Marking the northern entrance to Copenhagen’s harbor, the former shipyard island of Refshaleøen – home to the easier-to-pronounce "Reffen" street-food market – is a hip, post-industrial creative campus, with a feel not unlike Amsterdam Noord or Rathenau-Hallen in Berlin. Since the shipyards closed in 1996, it has slowly become a center of art, gastronomy, music, theater, architecture and sport.
Getting Here
You could cycle or take the bus to Refshaleøen. Cycling here is a scenic trip in itself, crossing Holmen island behind the Operaen, passing charming boat-bar Kontiki, skirting around Noma's organic farm and meandering through the delightfully rural north end of Christiania. A lovely way to reach here is by Harbour Bus.
Street Food Market
The focal point for most visitors is the Reffen Street Food market, Scandinavia’s largest, covering an area of 6000 square meters. There are over 50 stalls, with authentic cuisines from Afghanistan to Argentina, and a big Mikkeller beer bar attached. There's also a 4000-sq-meter area on the waterfront, where you can sit back on deckchairs with views over the harbor. When it gets too cold to do this, head to Werkstatt, a former machine hall, where bars and food stalls open year-round, and there's an ice rink and campfires outside.
Sights
There are still military facilities up this way, and the retired frigate boat Peder Skram is open to visitors in the summer. Once considered Copenhagen’s distant periphery, Refshaleøen has shifted the city’s cultural center of gravity, and today the island is a choose-your-own-adventure book of culture, cuisine and more: Scandinavia’s biggest urban farm? Øens Have – you can volunteer here to help with gardening and get a free lunch (made from the garden produce) in return. Modern art? Copenhagen Contemporary, with changing exhibitions in 7000 square meters of industrial halls. Theater? Teaterøen. Climbing? Blocs & Walls. A short walk away is CopenHill, the city's dry ski slope on top of a waste-processing plant: as well as skiing, there's a climbing wall, or take the lift to the top for superb views across Copenhagen and out to sea.
Other Eats
The double-Michelin-starred Alchemist can take you on a 50-course culinary journey, just around the corner. This is an artistic, holistic adventure, rather than a mere meal of a lifetime, with projections such as the northern lights, as you tuck into high-art, high-concept food, created by Rasmus Munk. For something more breakfast or brunchy, there's Lille Bakery or Hart Bageri for pastries and coffee, or eat at Darcy’s at CC at the Copenhagen Contemporary. La Banchina is housed in a kiosk on the waterfront, and is the place to go for a glass of natural wine and antipasti with a view.
Festivals
The island also hosts several annual festivals: metalhead favorite Copenhell, Karrusel for house and disco, and the Distortion festival’s "forest rave."
Lynetteholmen
A new neighborhood is planned for Refshaleøen. This is part of the enormous, and controversial, Lynetteholmen land reclamation project, in which a 275-hectare artificial island is being built to the north. The project broke ground at the end of 2021, and some 35,000 residents are expected to live here when it's complete – in 2070! (But with the first residents projected in 2035.)
Swim & Sauna
The sauna cabin at La Banchina has a lovely view over the water, and you can book for private sessions, and then swim in the water in front. Nearby is Badezone Søndre Refshalebassin, another harbor bath. Both are deep water only and without a beach.
