Chapter 26

When my friend offered me to go on a girls week-end trip to Copenhagen, I was deep in my comfort zone: “I’m trying to save money”, “I don’t think I’ll like the city”, “I need to rest lately”. Then, I remembered that my purpose in life is to collect beautiful memories and explore. I also remembered that everything is energy, abundance is a mindset, and money well spent comes back triple.

I actually adored the city, loved the hygge vibe, loved how friendly Danish people were, loved the atmosphere.

Here’s my two-days itinerary, ADHD friendly by going straight to the point.

Day 1

Frederiksborg Castle

I recommend starting your trip with this castle because it’s 40-50 minutes away from Copenhagen and quite a long visit so you might want to start with that.

The Castle is in the city of Hillerød. It’s the largest renaissance building in the Nordics, built in the 17th century.

It’s impressive, there are a lot of rooms to visit and a very large garden.

There are wonderful piece of art exposed.

The Great Hall was my favourite room, covered in art, gold, mirrors and marble. Very bright and royal.

Canal Tour

In the afternoon we took a canal tour. We booked our ticket at one of the departure dock and had a drink while waiting for our slot.

The tour takes you around the canals and you get to see some of Copenhagens’ neighbourhoods, the famous Little Mermaid, the Opera, and many other landmarks.

The tour takes one hour, but a longer one is also available.

Christiansborg Castle

Close to were the canal tour ended was Christiansborg Castle. We did not visit it as it was late, but from the pictures I saw the inside looks beautiful. I think it’s worth visiting it if you can make time for it during your trip.

Instead, we climbed up the observatory for free to enjoy a view over Copenhagen. Personal opinion: I found the view just fine and would not put it as a must-do.

Nyhavn

Nyhavn is probably the most famous spot in Copenhagen. I had seen pictures of it so often, I didn’t thought I would be so impressed by it. I adored this place and it was my favourite part of the town. We went around sunset, if you are travelling in the summer, the lights and the relaxed atmosphere is wonderful. The street is full of restaurants. We ate at Cap Horn which I would recommend.

Tivoli

Tivoli is an amusement park in the middle of the city, near the train station Copenhagen H.

We got free entrance with the Copenhagen card but had to pay for the rides.

The rides were very much to my liking: fun and not too scary, and you should check them out on the website before going so you can plan your visit. I barely had to wait more than 15 minutes for the two rides I did.

The park in itself is wonderful at night, full of lights, people, restaurants and music.

On saturday nights, in the summer, there are fireworks at 11:30, so we went to have a cocktail in a rooftop bar/sushis restaurant called Sticks’n Sushis. We had a very nice view over the amusement parks, the rides, the city, and the fireworks.

Day 2

The Glyptotek

The Glyptotek is an art museum, with mostly of sculptures and Egyptian, Greek and Roman ancient stuff. Forgive the lack of details, I like to stroll through museums mindlessly and cannot tell you anything art related, only that it’s worth the visit. Please check out what else the museum exhibit if you are interested.

I loved the sculptures from the Danish and Norwegian artist Stephan Sinding, especially the Oldest of the Line which represents a very old lady carved in wood, Adoration which I was in adoration of, representing a man kissing a woman’s knees, and two other sculptures which I forgot the name but will call “But Daddy I Love him” and “Reputation”, for those who will have the ref.

I also saw some mummies and sarcophagus covered in hieroglyphs, and meditated on the fall of Empires.

I did not visit the whole Museum but our stroll took a good 1h30/2h.

Before you order one of their delicious ice latte at the coffee in the entrance hall, surrounded by a fountain and plants, check the lovely rooftop bar with a view on Tivoli and a pyramid.

The Rosenborg Castle

Do better than us, and book your visit, because I have nothing to tell you about the Palace and the beautiful royal jewels I was suppose to see. It was sold-out when we arrived.

What I can tell you is that the architecture of the building is lovely, and the garden very nice too.

Frederik’s Church

Also called the Marble Church. The inside is round large and breath-taking.

Amalienborg

Amalienborg is a very large place in an octagonal shape and several buildings. It’s the winter residence of the Royal family and you will have learned during your canal tour that if the Danish flag is raised it means they are at home.

By that time, we had walked around Copenhagen a lot and felt we had seen enough of the main historical sights. We headed to Nyhavn for a drink.

Papirøen and the Kissing Bridge

We ended our day by crossing what our canal tour guide called the Kissing Bridge, nearby Nyhavn. We arrived in a wonderful place with many street food truck called ! I saw one world renown burger place, some Japanese ice cream mochis, hot dogs, poke and so on…

We sat opposite to the street food place, and enjoyed the sunset over Copenhagen before heading to the airport.

To dump you some more random fact:
I’d recommend getting pastries at the Buka bakery
I wish we had rented bikes I wish we had had one evening to rent a little boat, like the local were doing
The transportation system is good and it’s easy to move from point to point
I did not go to see the Little Mermaid because I saw it from the canal tour.
It’s a bit like the Manneken-Pis in Bruxelles: iconic, renown, famous touristic attraction, but when you see it you wonder what’s the fuss.
We took the Copenhagen card that give access to all the attractions we did and serve as transport card (including airport), and it was worth it financially.

Chapter 26