Same question different City - Copenhagen

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

Six of us had never been to Vancouver before. So before we took our Alaska cruise; I asked people who have been to or live in/near Vancouver to suggest what they thought we should see or do before heading for home. And we got some great suggestions.

Next year we will be taking the 10 night Norwegian Fjord and Iceland cruise and we will be staying three nights in Copenhagen before hoping on the Magic.

So I am asking the same question for all you experts out there that have visited or live in/near Copenhagen. What would you suggest we see and do while there?
I have been to Copenhagen before but that was back in 1980! The five other people in our party have never visited Copenhagen. We are two couples; in our mid to upper 50s. DW and I are taking our son 26 years old and our friends are taking their daughter 21 years old.

Looking forward to compiling a list of all your suggestions! Thanks!!!

 

[Pens Fan]

We fell in love with Copenhagen! We were there for 3 days prior to our cruise and wished we had stayed longer. Some of the things we enjoyed were:

Christiansborg Palace
Rosenborg Castle
The National Museum
Canal tour
Shopping in the Stroget
Stolling through Nyhavn
Tivoli - especially at night!
Just talking to the wonderful, friendly Danes.

 

[mmmears]

I've been wanting to ask the same question - so thanks for asking! I'm reading tour books for Copenhagen, but hope people here can give even better advice. "Only" ten more months to go!

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

Just bumping this up once; hoping for more responses. When I did this for Vancouver I received many suggestions, made a spreadsheet and every time Queen Elizabeth Park came up I made a check mark; same for Stanley Park and Capilano Suspension Bridge, etc. These three had the most check marks and we made sure we visited each one and we enjoyed them all.

I am hoping to do the same for our visit to Copenhagen. The one place I know of that is a must see; is Tivoli Gardens. But I'm sure that there is more to see and do in the two full days we will have in Copenhagen and would love to hear about them. Thanks!

 

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

Just bumping this up once; hoping for more responses. When I did this for Vancouver I received many suggestions, made a spreadsheet and every time Queen Elizabeth Park came up I made a check mark; same for Stanley Park and Capilano Suspension Bridge, etc. These three had the most check marks and we made sure we visited each one and we enjoyed them all.

I am hoping to do the same for our visit to Copenhagen. The one place I know of that is a must see; is Tivoli Gardens. But I'm sure that there is more to see and do in the two full days we will have in Copenhagen and would love to hear about them. Thanks!

This is a fantastic idea. I fully admit to scooping your Vancouver page (we're going next Aug) & I've 'convinced' (read: begged) DW to do the N. European cruise in summer '19 so I'm following avidly!! Thanks for doing this!

 

[Pens Fan]

Hopefully you will get some more responses here. But in the meantime, have you looked at the Ports of Call sub forum over on Cruise Critic's boards? I find them very helpful and full of good info. There is one for Northern Europe and the Baltics that should have lots of Copenhagen ideas, as well as info on the ports you will visit on your cruise.

Have fun! We did that cruise back in 2015 on the Magic and it was amazing.

Edited to add: One other suggestion - I don't know if it's possible to edit the title of this thread, but if you make it clear you are asking about Copenhagen, it might get you more responses. Just a thought!

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

Hopefully you will get some more responses here. But in the meantime, have you looked at the Ports of Call sub forum over on Cruise Critic's boards? I find them very helpful and full of good info. There is one for Northern Europe and the Baltics that should have lots of Copenhagen ideas, as well as info on the ports you will visit on your cruise.

Have fun! We did that cruise back in 2015 on the Magic and it was amazing.

Edited to add: One other suggestion - I don't know if it's possible to edit the title of this thread, but if you make it clear you are asking about Copenhagen, it might get you more responses. Just a thought!

I just figured out you can! Very cool!!!

 

[ajang27]

I've gone to Copenhagan a couple times for work as I work for a Danish company. Most people recommend getting the Copenhagan card. It's like a City pass card in which you are given admission to many many places, museums, tours, etc.. Transportation on the train and bus is also included in the Copenhagan card. The things I've liked the best (and some recommended to me by colleagues, both US and Danish) are:

Canal Tour (great way to see the city and see the different parts. You'll also see the Little Mermaid statue on here, which is nice because it's also a little out of the way)
Christiansborg Palace
Tivoli
Nyhaven
Roskilde Museum (Viking Museum. It's a little ways out of the city but I hear it's great! I've always wanted to go but never quite got the time.)
Frederiksborg Castle
Kronberg Castle (This is a little ways out of the way)
Louisana Art Museum (if you like modern art - you can see this on the way to Kronberg if you are going that way)
Carlsberg
Christ of our Savior Church (you climb all the way to the top of the spire for a great view of the city. It's scary though!)

I believe all these places you can get in with the Copenhagan Card. But I usually do is buy the card, and just hit all the places I can since I usually only have one day of sightseeing. I'll go to one place, and if I'm not really liking it, I don't waste my time there and just go somewhere else. There's lots of places very close to each other in walking distance. And the city is very easy to navigate.

Have fun!

 

[MaleficentUK]

We spent two night before or cruise this year in Copenhagen.
I highly recommend Tivoli. They have an admission price and then you can pay for rides individually or you can pay one price for unlimited rides.
It is gorgeous at night. We stayed in the hotel Wake Up Copenhagen and were able to watch the fireworks from our room. It was the end of a long day (Tivoli, walking through Copenhagen, seeing the Magic in dock, seeing the Little Mermaid) so we will went back to the hotel and went to bed. A few hours later, I heard the fireworks start, woke everyone, and we all cuddled on the bed by the window and saw the magical fireworks.
No fireworks on the European cruises, so this was a plus.

