Latin Quarter

Lonely Planet review

With its cafés and secondhand book and clothes shops, the Latin Quarter (north of Strøget, around the old campus of Københavns Universitet or Copenhagen University) is a great area for some leisurely ambling. The university, which was founded in 1479, has largely outgrown its original quarters and moved to a new campus on Amager, but parts of the old campus, including the law department, remain here.

Directly opposite the university grounds is Vor Frue Kirke (Our Lady's Church), the city's striking neoclassical cathedral which was originally built in the late 12th century and then rebuilt three times after succumbing to various pesky fires. The interior is decorated with sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen's acclaimed statues of Christ and the 12 apostles.

Good views of the city's rooftops are available from the summit of the Rundetårn (Round Tower), a 35m-high (115ft) pile of bricks a few blocks east of the Latin Quarter. The Rundetårn was erected as an observatory in 1642 and is still used by amateur astronomers in the wintertime, qualifying it as the oldest functioning observatory in Europe.