Copenhagen - what to do?
 

I am travelling to Copenhagen next month and just wondered what you would recommend to do there for a long weekend. I'm male, in my early thirties and enjoy getting a real flavour of foreign cities (history, culture, unusual eating experiences, nightlife etc). I'm aware of the Tivoli Gardens which I know gets a mixed reception here and the opportunity to hire bikes but what else would you recommend. Thanks to all for their suggestions

Hi,

Have you looked at the miniguide to Copenhagen at www.fodors.com?

Ira - Thanks for the tip and it's a real fount of knowledge. I would still be grateful for others' personal experiences though

Hi,
try www.aok.dk and choose the english version in the upper right side. It is the guide I always use - I am Danish, female, 34 and living in Copenhagen - for news on cafes, restaurants, music and exhibitions. I think you'll find what you need here. aok is for alt om københavn = everything about copenhagen
I hope you will enjoy Copenhagen!

Thanks CPH for that link - it contains some really helpful information. It was much appreciated. Yes I'm very much looking forward to visiting your city.

I loved my time in Denmark. For one day I would suggest you buy an all-day train pass and travel to Roskilde to see the Cathedral and Viking Ship Museum, then travel to Helsingor to see the Kronberg Castle and then over to Hillerod to see Frederiksborg Castle.

From Copenhagen to Helsignor you could also visit the Louisiana Art Museum, Karen Blixen's Home (a museum), the deer park, etc. I am looking forward to my next trip. Good luck.

I just got back from a one week stay there . . . I'll always love Copenhagen.

Wander up and down the Stroget, the pedestrian street that connects, more or less, the town square with Nyhavn.

Eat dinner at one of the many al fresco restaurants on Greyfriars Square.

Watch the changing of the guard at Amelienborg at noon.

Have a beer (best draft beer in the world) at '90 Vin Stue on Gammel Kongevej.

Smoke some dope -- if that trips your trigger -- at Christiania.

I think Tivoli closes in mid September, but Bakken is open later in the year, fewer tourists, more Danes. It's a great place to wander around.

I'd rate Kronborg Castle in Helsingor and Fredriksberg Castle in Hillerod WAY above the Roskilde and the Viking Museum . . . largely because I was almost fatally bored at the Viking Museum. I attended a Sunday morning Service at the Cathedral in Roskilde and I don't speak more than a few words of Danish. It was inspiring, nonetheless . . . and I mentioned this to a man and woman with two small children as the service ended and the man said "There wasn't really a sermon today. Mostly he was talking about the rude tourists who were interrupting the service."

I wouldn't try to do Roskilde, Helsingør, and Hillerød all in the same day. We did the latter two in the same day and enjoyed both. Took an S-tog (commuter train) from Copenhagen to Hillerød, then a train called the Lillenor from Hillerød to Helsingør, and I believe a regional train back to Copenhagen. While in Helsigør, you can take a quick ferry ride over to Sweden, which you can see from the ramparts of Kronbørg Castle. We had a Copenhagen Card which covered all the trains we rode on and one of the castles (Fredricksborg, I think), and gave us half-off on the ferry tickets. Tivoli has some of the best people-watching in the world (though one of the acts on the main stage when we were there was a high school choir from Iowa). One of the most fun things we did in Copenhagen was to climb the spiral staircase that goes up the OUTSIDE of the steeple at Our Savior's Church. Not for acrophobics.