See Copenhagen in a Day! (roughly)
Nov 18th, 2016, 05:05 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 547
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
See Copenhagen in a Day! (roughly)
Despite 6 days of 40 degree temperatures and almost constant rain we absolutely loved Denmark and Sweden! Unfortunately my 10-year-old developed a fever midway through our trip and spent two days in the hotel room recovering (luckily we were able to find popsicles at the corner grocery). Thus we discovered that it is possible, though not advisable, to see the city in a day.
Traveling companions were DH plus our two girls and my mother. We arrived on a Sunday morning, no problem getting rental car at the airport aside from extremely long lines and long walk to the car pickup (were able to use the wheelchair from the airport for my mom, or what was a 15 minute walk might have been two hours). Got the Copenhagen Cards very easily while DH waited in line. After checking into the hotel we drove to Rundetaarn, Church of Our Savior and the Little Mermaid. It got a little ugly in our car as DH was navigating the narrow streets and driving stick shift, while there was little to no parking near the sights. We would have preferred to walk or ride public transport but that just wasn’t an option for my mom. The sights were lovely though, and having a car to get to Den lille Havfrue was fantastic. Seems like I'd read somewhere that the view from the canal boat is better than from the shore which is completely false. We walked right up to the statue and people were posing sitting next to the mermaid. It was almost impossible to see her from the canal boat.
First full day we headed to Kronborg where a Renaissance Fair was taking place. Due to the wind, rain and cold it wasn’t exactly what I’ve seen in the US (with games, traveling minstrels, loads of food) but the kids were able to watch riders on horseback practice a variety of medieval tournament games. The castle was open for self guided tours and had activities outside. The girls loved it and it was a perfect beginning, and the history of the castle set the stage for the royal history of the country. We’d hoped to hit Roskilde as well but because of the long walk to and from the car (and a much later start than we’d hoped due to jet lag) the church would have been closed by the time we got there.
Second day we headed to Sweden - and thanks to some amazing advice from Odin we visited Malmo (absolutely loved this city), stopped in Lund (had a great lunch there but parking was a nightmare) then up to Kullaberg Nature Reserve which was well worth the drive. Only drawback was that it was nightfall by the time we reached the ferry back. The ferry ride was great, easy, and would have been beautiful scenery with a little more light. We took the tunnel to Sweden that morning which was a good experience for my kids, having never been in a tunnel underwater before, but Odin was completely right - it was not as cool as the ferry.
Third day when illness struck, my mother and younger daughter and I activated our Copenhagen Cards and visited Rosenborg before spending the rest of the day shopping. My mother insisted on going to Royal Copenhagen - I understand the appeal but that was not the shopping area that I would recommend if you’re looking for authentic Danish items. In fact we couldn’t find much in that area that wasn’t either wildly expensive, easily found in the US, or a trinket shop.
Fourth day was utterly beautiful outside. We took the canal boat tour (with everyone else in the city) and with a two hour wait we grabbed an early lunch. I’d promised by daughter ice cream after the boat ride, so we set out on a search with no luck and ended up at Hotel Chocolate for the second day in a row. By early evening we headed to Tivoli and my recovered daughter joined us - I don’t know if it was the weather, school holiday or it’s always this way but it was absolutely packed and actually quite miserable as a result. Thanks to US banking our credit card has a chip but doesn’t have a pin associated with it, which meant we could only buy tickets for the rides at two locations in the park. I spent 30 minutes trying to find what was supposed to be the closest location on our map and finally gave up and walked 15 minutes back to the entrance so my kids could ride the only thing that seemed to have a reasonable wait time. On the plus side we found a few little food booths that were rather good (impossible to get seating at any of the restaurants either).
Our final full day was the whirlwind; all of us hit the ground running and managed to squeeze in everything else: National Museum, Rosenborg Castle, Amalienborg, changing of the guard, Frederik’s Church, complete with DH and my younger daughter following the guards walking from Rosenborg to Amalienborg which was absolutely a highlight - especially for an 8-year-old.
The final morning we walked back through Rosenborg Slot and got a closer look at the statues and other areas of the park in the two hours before airport pickup.
Loved our hotel - Hotel Christian IV - right next to Rosenborg Slot. Fantastic free breakfast, large rooms, amazing staff, working elevator.
A few restaurant highlights - Nyboders and Cafe Oscar in Copenhagen, and Stortorget in Lund, plus the coffeehouse in Kronborg with amazing bread. Overall we enjoyed the food just about everywhere but we like casual dining and non-chains. In fact the 10-year-old refused to eat at a certain coffeehouse because it’s a Danish chain (I reminded her it wasn’t a chain in the US but she was adamant).
Car rental - we got a Volkswagen Touran which was perfect for five people and luggage. We were able to fit three small suitcases plus one large one in the back, then I sat between the kids. The seats folded down for our Sweden day so we had three rows of seats and everyone had a window. Had we known beforehand how much room the car had we might have opted to spend a night in Sweden. We returned it after our return from Sweden.
Copenhagen is fantastic for public transportation and walking, but with my mother’s hinderances we were unable to fully appreciate these benefits. She insisted on using taxis far too often, which were abundant but it felt silly to pay the equivalent of US$5 to go ten blocks.
