
Fascinating exhibition with particular emphasis on the Danish resistance during WW2.

Inside the Churchill Park
With lovely gardens

The Little Mermaid
With many many tourists!

Frederiks (aka Marmor) kirken
A great climb to be had to the top of the dome.

Pizza again??!
Mmm, the Nyhavn takeaway pizza - lovely!

RizRaz restaurant
All you can eat - Plate number 1.

Niels Bohr
The famour Dane outside Copenhagen University.

Vor Frelsers Kirke
The last 150 steps of the climb up are on the outside of the steeple - yikes!

Entrance to Christiania
Prepare to enter an area of Copenhagen completely different to the rest of the city...

At the swimming pool
Barry taking it easy after a busy weekend!