Sights in Copenhagen
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Tivoli
There are three entrances to Tivoli: the main one on Vesterbrogade, another opposite the main entrance to the Central Station and one on HC Andersens Blvd opposite Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. You pay both for entrance and then again for whatever rides you choose thereafter (usually around 25kr each), although a multiride ticket covers all the rides, among them the Star Flyer, reputedly the world’s tallest carousel. There are also plenty of free shows, including the Saturday-night fireworks (on show from mid-June to mid-August), the nightly laser show spectacular and the live band at Plænen every Friday at 10pm from mid-April to late September. Check the website for updates.…
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Christiansborg Slot
Slotsholmen is the seat of national government and a veritable repository of historical sites. Located on a small island and separated from the city centre by a moat-like canal, Slotsholmen's centrepiece is Christiansborg Slot, a large palace that is home to Folketinget (the Danish parliament) and various government offices.
Several short bridges link Slotsholmen to the rest of Copenhagen. If you walk into Slotsholmen from Ny Vestergade, you'll cross the western part of the canal and enter the large main courtyard of Christiansborg Slot, a large palace that is home to Folketinget (the Danish parliament) and various government offices. The main courtyard, which was once us…
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Vesterbro
The gritty, urban neighbourhood of Vesterbro begins at the western side of Central Station with the city's most infamous thoroughfare, Istedgade. Istedgade is home to the rather depressing red light district, which begins close to Central Station with numerous sex shops and massage parlours that coexist rather unfortunately with many of the city's lower range hotels.
Since the police clamped down on official drug facilities, the junkies have taken to the streets here, which makes for a fairly shaming spectacle in a city so supposedly advanced in its social provision. However, persevere and you will find that Istedgade and Halmtorvet, to its south, are also packed with co…
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Strøget
The pedestrian shopping street Strøget runs through the city centre from Rådhuspladsen to Kongens Nytorv. Strøget is the city's main shopping thoroughfare and consists of five continuous streets.
It's always busy and packed on Saturday but we can't help feeling it has begun to stagnate in recent years. While the rest of the city usually moves ahead of the times, Strøget seems a decade behind them, offering the same old international brand names at its posh, eastern end (designed entirely, it seems, to separate cruise-ship tourists from their money), and a scrappy mix of budget clothing stores, tourist shops and kebab houses to the west towards Rådhuspladsen. If somethi…
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Slotsholmen
Slotsholmen is the seat of national government and a veritable repository of historical sites. Located on a small island and separated from the city centre by a moat-like canal, Slotsholmen's centrepiece is Christiansborg Slot, a large palace that is home to Folketinget (the Danish parliament) and various government offices.
The original Christiansborg palace was constructed in the 1730s to replace the pokey Copenhagen Castle and several buildings, namely the royal stables and edifices surrounding the main courtyard, date from this time.
Folketinget, the parliamentary chamber, can be toured on Sunday year-round, as well as on weekdays over summer, and this includes a peek…
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Christianshavn
Christianshavn is Copenhagen's enchanting canal quarter on the eastern flank of Copenhagen. It was established by Christian IV in the early 17th century as a commercial centre and also a military buffer for the expanding city. It's cut with a network of canals, modelled after those in Holland, but is equally famous as the home of the 'free state' of Christiania.
Still surrounded by its old ramparts, Christianshavn today is an appealing mix of standard-issue public housing complexes and elegant period warehouses that have found second lives as upmarket housing and restored government offices. The neighbourhood attracts an interesting mix of boho-chic artists, yuppies, anar…
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Kronborg Slot
Within cannon range of Sweden on the Danish side of the Øresund, further north from Malmö, lies Denmark’s most imposing castle, Kronborg Slot. Known to the world as Elsinore Castle and home to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Kronborg was built here at the entrance to the Øresund and Baltic as a grandiose tollhouse, to extract money from ships passing between the coasts of Denmark and Sweden, and as a defensive post against fleets sailing on Copenhagen. The so-called Sound Dues were introduced in the 1420s by King Erik of Pomerania. He built a small fortress, Krogen, here to operate the toll. Frederik II rebuilt and enlarged the castle in a Renaissance style between 1574 and 1…
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Det Kongelige Bibliotek
The Royal Library has two very distinct parts: the original, 19th-century red-brick building and the breathtaking granite-and-glass extension, completed in 1999. The latter, nicknamed the Black Diamond, is the main draw. People come simply to marvel at the interior with its giant glass wall and views across the harbour, or to enjoy a bite in the cafe or the minimalist Søren K restaurant. You need to be a member to access what is the largest library in Scandinavia, containing 21 million books. Among them are original manuscripts and diaries by Kierkegaard and Hans Christian Andersen (including the fairy-tale writer’s unsuccessful application to work at the library). The Bl…
