What to Do, Eat and See With One Week in Copenhagen

Jenn: [00:00:00] Hey everyone, and welcome back to The Travel Mug Podcast. I am Jenn, joined as always by my partner in podcasting, Meggan. Today, we are here to talk all about my trip to Copenhagen, which happened at the end of June. So last year, when WestJet announced a direct flight from Halifax to Copenhagen, I knew I wanted to jump on the chance to head over there, so let's dive right in

Meggan: Let's talk about those direct flights

Jenn: Yeah, so I flew direct, like I said, from Halifax to Copenhagen with WestJet. We were actually booked to be on the inaugural flight at the end of May, uh, but we had to move our trip because of a family wedding. So anyway, I didn't get to experience the, like, inaugural day fun things that they do at the Halifax Airport.

Uh, so the flight to Copenhagen from Halifax was an [00:01:00] overnight flight that left Halifax at, like, 10:30 PM, I think, and landed in Copenhagen around 10:15 in the morning, I think. the time, like, the flight time was six and a half hours or so. I actually forgot that you get a meal on these flights. Uh, so that was exciting.

The food was actually quite good. I did try to sleep, uh, and I drifted off a couple of times, but, my husband didn't sleep at all, so that was a bit of a bummer. We landed in Copenhagen, and of course, we had to go through passport control, and I was worried because of the horror stories that, uh, so many people have been sharing online and, uh, you know, even when Meggan was in Portugal.

Because of the new entry exit system, of course. So we only waited about 30 minutes at passport control, which really wasn't too bad, but the line behind us did get quite [00:02:00] long. And they were pulling people out who had connecting flights, um, to, to move up in the line. So if you have a connecting flight, uh, don't worry too much about it.

But we went through that. We grabbed our luggage, and, uh, then we took a train from the airport to Copenhagen City Center Station, which only takes about 15, 20 minutes, so super easy. We bought our tickets at a kiosk and then double-checked with somebody that we were going to the right place, and then we took the train. So I will talk about our experience leaving Copenhagen, since we're on the topic of flights.

So I had read so many horror stories, like I said, about long passport control lines, that I decided that we needed to be at the airport four hours before our flight , which I know seems excessive even for me. Uh, but I was really stressed about it, and especially 'cause it's an airport that you're not familiar with.

You don't [00:03:00] know exactly where you have to go. Uh, so I, I was really stressed about it, and I just wanted a lot of time. That unfortunately did backfire on us a little bit, because the counter to drop off our luggage did not open until three hours before. Uh, so we immediately got there and had to wait, like, 45-ish minutes for the counter to open, the WestJet counter to open so we could drop off our bag.

But once we dropped off the bag, we headed right to security, which was a super short wait. It was, like, five minutes maybe. And then once you go through security, there's, like, duty-free and then shops and restaurants, and of course, the advice that I had read was head right to passport control because that line can be super long.

The problem with that is our gate hadn't been announced yet, and therefore we didn't know which passport control line area to go through, um, because each gate [00:04:00] area, like, it was, like, A, B, C, D, E, they all had their own passport control lines. So we grabbed a coffee and a pastry, and we waited, like, 40 minutes.

It was really convenient because the board that said what, um, depart, like, um, passport control you had to go through, what gate you were gonna be at, told you what time it was going to update. So we knew we could go back and check at that time, and it would tell us where to go. So we were, like, there the minute it changed to, uh, which gate we go through, and then we went through passport control.

So we only waited about 10 minutes, so that was really good. Uh, and then by that time, we had, like, an hour to kill at our gate. There's not much seating at the gates, but we found a spot, like, a little bit further away from our gate and then just moved, uh, up to our gate closer to boarding time. And the flight home was good.

Like, I took Gravol on both flights, um, and I did not get sick either time, but there wasn't much [00:05:00] turbulence, so overall a pretty good experience.

Meggan: That is awesome All right So

Jenn: Yeah, so once we were in the city, we walked everywhere, uh, except for taking the train to Sweden one day. But biking culture is a huge thing in Copenhagen, so if you're comfortable biking, you can rent bikes to get around. I will say that you should definitely understand biking rules, uh, including how to use the bike lanes, know that there is lights for, specifically for the bike lanes, and like know the hand signals for turning and how to make a left-hand turn.

Other options for getting around include buses, harbor buses, like boats, and the metro, which we didn't use, but I think that they are relatively an affordable option. There are also Uber and taxi options, but I read that they can be [00:06:00] pretty expensive. We didn't use them. Uh, there are also, uh , you know, guys on bikes, like tuktuk bikes, who will drive you home after a night out with... they got the music blaring every time they went by. It seems like they're having a great time

Meggan: Excellent Um

Jenn: Yeah, so, we stayed at the Scandic Palace Hotel, which was a super short five-minute walk from the Copenhagen Central Station. So we headed over there, and really luckily, uh, we got there around noon. They were able to check us in right away. Of course, check-in's usually not until 4:00 PM. But we were really grateful we could get in our room, right away so we could have a little rest and freshen up.

Ryan had a nap, and I had a shower, and I will say, I think I booked the cheapest room on hotelscom like through hot hotels.com. , And when we got there, they upgraded us to the next category up, which was amazing and, and super great [00:07:00] of them. And I am just gonna, like, gush for a few minutes about why I loved this hotel.

