Our Time in Copenhagen

Introduction: Late Summer in Scandinavia
Flight Review: American Airlines B737-800 First Class, MEM-DFW
Flight Review: Finnair A350-900 Business Class, DFW-HEL
Flight Review: Finnair E190 Business Class, HEL-CPH
Lodging Review: Fairfield by Marriott Copenhagen Nordhavn
Our Time in Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Best Western Hotel Hebron, Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Next House, Copenhagen
Lodging Review: Story Hotel Studio Malmö
Our Time in Malmö and Ystad, Sweden
Lodging Review: IKEA Hotell, Älmhult, Sweden
Our Time in Älmhult, Sweden and High-Speed Train to Stockholm
Lodging Review: Motel L Älvsjö, Stockholm
Our Time in Stockholm
Flight Review: SAS A320neo Economy Class, ARN-OSL
Lodging Review: Comfort Hotel Grand Central, Oslo
Our Time in Oslo
Lounge Review: SAS Lounge, Oslo airport
Flight Review: Lufthansa A320-200 Business Class, OSL-FRA
Flight Review: Lufthansa 787-9 Business Class, FRA-MSP
Flight Review: Delta B737-800 First Class, MSP-MEM

Københavns Museum

As I’d arrived a day before my friends, I wanted to spend the afternoon doing something I knew would not be of interest to them so that once they arrived we could do something we all enjoyed. So I went to the Københavns Museum (Museum of Copenhagen) to try to get a sense of the city’s origins and history. In retrospect this was probably not the kind of place I should have visited after a night of no sleep and hustling through airports. I confess I didn’t get a whole lot out of it but at least it wasn’t very expensive.

The museum is open Monday-Wednesday 10 am to 5 pm, Thursday 10 am to 8 pm, Friday 10 am to 5 pm and weekends 11 am to 5 pm. My ticket cost about $15 and included another museum that I did not ever get around to visiting.

But I liked this stained glass window that had once been in the Public Trustee’s Office.

I also liked these old destination signs for the various tram routes. Many of these stop names are still in use for the metro today.

Nyhavn

The next day my friends arrived and we got settled into our room at the Best Western Hotel Hebron, which I’ll review in the next installment. For the rest of the day my job was to keep them awake long enough to acclimate to European time. Naturally our first stop was Nyhavn (New Haven), the famous area with brightly painted buildings along a canal that you’ve likely seen in any photos of Copenhagen. Fortunately it was a gorgeous day which made the colors really pop.

As we walked along the pier we came across these two sailing ships docked in front of The Admiral Hotel.

Amalienborg Palace

As we walked along the water we then turned left to walk through the big plaza between the buildings that make up Amalienborg Palace.

We just so happened to arrive as the changing of the guard ceremony was underway. That’s always a treat.

The equestrian statue of King Frederick V stands guard at the center of the plaza. Frederick reigned in the mid 1700s and the statue was completed shortly after his death in 1766.

The Marble Church

As we left the palace area the street takes you right to the Marmokirken, known as the Marble Church although its name is actually Frederik’s Church. It’s got the largest dome in Scandinavia. We never went inside but it’s quite ornate even on the outside. There’s also a handy metro stop right behind it.

Christianborg Palace

The next day we took one of several hop-on/hop-off bus tours as our means to get around to various parts of town. The first stop was Christianborg Palace. While my friends didn’t want to tour the palace itself, we did take the free ride up into the tower, which offers a great panorama of the city.

Inside the tower, in an area before you climb the final steps to the viewing platform, you’ll see these models of atlantes (architecture supporting columns) proposed when Christianborg was rebuilt after the 1884 fire. However these were deemed to be too modern-looking and were never carved in stone.

There are two sets of elevators to reach the top and on our way down we skipped waiting for the lower elevator and took the stairs. Still, it’s quite a ways down!

There’s an equestrian statue of King Christian IX overlooking a paddock where some of the horsemen were practicing. It was unveiled in 1927, 21 years after the king’s death.

Gefion Fountain

We stopped to admire the Gefion Fountain, based on the 9th century legend that said the Swedish king promised Gefion she could have all the territory she could plow in a night, so she turned her four sons into oxen.

Kastellet

We next walked through the Kastellet, or Citadel, a pentagon-shaped fortress. While it still houses some military buildings, it’s also a park and historic site.

Outside the King’s Gate was a statue, Our Fallen, dedicated to those who gave their lives in World War II.

The Kastelkirken (Citadel Church) on the grounds dates from the early 1700s. It includes sound holes so those imprisoned could listen to church services.

The Little Mermaid

No trip to Copenhagen is complete without a stop by the Little Mermaid. Over the years she’s been decapitated, had limbs torn off, been dumped into the sea, you name it but she always comes back.

