Copenhagen
 

Any recommendations for hotels, restaurants and attraction in Copenhagen. We will be there for 3 days before baording a ship.

Go to Ida Davidsen for smorrebrod--it's expensive but the sandwiches are incredible!

Visit Fredericksborg Castle north of the city (an easy s-Tog ride). Tivoli is a must, of course. The Danish Resistance Museum is a unique small museum which chronicles the role of the Danish Resistance fighters in WWII. A ggod day trip is a visit Roskilde and its cathedral.

Good advice from mn.

((I))

Hotels and restaurants really depend upon your budget. Both get very expensive, very quickly. Any insight as to how much you are looking to spend on hotels, and what you value (big rooms, central location, etc), in particular, would help narrow things down.

As to restaurants, I wish that there were some hidden jewel that combines great food and low prices, but there really isn't. About the closest I can think of is Le Le Nha Trang (http://www.lele-nhahang.com/). It isn't really anything out of the ordinary and is expensive compared to ethnic restaurants in other major cities, but it offers quality Vietnamese food, great cocktails, and a lively atmosphere. Peder Oxe (http://www.pederoxe.dk/) is also reliable, but I find the food a bit boring. A nice bar downstairs. Finally, while strictly cafe-type food, I like Cafe Norden (http://www.cafenorden.dk/) and the location on the Stroget is really great.

Pricier, and more European, would be Le Sommelier (http://english.lesommelier.dk/), which offers very solid French food. In a similar vain (and around the corner), but with a livelier atmosphere is Bistro Boheme (http://bistroboheme.dk/). I also really enjoyed an Italian restaurant right on Kongens Nytorv, but can't recall the name.

More expensive still, you start getting into some very good restaurants. I really like Umami (http://restaurantumami.dk/), which is a Japanese-French place with great cocktails and a very hip decor - owned by the same team as Le Sommelier. The best restaurant in town, winner of 2 Michelin Stars, rumored for a 3rd in short order, and currently #10 on Restaurant Magazines Top 50, is noma (http://www.noma.dk/). I think it is worth all of the hype and, despite the fact that menus start at around US$150, is one of the few restaurants in Copenhagen that I don't think is overpriced relative to similar restaurants in other cities.

I'll try to think of some other recommendations, including some cheaper places, but I would note that even a casual eatery will often charge upwards of DKK 120 for a main course, and most at that price range don't rise much above Applebee's-quality.

There's an eatery in central Copenhagen called Sommersko ("summer shoe") that is reasonable. Danish friends took us there. Those sandwich places (like Oskar Davidsen) are good but much too pricey for what you get. Across the street from Sommersko is a marvelous tea and coffee importer/retailer -- all sorts of stuff from all over the world. The aroma is to die for. Stay away from eateries around Tivoli. Big tourist rip off. Check out the places in side streets. Ask young people; they know. Takeout places along Nyhavn are good for fish.

shelldo:

Ida Davidsen's is a classic, but as mentioned above...expensive as the little open-faced sandwich (smorrebord) prices rolls up fast..but delicious eating.

For something much more reasonable (for Copenhagen), we discovered artsy Cafe Klimt, on Fredericksborggade #29 just a few blocks from Norreport Station toward the lakes. We stayed at Ibsen's Hotel, only a block away from the Cafe...found the offerings at Klimt very tasteful, and just as colorful as Gustav himself!

Also, aside from visiting the dramatic Fredericksborg Castle, try to tuck in a peek at "Lousiana"...a most unique art venue in the town of Humulbaek, overlooking the Sound separating Sweden from Denmark...they also have a cafe that won't bust your budget.

Napoli's suggestion of the Resistance Museum is a good one..out in front is a Danish Army "tank truck"...also, the crown jewel collection in mid-town's Rosenborg Slot...lovely grounds...

Enjoy Copenhagen...that's what it's there for!

Stu T.

That's "Louisiana"..but don't expect bayous and Creole ambience...it is named for the two women in the life on one Danish king...both named Louise!

stu

Don't miss the Elephant Gate - huge gate made of stone at the former Carlsberg Brewery which is now an art museum and you also tour the Victorian collection of former brewery buildings and even get some gratis tastes of Carlsberg (or Tuborg) brew. In a very neat part of town just west of the train station.

The Elephant of course being the symbol of Carlsberg beer. the Carlsberg family were major pastrons of the arts and also funded a major art museum in downtown Copenhagen.

And if the Free City of Christiana is still around take it in to for something totally unique. Was the 2nd most visited tourist site/sight in Copenhagen after Tivoli - but may have been bulldozed. (About the last extant 60s-70s Commune left in Europe - was a Free City for years and still have lots of unique home-built dwellings, workshops, etc.) In Christiana, to me the most picturesque part of Copenhagen.

Be sure to see Christiania - the "free city of Copenhagen". Go at night if you can. It is deserted on Sunday mornings.

