Stylish Danish capital of cool clubs and design
Copenhagen has to be one of the most user-friendly capitals in Europe. That might sound like faint praise, but it’s no small advantage that the city’s historic centre is compact, walkable and largely traffic-free; that everyone speaks fluent English; and that the public transport could hardly be more efficient. But just because Copenhagen is hassle-free doesn’t mean that it isn’t stimulating – quite the opposite. Copenhageners have a voracious appetite for the arts, a design literacy second to none, a burgeoning appreciation for good food and a small but supremely cool nightlife scene.
A great place to start your exploration of Copenhagen is Tivoli (Vesterbrogade 3, +45 33 15 10 01, www.tivoli.dk, open Apr-Sept), a city-centre pleasure garden with lake and flowerbeds, which holds a near-mystical place in the affection of the Danes. Visit as night falls, which is when the park undergoes a dreamy transformation.
Adjoining Tivoli, just off the main square of Rådhuspladsen, is Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (Dantes Plads 7, +45 33 41 81 41, www.glyptoteket.dk), featuring an extraordinary collection of ancient sculpture and Impressionist paintings. Nearby is another world-class museum, the Nationalmuseet (Frederiksholms Kanal 12, +45 33 13 44 11, www.natmus.dk), with its excellent Viking, Medieval and Renaissance departments.
From here, hit Strøget, the main pedestrian shopping strip (and the longest pedestriansed shopping street in the world).
North-east of Kongens Nytorv – a windswept and stately square – is the pretty canal of Nyhavn, lined with bars and restaurants. Writer Hans Christian Andersen lived here. The Little Mermaid statue sits meekly further north on the waterfront.
Back in the centre of town is the island of Slotsholmen, the ancient heart of the city and home of Christiansborg Slot (Prins Jørgens Gård, +45 33 92 64 92), which houses the Parliament (Folketinget). Nearby is the Black Diamond (Søren Kierkegaards Plads 1, +45 33 47 47 47, www.kb.dk), the glass and granite extension to the national library.
Further north is the stately quarter of Frederiksstaden, with Amalienborg Slot, the Danish royal family’s rococo abode, at its heart. The changing of the guard takes place daily at 11.30am. Kongens Have (King’s Garden) has another classic piece of royal architecture, the Rosenborg Palace (Øster Voldgade 4A, +45 33 15 32 86, www.rosenborgslot.dk). Nearby, the National Gallery (Statens Museum For Kunst, Sølvgade 48-50, +45 33 74 84 94, www.smk.dk) has a vast and impressive collection depicting 700 years of Danish and international art.
Across the water is Christianshavn. The centrepiece of its skyline is the twisting golden spire of Vor Frelsers church (Sankt Annægade 29, +45 32 57 27 98, www.vorfrelserskirke.dk), overlooking Christiania (Bådsmandsstræde), the ‘free city’.
The Carlsberg Brewery (Gamle Carlsberg Vej 11, +45 33 27 13 14, www.carlsberg.dk) has free tours ending with a tasting session.
Local history
The Vikings, who swept across northern Europe from southern Sweden around 800, established the first Danish state and rapidly augmented it with three of the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, as well as Norway. Despite its anonymity in Danish prehistory, archaeological finds and burial mounds have yielded evidence that Copenhagen has been a settlement for around 6,000 years. The first written mention of Havn came in 1043, by which time it had started to grow as a busy midway point between trading centres.
Local politics
Demark is a political paradox: while notoriously Euro-sceptic and with some distinctly right-wing elements to its political structure (not to mention a publicly funded neo-Nazi radio station), the country was one of the first nations to introduce gay marriage. It also gives more per capita in overseas aid than any other country and has a famously laid-back attitude to work: don’t work too hard, you’ll only end up paying more tax.
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