At the time of writing this, we are still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. This post is not meant to encourage travel at this time, rather inspire an excitement to travel when the time comes. Please stay home and stay safe.
With our arrival in Cophenhagen came another stop on our tour of the world's happiest countries, and after spending time in these beautiful places, it's easy to see why they're consistently ranked so high on the World Happiness Report. Despite cold weather and some parts not seeing sunlight for a few months out of the year, the friendly people and beautiful sights make it hard not to feel joyous.
With heavy hearts, we had to leave our gorgeous Airbnb near Sortland, but the city of Copenhagen was waiting for us. With a nearly 2 hour drive to the Harstad/Narvik Airport, a short layover in Oslo, and a quick flight into Denmark on Scandinavian Airlines, we were in our third country of the trip.
Copenhagen Airport was very nice and easy to navigate. We quickly found our way to baggage claim, followed the signage to train ticketing (self-service), and rode the escalator down to the platform for the train that would take us to Copenhagen Central Station. It was a quick 15-minute trip that cost approximately $6 per person and I hardly remember a bit of it. We'd eaten dinner at the Harstad/Narvik Airport (a healthy meal of hot dogs and chips) and by the time we were on the train, I was sweating bullets, convinced I was going to die. If Rachel hadn't been there, I think I would have just laid down and taken the train all the way to the countryside of Denmark. And that was all before we had to walk to our hostel (less than a 10-minute walk, so I sound like a wimp) and Rachel had to drag a broken suitcase through the busy city streets.
We stayed at Steel House Copenhagen right near the city center, and though it was nothing to write home about, it was inexpensive accommodations for a city that is notoriously expensive. We each paid about $30 per night to sleep in a room that was smaller than my college dorm but somehow stuffed with 6 beds. On the positive side, it was clean and had private bathrooms located in the room. Granted, the bathroom was right next to our bunk and every time the sliding door groaned open and the automatic light turned on, we woke up. You win some, you lose some.
Day 1
By this point, it should come as no surprise that we started our morning in search of coffee and pastries. Today's choice was Coffee Collective, which has multiple locations in the city, but the one we went to was in the Inner City (Bernikowgården), not too far from Nyhavn. It was here that we got our kanelsnelge (cinnamon bun), another delicious, sticky, cinnamony treat that is impossible to dislike. In the words of Rachel "It's really, really good. It's a little dry at first, but the more you eat it, the better it gets". Updated cinnamon bun rankings:
Iceland
Denmark
Norway
The Coffee Collective has a really cool story that I wasn't aware of until writing this post. We had picked the location based on reviews (as we typically did), but the café is not simply a café. They're a small business running a full operation that includes a roastery and six locations throughout Copenhagen. They've won numerous national and international coffee competitions. And best yet, they're ethical. They source their own beans through direct trade which is beneficial to farmers in that it creates higher wages and better working environments for everyone involved. Not only that, but they personally visit the farmers several times a year. If I wasn't convinced that they were worth a recommendation based on the coffee alone, their mission sealed the deal. Definitely pay them a visit.
A stroll around Nyhavn was next, and even if the name doesn't ring a bell, I guarantee you know the famous canal with the brightly colored buildings. It's featured in numerous photography and Hans Christian Andersen spent most of his life living here, completing many of his fairy tales between three different homes. But Nyhavn has a long history even before the famous author took up residence. The district dates back to the 1670s when it was a commercial port that welcomed ships from all over the world and became known for sailors, beer, and ladies of...pleasure. When ships got bigger, the canal fell out of use until it was renovated and brought back to life as a popular entertainment district in the 70s.
Not too far away is Frederik's Church, otherwise known as The Marble Church. I'm a sucker for a beautiful church and luckily, this one is open daily for visitors so we were able to pop in to take a look at the architecture. The dome itself is the largest church dome in Scandinavia and it's even possible to go up for what is supposed to be a spectacular view of Copenhagen, but this is only allowed at certain times and wasn't open when we were there.
The location of the church itself is in a really cool spot, situated almost as a monument at the end of the street leading into Amalienborg Palace -- the Royal Family's main residence.