Traveling companions were DH plus our two girls and my mother. We arrived on a Sunday morning, no problem getting rental car at the airport aside from extremely long lines and long walk to the car pickup (were able to use the wheelchair from the airport for my mom, or what was a 15 minute walk might have been two hours). Got the Copenhagen Cards very easily while DH waited in line. After checking into the hotel we drove to Rundetaarn, Church of Our Savior and the Little Mermaid. It got a little ugly in our car as DH was navigating the narrow streets and driving stick shift, while there was little to no parking near the sights. We would have preferred to walk or ride public transport but that just wasn’t an option for my mom. The sights were lovely though, and having a car to get to Den lille Havfrue was fantastic. Seems like I'd read somewhere that the view from the canal boat is better than from the shore which is completely false. We walked right up to the statue and people were posing sitting next to the mermaid. It was almost impossible to see her from the canal boat.
First full day we headed to Kronborg where a Renaissance Fair was taking place. Due to the wind, rain and cold it wasn’t exactly what I’ve seen in the US (with games, traveling minstrels, loads of food) but the kids were able to watch riders on horseback practice a variety of medieval tournament games. The castle was open for self guided tours and had activities outside. The girls loved it and it was a perfect beginning, and the history of the castle set the stage for the royal history of the country. We’d hoped to hit Roskilde as well but because of the long walk to and from the car (and a much later start than we’d hoped due to jet lag) the church would have been closed by the time we got there.
Second day we headed to Sweden - and thanks to some amazing advice from Odin we visited Malmo (absolutely loved this city), stopped in Lund (had a great lunch there but parking was a nightmare) then up to Kullaberg Nature Reserve which was well worth the drive. Only drawback was that it was nightfall by the time we reached the ferry back. The ferry ride was great, easy, and would have been beautiful scenery with a little more light. We took the tunnel to Sweden that morning which was a good experience for my kids, having never been in a tunnel underwater before, but Odin was completely right - it was not as cool as the ferry.
Third day when illness struck, my mother and younger daughter and I activated our Copenhagen Cards and visited Rosenborg before spending the rest of the day shopping. My mother insisted on going to Royal Copenhagen - I understand the appeal but that was not the shopping area that I would recommend if you’re looking for authentic Danish items. In fact we couldn’t find much in that area that wasn’t either wildly expensive, easily found in the US, or a trinket shop.
Fourth day was utterly beautiful outside. We took the canal boat tour (with everyone else in the city) and with a two hour wait we grabbed an early lunch. I’d promised by daughter ice cream after the boat ride, so we set out on a search with no luck and ended up at Hotel Chocolate for the second day in a row. By early evening we headed to Tivoli and my recovered daughter joined us - I don’t know if it was the weather, school holiday or it’s always this way but it was absolutely packed and actually quite miserable as a result. Thanks to US banking our credit card has a chip but doesn’t have a pin associated with it, which meant we could only buy tickets for the rides at two locations in the park. I spent 30 minutes trying to find what was supposed to be the closest location on our map and finally gave up and walked 15 minutes back to the entrance so my kids could ride the only thing that seemed to have a reasonable wait time. On the plus side we found a few little food booths that were rather good (impossible to get seating at any of the restaurants either).
Our final full day was the whirlwind; all of us hit the ground running and managed to squeeze in everything else: National Museum, Rosenborg Castle, Amalienborg, changing of the guard, Frederik’s Church, complete with DH and my younger daughter following the guards walking from Rosenborg to Amalienborg which was absolutely a highlight - especially for an 8-year-old.
The final morning we walked back through Rosenborg Slot and got a closer look at the statues and other areas of the park in the two hours before airport pickup.
Loved our hotel - Hotel Christian IV - right next to Rosenborg Slot. Fantastic free breakfast, large rooms, amazing staff, working elevator.
A few restaurant highlights - Nyboders and Cafe Oscar in Copenhagen, and Stortorget in Lund, plus the coffeehouse in Kronborg with amazing bread. Overall we enjoyed the food just about everywhere but we like casual dining and non-chains. In fact the 10-year-old refused to eat at a certain coffeehouse because it’s a Danish chain (I reminded her it wasn’t a chain in the US but she was adamant).
Car rental - we got a Volkswagen Touran which was perfect for five people and luggage. We were able to fit three small suitcases plus one large one in the back, then I sat between the kids. The seats folded down for our Sweden day so we had three rows of seats and everyone had a window. Had we known beforehand how much room the car had we might have opted to spend a night in Sweden. We returned it after our return from Sweden.
Copenhagen is fantastic for public transportation and walking, but with my mother’s hinderances we were unable to fully appreciate these benefits. She insisted on using taxis far too often, which were abundant but it felt silly to pay the equivalent of US$5 to go ten blocks.
Nov 18th, 2016, 03:13 PM
#3
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 17,749
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sounds like a great trip! We visited Copenhagen last year when our son was there on a study abroad semester. He took me to Hotel Chocolate and we both loved it. Did you try the salted caramel hot chocolate?
Nov 19th, 2016, 07:54 AM
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 547
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
mms, my mother tried the salted carmel HC and loved it! I enjoyed the remainder of my daughter's chocolate frappe. We've been enjoying the last of our chocolate puddles from there all week. Will be sorry when they're gone.