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Marmorkirken
The Marble Church, or to give it its correct name, Frederikskirken, is one of the most imposing pieces of architecture in the city and, we might add, a fitting symbol for the Danish capital. Its dome was inspired by St Peter’s in Rome and measures more than 30m in diameter. The original plans for the church were ordered by Frederik V and drawn up by Nicolai Eigtved. Construction began in 1749 but, as costs spiralled and the Danish economy foundered, the project was mothballed. It wasn’t until Denmark’s wealthiest financier, CF Tietgen, agreed to finance the church in the latter part of the 19th century that construction began again. You can climb up to the dome at weekend…
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Amalienborg Slot
Amalienborg is made up of four rather staid 18th-century palaces ranged around a large cobbled square. It has been home to the Danish royal family since 1794. If you enter the square from the harbour to the east, the palace on your left is the home of the current queen, Margrethe II. Copenhagen’s one great photo opportunity, the changing of the guard, takes place here every day at noon after the new guard has paraded through the city centre from its barracks beside Rosenborg Slot. Across the square in another palace is the Amalienborg Museum, which recreates various royal rooms from the 19th century to WWII. The Danes are fervent royalists and love this kind of stuff, but…
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Ny Carlsberg Vej 68
This disused Carlsberg garage, on the outskirts of Vesterbro, is now home to four fascinating art spaces. Top of the heap is Galleri Nicolai Wallner, considered a major player on the contemporary Danish art scene (artists represented here include Jeppe Hein and Berlin-based Nordic duo Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset). Neighbouring gallery Nils Stærk is equally established and renowned, while newcomer IMO mixes cutting-edge art with broader cultural events such as retro film screenings and performances. Next door, BKS Garage provides an exhibition platform for current students of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.
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Gammel Strand
Gammel Strand (Old Beach) fronts the canal that partially encircles the island of Slotsholmen. This perfectly preserved row of 18th- and 19th-century town houses, with its restaurants and cafes, is among the most picturesque in Copenhagen and a great place for an outdoor drink on a sunny day. This used to be the site of the old fish market, a fact that is commemorated by the statue of the fishwife beside Højbro. On the other side of the bridge, in the waters of the canal itself, you can see a statue of a merman and his children, while facing the fishwife is a grander statue of Bishop Absalon, who founded Copenhagen over 1000 years ago. You can also catch the canal tour bo…
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Jens Olsens Clock
You can poke around the main hall of the Rådhus (city hall) on your own but it’s more interesting to make the climb up the 105m clock tower for Jens Olsens Clock, which tops city hall, but expect a decent workout as there are some 300 steps along the way. The clock, designed by Danish astromechanic Jens Olsen (1872–1945) and built at a cost of one million kroner, is of special note to chronometer buffs, displaying not only the local time, but also solar time, sidereal time, sunrises and sunsets, firmament and celestial pole migration, planet revolutions, the Gregorian calendar and even changing holidays, such as Easter.
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Davids Samling
This jewel of a museum houses Scandinavia’s largest collection of Islamic art, including jewellery, ceramics and silk, and exquisite works such as an Egyptian rock crystal jug from AD 1000 and a 500-year-old Indian dagger inlaid with rubies. That’s all up on the 4th floor. On your way up, you can also spend a fruitful couple of hours taking in the museum’s fine Danish, English and French furniture and art from the 18th and 19th centuries. All of this was bequeathed to the museum by the barrister Christian Ludvig David, who died in 1960, and is maintained by his foundation. The museum is housed in his former home, a neoclassical mansion dating from 1806.
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Nørrebro
Straddling the city's lakes, with Nørreport to the south and Nørrebro to the north, these are two of the most intriguing areas of the city, with several cool shopping streets (Elmegade, Blågårdsgade, Ravnsborggade and Sankt Hans Torv in Nørrebro prime among them) where you'll find independent designers and fashion, as well as some of the city's best nightlife and bars.
Nørrebro in particular, densely packed with 19th-century tenements, has a diverse ethnic mix and a younger demographic that ensures it is usually ahead of the pack when it comes to the latest nightlife and fashion trends.
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Rådhuspladsen
The large central square of Rådhuspladsen is flanked on one side by the city hall (or rådhus) and on another by Copenhagen's modern municipal bus terminus, and marks the heart of Copenhagen. The bustling pedestrian shopping street Strøget begins at the northeast side of Rådhuspladsen, while the historic pleasure garden, Tivoli, glitters to the southwest.
Rådhuspladsen is not especially attractive and there have been endless discussions recently about how to jazz it up - designs for a spectacular Norman Foster tower within the wall of Tivoli overlooking the square have now been binned.