Now, no trip to Copenhagen would be complete without a visit to the Disney icon herself, The Little Mermaid. Yes, I'm aware the statue isn't of that mermaid. But for someone who still calls Ariel her favorite princess (and still has a beach towel from her first trip to Disney over 25 years ago), it was a pretty neat moment to visit Ariel's "inspiration" (loosely quoted when you get down to the differences between the two). Or so I thought it would be.
Rachel does a lovely reading of the statue's plaque in the video, so be sure not to miss that, or the comments as we're arriving at the very crowded attraction. Our disappointment with the statue was not to say it isn't pretty or worth a visit (if you're in the area -- definitely don't make a special trip just to see it). Possibly more interesting is the number of times it's been victim to vandalism. The original head was once cut off and never recovered, so it was replaced, only to be stolen again (but returned this time). Her arm has been sawn off, once she was knocked off the pedestal by explosives and recovered in the harbor, and just a few weeks before we visited she was graffitied with the words "free Hong Kong". Poor girl has been through the wringer.
My favorite part of the statue was the coffee cart set up right next to it, cashing in on the tourists. Including us. We were cold and tired and it was exactly what we needed to tackle the rest of our day.
We spent some time walking around Kastellet, right next door to The Little Mermaid. It's an old fortress that to this day serves as a military area, but also as a public park. People were out running and enjoying the sunny day and walking their dogs. Not that the city itself is near as overwhelming as somewhere like NYC, but it was still a nice peaceful getaway right in the center of it all. Similarly, the King's Garden outside Rosenborg Castle was another park in the middle of the city that many families frequent.
Now let's talk more about food, one of my favorite parts of traveling. Torvehallerne is a glass-covered market in the middle of the city with everything from fresh fruit and veggies to flowers and gifts to prepared food. We grabbed lunch at The Organic Boho, a fully organic and vegan restaurant developed in Ibiza by two Danes. After days of gorging ourselves on hot dogs and pastries, this was exactly what our bodies needed and was so, so satisfying. I got a burger with a falafel pattie and Rachel got a wrap with both falafel and cauliflower. Yum. Good. Nutritious. We spent some time more walking around the market before heading to Tivoli Gardens for the night (more on that in a separate post). We did leave the park for dinner, which was a hot dog (surprise). But we had a ranking system going on, we couldn't not get one. Plus, our healthy lunch and the sheer amount of walking we did that day would surely offset the hot dog. John's Hotdog Deli was our Denmark hot dog of choice in the Meatpacking District less than a mile SW from Tivoli. Unfortunately, this location closed in May 2020 for various reasons, but they still have a cart at Central Station and are searching for a new permanent location. I really liked this hot dog. It had a bit of a kick to it and the bun was grilled and crunchy rather than soggy. Therefore, updated hot dog rankings:
Denmark
Iceland
Norway
We also went to Tivoli Gardens this day, but that deserves an entirely separate post, which is coming up next!
Day 2
Our second day in Copenhagen was actually our third and final day in the city. The day prior was spent in Sweden (more on that in a later post).
I know you're dying to know where our morning coffee came from, and this time it was Democratic Coffee. This location deserves all the stars for not only having fantastic coffee but being attached to a LIBRARY (our second favorite thing in life is books). No cinnamon bun this morning, but we did get a pain au chocolat and incredibly delicious almond croissant, which was the main reason it drew us in (supposedly the best almond croissant in all of Copenhagen, but we didn't get a chance to verify).
The other reason we chose Democratic Coffee was for its proximity to The Round Tower (Rundetaarn). This structure was built as an observatory in the 17th Century and has panoramic views of Copenhagen at the top. Because we didn't get to the top of Frederik's Church, this was a must for us (there is a small fee of about $6.50 per person to go inside). Interestingly enough, the walk up is not stairs like you'd assume. Instead, it's a spiral ramp. The tower is only about 10.5 stories tall, so it's not a super-exerting walk up, but something to keep in mind, especially if you get dizzy walking in continuous circles).
By the time we'd finished at the top of The Round Tower and made our way back down, we didn't have much time left to explore before we had to get going to the airport. We walked around a bit longer, seeing places like Frederiksholmskanal and Christianborg Palace, plus taking photos on a brightly covered street called Amagergade.
And just like that, our time in Denmark had come to a close. It was a fast visit, but we definitely both enjoyed it and can confidently add it to the list of places we would return to in the future!
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