In additon to the places listed by others, we enjoyed sitting outside at the cafes in the Nyhavn area. We also enjoyed a boat tour of the harbor.

I stayed in Nyhavn when I was in Copenhagen about three years ago. I loved it. When are you going, because if it's in summer, I'm not sure I'd recommend it because with all the daylight people will be out and about late and it could be noisy.

I was there in the dead of winter so it was very quiet, but I loved the area for it's convenience to everything.

Food is very expensive in Copenhagen and it was OK..I was never "blown away" by anything.

I stayed at a hotel down at the end of the street called 71 Nyhavn. It's not cheap and if you look into it, be VERY careful what you book. We just got lucky and loved the place. After I got home, I went to Trip Advisor to post a review and read some others and they were all over the place...from horrible to fabulous. I finally figured it out. We had breakfast included with our room and our rooms were renovated and in the new section right off the main lobby. There is another, older section that is not nearly as nice and has rooms the size of closets. So, again, if you do want to make inquiry into this hotel, be sure and ask questions and insist on a quote for a room in the NEW part off the main lobby. I loved Copenhagen by the way, so I certainly hope you enjoy your short stay.

We've been to Copenhagen twice, 1967 and 1999. Loved it.

If you like Danish designs you will have a field day and a much larger credit card balance. We bought a few pieces of teak furniture on our first visit, a teak desk at which I'm typing, a Hans Wegner dining table, a couple of coffee tables and a couple of chairs. They came from Illums Bolighus which I believe is still open.

The Glyptteket is an excellent museum founded by one of the Carlsbergs. It has, among others, an collection of French works including 40 works by Gauguin, Degas Little Dancer and a complete collection of the ballerina and horse bronzes by Degas.

The Resistance Museum ia worth a visit. If my memory serves the Danish resistance was able to transport all of their Jewish inhabitants to safety in neutral Sweden. If you ever visit Churchill's grave you will find two benches at his gravesite donated by thankful Danes.

This article from the New York Times is from 1982 but you may find it some help:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...p;pagewanted=2

Bookmarking

If you are into cooking make sure you go to a kitchenware shop, those Danes really know how to make some stunning household goods.

<i>If my memory serves the Danish resistance was able to transport all of their Jewish inhabitants to safety in neutral Sweden.</i>

Not all, but virtually all (and there were only a few thousand). It was made possible because a German diplomat made arrangements with the Swedes to take them and informed a Danish politician about the impending roundup. Commendable, nonetheless.

I second the recommendation of Illums Bolighus as a place to browse or buy Scandinavian design.

One more restaurant recommendation. Madklubben (http://www.madklubben.info/) Good, Danish food. Nice ambience. Reasonable prices.

Another shopping hint--I believe on the 3rd floor of the Royal Copenhagen store on Stroget, they offer seconds of their wonderful china patterns. It's hard to tell most pieces are seconds, and the savings are wonderful!

Though perhaps not every tourists' cup of tea Christiana is totally unique in Europe:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetow...cannabis_trade

The Gr&oslash;ften restaurant in the Tivoli Gardens is a very traditional Danish restaurant and serve many Danish specialities. It's a lovely experience to be in the Tivoli Gardens if only for dinner.

Another place we like to go for simple lunch is Sophienholm in Copenhagen, popular place for excursions, bit off the tourist trail.

Noma requires quite some advance booking which can be done online.

B&oslash;f &amp; Ost Restaurant is almost next to Peder Oxe and is very similar; their herring lunch buffet is good value and very tasty.

Skovshoved Hotel in the suburb of Charlottenlund has very good restaurant and pub, near the sea and not many tourists, nice place for an evening out.

As a Danish-American I feel obligated to visit Copenhagen but Jeez, it's an expensive place! We normally rent a vacation home outside of town and take half our meals there. Most of the rest of the time we fill our stomachs with P&oslash;lsers (Danish Hot Dogs) and beer. They are awesome and can be found on almost every corner in town. Once you get away from Copenhagen you'll find P&oslash;lser stands in almost every town and they're a great alternative to MC Donald's (which are also rather expensive with a Big Mac running over $6).

Two places we ate at in Copenhagen and which didn't result in home foreclosure were a vegetarian place called &quot;Riz Raz&quot; and a Mongolian BBQ across the street from Tivoli, near the Town Hall. Riz Raz (http://tinyurl.com/5vb77u)features Moroccan/Lebanese vegetarian dishes and is pretty reasonable. They offer a buffet with a pretty decent selection.

The Mongolian BBQ (http://tinyurl.com/d634cu
) also fit our limited budget and involved another buffet-like experience. This is a better option for meat eaters as you can select from a variety of different meats and veggies which then gets cooked on a super hot grill and flavored with your choice of Asian toppings. It was hilarious trying to communicate in English with Chinese people with Danish accents.

If you take a day trip to Roskilde, do not miss the Viking Ship museum. It was fascinating!