Church of Our Savior

Over near Freetown Christiania is the Church of Our Savior. With its unique spiral steeple, it’s certainly a memorable design. Since we’d already had good views of the city from Christianborg Palace we didn’t feel the need to climb up these stairs too.

Freetown Christiania

This part of the city began with squatters taking over part of a military base. In time it became an area known for open trade of cannabis and free thinking. While the open cannabis trade was shut down in April 2024, it remains a community of non-conformists. Lots of graffiti, specialized rules (no running, because that might mean the police are chasing you). It’s considered to be the fourth largest tourist attraction in Copenhagen. It wasn’t really my cup of tea but we did get to see Green George, a Thomas Dambo troll. There are several of these trolls around town and even websites dedicated to them.

Power Plant

Why would I include a photo of the power plant? Because all newer buildings must have a roof that serves some other purpose, whether it’s solar panels or a garden, etc. The power plant’s roof is a dry ski slope in the summer and a snowy one in the winter! We didn’t go have a look but I think that’s a great idea.

ZinkGlobal

The ZinkGlobal statue by Kim Michael sits outside the Seaside Tolboden restaurant.

It’s made of scrap metal and all kinds of things. Quite interesting.

For additional impressions of Copenhagen you can revisit my 2019 post which covers many of these same locations.

Dining

One thing that surprised me about dining throughout our trip was the abundance of American foods and lack of locals foods. It’s entirely possible that since we stayed mostly near touristy things that it’s only natural we saw restaurants with food appealing to tourists. And, in truth, I was not itching for all kinds of pickled fishes or other foods typically associated with Scandinavia but I do generally like to stretch out my taste buds just a little.

Bronx Burger Bar  https://bronxburger.dk/en/

I’d arrived in Copenhagen shortly after noon, having had both breakfast and lunch on airplanes so didn’t need to eat until dinner time. After visiting the Museum of Copenhagen, I tried to find somewhere nearby to eat. The Bronx Burger Bar was not exactly close but was in walking distance in the Gammala Stan area of the city. I was so tired from not sleeping on the flight over that I only managed to hold out until 5 PM to eat so there was lots of space in the restaurant. This one, as you might expect by the name, is a sports bar decorated with lots of New York items. Instead of a burger I had the Chicken Caesar Salad which was fine but not memorable.

This place does accept American Express, which was a rarity in the region. I tried two or three other restaurants and after awhile gave up trying to get my 4x points and instead stuck to my Chase Sapphire Reserve for 3x points.

Kobenhavn Train station

We actually had a meal at one of the several small restaurants in the train station. It wasn’t exotic but it was reasonably priced and was close to our hotel.

Burger Garage  https://www.burgergarage.dk/vesterbro/#

My friends arrived on Monday and we walked around our neighborhood looking for places to eat. While there was what seemed to be a locals-type of place very near our hotel we just picked a direction and walked, finally happening upon the Burger Garage in the Vesterbro neighborhood. Food there was very American so it was easy to pick what we liked. There were some twists to the food, like cucumbers on my chicken sandwich. One of my friends had chicken nachos that seemed to have the usual stuff, but it still looked a little different.

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Dina Bar & Cafe  https://dinabarkafe.dk/englishmenu/

The Dina Bar & Cafe was in walking distance from one of the stops on the Hop On/Hop Off bus. We were there rather late for lunch and were famished as we had been in the area of the Kastellet and Gefion Fountain but the only place that had reasonably cheap food was the hot dog stand and none of us were crazy about that. We just had sandwiches at Dina Cafe but, again, with a twist. When I ordered a salmon sandwich I assumed I’d be getting a piece of fish between two slices of bread. Instead I got a slice of bread with what appeared to be salmon mousse on it. It was pretty tasty and I was quite hungry so it was all good, but it wasn’t what I was expecting.

Espresso House – multiple locations in the region

While there are Starbucks in Scandinavia, the regional coffee place is Espresso House. We popped into the one near the train station a couple of times, once after dinner for dessert and another time for breakfast. I’m not a coffee drinker so can’t comment on that but the desserts and muffins were quite good!

Seaside Tolboden https://seasidecph.dk/en/

We happened upon this restaurant near the Zink Global statue on our last day in Copenhagen. It was a lovely day, sunny with just enough breeze near the water to keep it from being too hot. This restaurant has kitchens from seven different restaurants inside and you can order from any of them. I was curious what Danish Quesadillas might be like and found they really hit the spot. It seemed odd to have Mexican food with no tortilla chips but that was OK. Highly recommended.

In the end

Copenhagen is a delightful city with lots to see. Even in late August it was still very warm – even warmer than my trip in early August 2019. I wished I’d brought shorts and more short sleeved t-shirts! I’ll come back here anytime.