Things to do 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…
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DGI-Byen
Lying just south of Central Station, overlooking the tracks, you’ll find Copenhagen’s best leisure and sports complex, featuring a large indoor swimming pool, bowling alley, spa, restaurant, cafe and hotel, among other facilities. On offer at the spa are a wide range of beauty treatments, different massage therapies, algae and salt baths, mud packs and acupuncture.
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Masken
You’ll find a pretty mellow, easy-going atmosphere in this mainstream gay bar, with cheap beer and good snacks. It’s mainly a hang-out for gay men, but Thursday is Ladies Night.
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Absolut Ice Bar
Admittedly, some might call this an absolute rip-off, but this deep frozen bar is still worth a (one) visit if you have never been to any of the others in Sweden and Norway. Everything, including the glasses is made from the purest Swedish river water. On entering you are given an Arctic cape to protect you from the temperature that can reach –12°C, and warned not to lick the walls…
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42°Raw
The focus at hip and healthy 42°Raw is raw food, served in a series of gourmet salads (think tomato and avocado with parsley, garlic, lime, chilli, red quinoa, and a trout oil and vinegar dressing). Liquid options include smoothies and freshly squeezed juices, including a strangely sublime spinach, apple and basil concoction. Your mama will be proud.
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Govindas
Govindas serves savoury Indian-style vegetarian food in a pleasant setting with mellow music. Hare Krishna devotees cook up a nine-dish thali meal of basmati rice, soup, salad and a few hot dishes such as eggplant casserole for bargain prices, meaning that the place is very popular with students and travellers.
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Café Victor
This classic French bar and brasserie is the doyen of the Copenhagen cafe scene and is enjoyably snobbish with jet-set pretensions and, generally, a more middle-aged crowd (regulation uniform: loafers, jeans and blazers for the men, Chanel for the women). The food is excellent, but a touch overpriced.
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Post & Tele Museum Café
This modern space does its best to bring the not overtly fascinating story of Post Danmark to life. The chief draw, however, is the excellent rooftop cafe, which serves a reasonable Danish-style lunch and has an outdoor terrace with fantastic views across the city centre to Christiansborg.
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Lê Lê (7)
For dinner try the terrific refined Vietnamese street food at Lê Lê (7) in Vesterbro, where you should get a good feed for under 100kr.
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Lyst Café
Head to this kooky and kitsch spot (note the blowfish lamp) for freshly made wraps and perfect kanelsnegle (cinnamon rolls).
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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Bycykler
Long before Paris got in on the act of free bikes, Copenhagen had its famous Bycykler, allowing anyone to borrow a bicycle for free. In all there are over 1000 bikes available from 1 May to 15 December.
These gearless bicycles are rudimentary and are certainly not practical for long-distance cycling, but that's part of the plan - use of the cycles is limited to the city centre. To deter theft and minimise maintenance, the bicycles have a distinctive design that includes solid spokeless wheels with puncture-resistant tyres. The bikes can be found at 110 widely scattered street stands in public places, including S-train stations.
The way it works is that if you're able to…
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Custom House
Sir Terence Conran’s recently opened gourmet complex is housed in the old ferry terminal, where boats used to embark for Sweden. As well as a small deli, there are three appealing upscale (or should that be ‘Yuppiescale’?) restaurants here. At Bacino the menu is contemporary but authentic Italian, with dishes including langoustine (shrimp) with pumpkin risotto or fillet of halibut with basil, courgette and almond cream. Ebisu serves what is for Copenhagen an unusually wide range of Japanese dishes, while the Grill Bar apes a more casual, upmarket New York steak joint. The food and service varies from excellent to so-so but, as you’d expect, the décor is smooth and…
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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…
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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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Copenhagen Card
1 or 3 days (Departs Copenhagen, Denmark)
by Viator
Make the most of your time in Denmark's capital and take advantage of free and discounted transport and admission as you explore the numerous museums and…Not LP reviewed
from USD$43.84 -
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Damindra
Soothing interiors, a knowledgeable staff and unforgettable Japanese dishes define this little-known gem. The owner, Damindra, designed just about everything you see, including the cutlery, glasses and the chair you’re sitting on. Most importantly, his pride and passion are reflected in the food his Japanese chefs prepare: from the buttery sashimi to an unforgettable prawn tempura, it’s all obscenely fresh, flavoursome and beautifully presented. The ‘Chef’s Choice’ set sushi menu (368kr) provides the perfect culinary tour, while desserts such as chocolate brûlée with Earl Grey ice cream make for a wicked epilogue. Cap it all off with a complimentary soju and…
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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…
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