We've been home for almost a week and thought I should make an attempt at a trip report before I forget some of the details!

We had a great flight over to Copenhagen. We arrived early and had no problems with our luggage. Luckily, we were able to check into our hotel early. We stayed at the Marriott which worked out great. The rooms were large which we needed since we had way too many bags. We packed heavy clothes for our trek to the Ice Hotel.... We paid extra for the executive lounge for access to the minibar, continental breakfast in the lounge and unlimited internet. This worked out well and was actually cheaper if we had used those things individually. I was concerned about the Marriott being a little far from things. It really wasn't too bad and we did manage to use the bus from the Central Station which was nearby even with a tired 7 year old in tow. I did buy the 3 day CPH card. This made travelling very convenient and the discounts helped justify the price. We did not make it to 2 of the places I had planned with the card so I may have lost a little there.

I had bold plans for day one which we were unable to do. The 7 year old was totally out of it when we arrived and really need a long nap! So, we hopped on a bus and headed to the Rosenborg Palace and the Round Tower in the afternoon. Afterwards, we walked along the Stroget shopping street which was almost empty since it was Holy Thursday. We made our way to Wagamama for an early dinner which is outside Tivoli and near the Marriott. Most importantly, it was opened!

On Friday, we headed to Helsingor for the Kronborg Castle. I was very excited to go to this city since my daughter is living there this semester as part of her study abroad. We toured the Danish Maritime Museum which was included in the CPH card while waiting for the 1pm tour in English of the casements and then castle. We really liked it! My 7 year old did not enjoy the dark and cold casements but my husband and I enjoyed the tour. Our little one did enjoy the tour of the castle itself; especially the ballroom! She was also intrigued with the canons outside. I wanted to also go to the Frederiksborg Slot in Hillerod that day, but couldn’t manage to get our little one up early enough. She was really, really tired after our first day. So, we headed back to Copenhagen and just ate in the Central Station at O’Leary’s since we hadn’t eaten lunch that day so we opted for an early dinner and then back at the hotel for a couple of hours. We later took a cab to the Nyhavn area since I felt like I hadn’t seen much of Copenhagen yet. Hung out for a while and walked back along the Stroget and headed for the Central Station for the bus back to the Marriott.

Saturday was the day that we finally saw our daughter who has been studying in Copenhagen. She had been travelling with friends and came back to CPH to meet us before leaving for Norway. She made it just in time for us to take our morning bicycle tour with Mike’s Bike Tours. I highly recommend this! My daughter didn’t learn anything but my husband and I really enjoyed this. The 7 year old rode in a cart type thing in front of one of the bikes. We rode through all the major areas with stops for photos and a little talk. We even rode through the Christianshavn area and stopped there for some hot chocolate. We probably wouldn’t have done that on our own but are very glad we did. The weather was very nice that day. Afterwards, our daughter gave us a quick tour of her school places. We ate at the bagel shop where she eats lunch almost everyday! We made it back to hotel to change for our dinner with my daughter’s visiting family. As part of her study abroad semester, she belongs to a program which she is matched with a Danish family and interacts with them a couple of times a month. They were very gracious and invited us to dinner. They live in a suburb outside of Copenhagen. We had a lovely evening with this family. They had 2 small boys who could not speak English. It was really fun to watch our 7 year old girl and their 7 year old boy talk and play with each other like they knew what they were saying!

Easter Sunday was rainy. I managed to get the girls up to catch the canal boat tour that leaves from the Marriott at 9am. It wasn’t raining at first but then it did. I had wanted to do the canal boat since our arrival but our older daughter hadn’t done that yet so I wanted to do that with her. We couldn’t see much through the glass with the rain. But, I really related to where we were after our bike tour from the day before. Back to the hotel and repacked for our flight for Bergen, Norway.

I'll split this up in 3 posts.