One Day in Copenhagen: What Not to Miss

Copenhagen is a beautiful city, and with airline connections, mainly through SAS’s major hub at Kastrup Airport, becoming more convenient for visiting the Nordic capital, there’s all the more reason to visit. But with many travelers using it as a gateway for other northern European cities, or as a departure point for increasingly popular Baltic cruises, it sometimes gets overlooked for an extended stay. If you only have one day in Copenhagen, consider fitting the following activities into your day, and then make plans to come back again.

Morning: Rosenborg Castle gardens

I had not been inside these gardens until my most recent visit to Copenhagen, but it became an instant favorite. Carefully sculpted French-style hedges and flowerbeds mix with massive, freely growing trees to create a beautiful oasis in the middle of the city. King Christian IV’s castle itself is three fourths surrounded by a moat with a bridge leading to it, and is a perfect size for a mid-city royal residence. It is a beautiful spot both to walk through, take in, and photograph, or to find a bench or patch of grass for some leisurely studying or reading. As we were walking through the hedges, a young couple rushed passed us, seemingly cutting through the garden for an appointment or reservation, but then we passed them reclining together on a bench a few minutes later. Finding quality real estate is competitive, you know.

Lunch: Restaurant Schønnemann

If you want to know what true, traditional Scandinavian cuisine (and drink) is like, bring your lunch palatte to Restaurant Schønnemann, a Michelin recommended, widely reviewed and acclaimed (you can read all their reviews by restaurant critics in their bathrooms) smørrebrød restaurant located in the heart of Copenhagen since 1877.

If you don’t speak Danish or Swedish (which can be used to understand and speak a “Swedanish” that is mutually agreeable for both parties), there is an English menu, but the true Danes who work there insist on speaking Danish and the restaurant is all the better for it. If you don’t have a local buddy who can translate a bit (as was the case with the table next to us) and are feeling adventurous, you should still go for it, either preparing a bit in advance from their website or asking your server for what they suggest.

I highly enjoyed their “rejer pyramide”, or open-faced shrimp sandwich, and tasted the sill and eel as well. They have an extremely comprehensive snaps list, and you would be highly remiss if at least one person from your party didn’t try a “lille” or a a small snaps, or a “stor”, which is filled to the brim. I can also recommend their white wine or beer selection.

Early seating is 11:30-2, otherwise you can catch the second seating at 2:14-5. Yes, 2:14.

Speaking of my recommendation for lunch, I have a short and not overly serious tirade to address. Denmark, on behalf of your northern, Germanic language neighbors, including Sweden, Norway, and Germany, why do you have to call “lunch” by the word that the rest of us has decided is “breakfast”?

Swedish: frukost

Norweigan: frokost

German: Frühstück

Danish: morgenmad (and frokost is lunch)

I did read this week in one of the latest “why Scandinavians are perfect” articles that, at least in a Brit’s opinion, the Danes are the black sheep of the Nordic family. Maybe they’re actually on to something in those endless analyses.

Post-Lunch: Strøget

Strøget is the large pedestrian shopping street in Copenhagen, and it makes for a great post-lunch walk. Make sure to pop into the Lego store and get a waffle with ice cream on it while you’re at it.

Late afternoon: Tivoli

On my first visit, I found the prominence of Tivoli to be quite strange. Who puts an amusement park in the middle of the city? I guess Stockholm has something similar with Gröna Lund, though that’s a bit more separated by the island base of the city. However, it has grown on me, and you should definitely pop in late in the afternoon or in the early evening of your day in Copenhagen. Take in the second-oldest amusement park in the world, which has imagined “Orient” buildings from the 1800s, rides, restaurants, and shopping areas that inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland. Use it to enjoy a drink between lunch and dinner and ponder people who actually enjoy being flipped upside down on rides.

Late Dinner: Ny havn

Finally, after refreshing yourself from the day, head to Nyhavn to walk along the canal and ‘shop’ for a place to eat a late dinner. We ate at Cap Horn after some careful menu examination as the selection looked good, the food unpretentious, and it wasn’t even that overpriced. Look for kantareller (delicious orange mushrooms) as a seasonal appetizer.

Insider’s Tip: Den Lille Havfrue

The little mermaid statue is one of Denmark’s biggest tourist attractions- and the smallest. Know this going in, and if you still wish to see her, plan strategically. If you’re visiting Copenhagen in the off season (mid-September – May), you don’t have to endure too many people, especially if the day is gray with rain hanging in the air, and may even be able to get a nice shot of her with Danish flags in the distance without any rogue humans in your picture. Note: if you take a water tour, you will only see her from behind, so I recommend going by land. If you are going during high season, take a cab early in the morning, before the Hop on, Hop off buses start running, ask him or her to wait, and see her in the dawn light with less or perhaps no people around. If you enjoy running, you could do an early morning run along the canal (Københavns Havn) and see her that way.

Do you have other suggestions for one day in Copenhagen? Enjoyed one of the places I recommended? Let me know in the comments below.

Photography: my Nikon D3200, 135mm lens

P.S. More to come from my trip soon, I’ve been uninspired to blog as I’ve adjusted to my regular routine. But both my writing and my interior design urges have recently been revived, so more on both being anchored and being adrift soon!