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Carlsberg Visitor Centre
Carlsberg is one of the largest breweries in the world. It was founded by Christian Jacobsen in 1801 but when Christian’s son, Jacob, moved it to the borders of Valby and Frederiksberg in 1847 he renamed the brewery after his son Carl (Carlsberg means ‘Carl’s Hill’). Soon the company was producing over a million bottles a year, and donating millions of kroner to museums and foundations in Denmark. The recently renovated Carlsberg Visitor Centre offers an entertaining journey through the beer-making process and the story of Carlsberg’s global success, with a beer or two at the end included in the price.
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Frederiksborg Slot
Said to be one of the finest Renaissance palaces in Northern Europe, Frederiksborg Slot was bought by Frederik II in 1560 from a local nobleman. By rights, ‘Christiansborg’ Slot would be a better name, as Christian IV was both born here in 1577 and built the castle that stands today in its red-brick and sandstone splendour in the Dutch Renaissance style. Following a devastating fire in 1859, the castle was rebuilt using funds from the Carlsberg Foundation and opened as the Museum of National History in 1877, filled with a priceless collection of furniture and art.
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Latin Quarter
This small corner of the city centre has little in common with the Latin Quarter of Paris, but gets its nickname from the presence of the university (now home to the law faculty) and the secondhand bookshops and cafes that grew up around it. The Latin Quarter stretches east from Vor Frue Plads along Store Kannikestræde and Skindergade to Købmagergade, via the pretty Gråbrødretorv (Grey Friars’ Sq, founded in the mid-17th century), with its open-air restaurants and bars, and north up Fiolstræde to Nørre Voldgade. There are several inviting cafes, bars and interesting shops here.
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Thorvaldsens Museum
One of the most distinctive buildings in Copenhagen, this colourful Greco-Roman mausoleum with its classically inspired friezes was the country’s first purpose-built art museum. It houses the majority of works produced during the long and illustrious career of Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844). Thorvaldsen spent much of his working life in Rome, where he drew inspiration from classical mythology. The museum contains a fascinating collection of the artist’s own collection of art and ancient artefacts from the Mediterranean region…and the artist himself, buried in the main room.
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Experimentarium
This frenetic, dizzying museum is dedicated to inspiring children’s interest in nature, technology, the environment and health. This is a genuinely exciting, hands-on experience and kids adore it. As well as all the permanent experiments there is a changing program of temporary themed exhibitions – previous ones have included dinosaurs, robots and Sports & Spinach. This 4100 sq m museum opened in 1991 and is located a little north of the city centre, along the coast, in the old brewery harbour beside the poshest suburb in the city. There is a cafe and shop on-site.
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Viking Ship Museum
The Vikings are famous for their rune stones and horned helmets – the latter in fact misattributed to them (horned helmets were a Bronze Age fashion). They also gave us Bluetooth, or at least the name, which comes from one of their kings, Harold Bluetooth (it’s a Danish invention, by the way). If you ask them, the Danes are proud of their Viking ancestors but they tend to keep it low-key. If you want to see their extraordinary sailing vessels for yourself, we recommend a trip to Roskilde’s Viking Ship Museum, 25 minutes west of Copenhagen by train.
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Holmens Kirke
Not actually on Slotsholmen, but just across the canal that rings it to the northeast, the naval church was originally an anchor forge until being converted for worship in 1619. This is where many of Denmark’s great seafaring heroes are buried, including Admiral Niels Juel, who defeated the Swedish fleet in the Battle of Køge Bay in 1677. Typical of Lutheran churches, the interior is spartan but notable for its carved, 17th-century oak altarpiece. Netto Boat canal tours depart from here also. Dronning Margrethe and her consort Prince Henri were married here.
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Den Hirschsprungske Samling
Giving Davids Samling a run for its money as the city’s most underrated museum is tobacco magnate Heinrich Hirschsprung’s collection of Danish art, most of it from the first half of the 19th century, and featuring some of the nation’s most treasured paintings from its so-called Golden Age. The museum displays moving and powerful works by the widely celebrated Funen and Skågen schools, famous for their haunting landscapes and depictions of ‘ordinary’ Danes and including artists such as Christen Købke, CW Eckersberg and PS Krøyer.
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Pisserenden
This cosy grid of shopping streets lies immediately to the north of Strøget. Its shops are younger and more ‘alternative’ than the main drag, with clothing stores, secondhand CD shops, cafes, bars and bagel shops. A century or so ago this was a rather unsavoury part of town, full of brothels and bodegas (pubs), but these days it is a bustling network of streets (Studiestræde, Larsbjørnstræde and Vestergade are the main ones), popular with students and creative types from the advertising and design studios nearby.
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