Anderson Bakery near Tivoli is outstanding for breakfast!

 

[DahliaRW]

I totally agree about Anderson Bakery!

I'll just ditto a bunch of places we loved other mentioned.

Tivoli - a must do. Absolutely fantastic!

Roskilde - The Viking Museum is wonderful. It was one of our favorite things that we did on our 3 week Scandinavia trip. Get there early and you can get tickets to go out on the Baltic on a replica viking ship. Fun and beautiful! While you are there, also visit the Cathedral. It's breath taking. It's an easy train ride from the main Copenhagen station. The Viking Museum is about a 10 minute walk from the station. The Cathedral is really close to the station.

National Museum - I could have spent days here! (For the benefit of people other than the OP who are reading this thread, if you have younger children, they have a great children's museum inside the main museum!)

Kronborg Castle - This was fun. We saw lots of castles on our trip, and it wasn't my favorite. But if you're not going to a bunch of others, go to this one.

Bakken - this is an amusement park a bit out of the city. It's nothing totally spectacular unless you are into cool history and want to experience an amusement park that has been in continuous operation since 1583. It also has a wooden roller coaster that has been in operation since 1932 that is a fun ride. If I remember right, it's between Copenhagen and Kronborg, so you can get off the train and go to the amusement park on the way there or back.

 

[COASTIEandMATE]

I've been wanting to ask the same question - so thanks for asking! I'm reading tour books for Copenhagen, but hope people here can give even better advice. "Only" ten more months to go!

We were on the EBTA in May this year and can second the suggestion to buy the Copenhagen card before you go! It comes with a great little guidebook with lots of info! Definitely take a canal cruise tour first to get an over view of wonderful Copenhagen!!

 

[o&smom]

We fell in love with Copenhagen on our first visit in 2015. We were lucky enough to get to return in 2016 for three days at the end of our Iceland/Norway cruise. We stayed at the Tivoli Hotel and walked to Tivoli Gardens. On both visits we spent all day at Tivoli until it closed. The lighting in the park at night is beautiful. Great food here as well: Groften for local open faced sandwiches and great fish and chips back in the Chinatown area of the park. We had a special midnight snack of danish pancakes, swedish pancakes and crepes with whipped cream and strawberry jam along with hot chocolate. Still such a fun memory! We also loved Anderson bakery outside of Tivoli for breakfast. Canal cruise is a must - we lucked out with a nice, warm day. There is a great sushi restaurant in the Tivoli Hotel as well. Who knew?! Happy traveling!

 

[KashasMom]

I definitely recommend doing a walking tour. There are several - some of the free ones can be crowded but you can also book a private one, which is what we did with some other cruisers. This is the company we went with - http://www.copenhagenfreewalkingtours.dk/.

I also suggest going to the food market (Copenhagen Street Food - http://copenhagenstreetfood.dk/en/). It's about 50 stalls with all types of cuisine. An easy walk from Nyhavn and great place for dinner.

We loved walking around Nyhavn (great photography) and enjoyed taking a canal cruise. We did A LOT of walking - we enjoyed exploring Kastellet - (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kastellet,_Copenhagen) - surprising to see a windmill there.

I agree with many of the other suggestions. The Little Mermaid is synonymous with Copenhagen. Since we had seen Hans Christian Andersen's home in Odense, my daughter wanted to see the Little Mermaid. If you are so inclined, be aware that she is very small and there are tons of people (busloads!) all trying to squeeze in for a photo with her. Still, I couldn't imagine visiting Copenhagen and not seeing her.

 

[COASTIEandMATE]

I definitely recommend doing a walking tour. There are several - some of the free ones can be crowded but you can also book a private one, which is what we did with some other cruisers. This is the company we went with - http://www.copenhagenfreewalkingtours.dk/.

I also suggest going to the food market (Copenhagen Street Food - http://copenhagenstreetfood.dk/en/). It's about 50 stalls with all types of cuisine. An easy walk from Nyhavn and great place for dinner.

We loved walking around Nyhavn (great photography) and enjoyed taking a canal cruise. We did A LOT of walking - we enjoyed exploring Kastellet - (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kastellet,_Copenhagen) - surprising to see a windmill there.

I agree with many of the other suggestions. The Little Mermaid is synonymous with Copenhagen. Since we had seen Hans Christian Andersen's home in Odense, my daughter wanted to see the Little Mermaid. If you are so inclined, be aware that she is very small and there are tons of people (busloads!) all trying to squeeze in for a photo with her. Still, I couldn't imagine visiting Copenhagen and not seeing her.

And on your canal tour you cruise right by her with an unobstructed view!

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

I want to thank everyone for all your suggestions, please keep them coming!

 

[KashasMom]

And on your canal tour you cruise right by her with an unobstructed view!

Actually we did not. We went the "other" way, which seemed a bit more interesting. Even cruising past her, wouldn't have been the same for my daughter.

 

[COASTIEandMATE]

Actually we did not. We went the "other" way, which seemed a bit more interesting. Even cruising past her, wouldn't have been the same for my daughter.

Oh good to know!!!!

 

[valee]

One feature of the Copenhagen card that you might not notice is that you can use it once a day at any of the attractions. That meant that we went into Tivoli Gardens each of our three days there, even for a quick leg stretching stroll around the gardens on our arrival day when we were jet lagged.