So first, the location was really, really great. It's super walkable to basically everything we did. The furthest away I think we went were two places. There was, um, cemetery and the, Little Mermaid statue. Both of those were about a half an hour walk away, which we didn't mind, but something to keep in mind if you want to walk less. The train station's right there, of course, uh, so you can get around that way. Uh, anyway, there's also a grocery store just a few doors down, which was really convenient, and the staff at the hotel were so, so friendly. Like, every interaction we had with someone there was super lovely. Our first room, because we changed rooms, um, our first room was good.

It was down like a really quiet hallway on the second floor. Bed was comfy, the bathroom was spacious, and it had a bathtub, which I, I was [00:08:00] excited about, and I didn't ended up using it uh, because after the first night there, we decided to ask if we could upgrade to one of the rooms that has a balcony that overlooks the square. So I've literally never done this before when traveling, like just walk up to the front desk and ask if we can upgrade. But it ended up being an extra $260 Canadian, it was 1,200 Danish krone, uh, to upgrade for like the rest of the, I guess, six nights, so we did it. Our new room was on the fourth floor.

We had a one whole little room that was just the shower. It was like a shower and a sink in one room, and then another room that was the regular bathroom with a toilet and a sink. The balcony was perfect, and I spent like hours on it, like each day really, reading and people watching. It was fully worth upgrading, and I'm really, really happy that we did.

I will note [00:09:00] if you want to do this and go stay with a balcony room, the fourth floor balconies, uh, rooms are the same price as the third floor balcony rooms and second. They're the same price, but the balcony on the fourth floor rooms is much bigger, and the balcony on the third floor rooms had a pole in the middle of the balcony, so if you're sitting out there with someone, there's a pole in the middle of you.

So if you can get a fourth floor room, uh, do it. The rooms are exactly the same. So that's just a little tip. One word of caution, though, about the hotel is that City Hall is literally right outside the hotel. That is what I was looking at when I was on my balcony, and it has a bell tower that rings every 15 minutes.

So it did not bother us. It didn't wake us up or anything like that. But if it, you are someone maybe who's a super light sleeper, uh, maybe that could be an issue for you. Also, [00:10:00] um, Tivoli, the theme park, amusement park, is right there, and that also has fireworks on some nights. We only heard them on the Saturday night.

Those can be loud as well, so just something that you should keep in mind., The hotel does have a breakfast buffet that you can pay for. We ultimately decided it wasn't worth the price for us. I think it was like, worked out to being 40-ish dollars Canadian each, and we both just, like, don't eat that much for breakfast.

Like, we don't eat meat really, and $40 worth of pancakes is difficult. So, um, we did not do that option. And I do wanna mention that the rooms do have a kettle with, um, instant coffee and some tea and sugar, and then there's a small fridge, which came in handy for us. Overall, for like for us, I think this hotel was a 10 out of 10, and I would stay there again for sure

Meggan: That's awesome That sounds like uh an amazing experience to me for [00:11:00] sure. The bell would've driven me insane. That's a really good piece of advice I would've probably jumped over the balcony. Um so that's r that's really good to know. That sounds like a really great experience Good for you Good I was I was very proud of your choice to upgrade. Of course I was on board with that when you texted me so good on you. So talk to us about what you did I know you got up to a lot so break it down for us

Jenn: Yeah. So I'm gonna go through this day by day to help give you an idea of, like, how much we did in one day, and if you're going, maybe an idea of how you might group things together. Of course, you can, uh, mix and match if you are planning your own trip. So on the first day, the day that we arrived in Copenhagen, we got out and about around 2:00 PM, and we were starving, of course.

So we headed to Sandwichpigen or Sandwich Girl in English. The [00:12:00] sandwiches were super good. They were on these, like, homemade baguette-type bread, uh, and it was, like, plenty of vegetables, and this was probably the first time I had some sticker shock of being in Copenhagen. Of course, like everyone says, that Copenhagen's expensive, and I'm going to touch on this later in the episode.

But, um, I have this thing set up on my credit card that every time I use my credit card, it pops up on my phone. Um, Meggan's like, "This is a horrible decision. Why would you do this?" So I immediately saw the conversion, which was horrific. Um, I did not like that. Anyway After we fueled up, we walked over to the National Museum of Denmark, which we explored for two hours.

Uh, there was a super interesting interactive Viking exhibit and lots of cool artifacts to see. I will say, we got there at 2:00 PM or, no, we got there at 3:00 PM, and it closes at 5:00. [00:13:00] So we literally got kicked out 'cause they were closing. But you need more time, like, to really see everything. So, um, if you're going and you like to spend some time in museums, I would plan for three hours or more, for sure.

We grabbed dinner at the Tivoli Food Hall, which was,, right across from the Copenhagen Central Station. Uh, really, also really close to our hotel. Honestly, I think we ate here, like, five times on our entire trip, uh, which was really good. And one thing to know is, like, it's called Tivoli Food Hall. I assumed that you needed a Tivoli ticket, like a, an amusement park ticket to go there, but you do not, which is so great, and it had, like, I don't know, probably, like, at least 15 different food vendors.

There was lots of options, lots of different, um, lots of different options. So [00:14:00] we grabbed dinner. That night we got a basket of fried food, basically. It was, like, sweet potato fries and, uh, and, like, onion rings and a bunch of fried stuff, uh, which, you know, sometimes you need on vacation. Anyway, we ended up sitting and people watching, and we discovered that Brad Paisley was playing in Tivoli that night, which explained why there were so many people walking around in cowboy hats and boots.

Like, we were so confused walking. We're like, "Is country music big here? What, what is happening?"

Meggan: That is hilarious Like can you just be I would be so co Like is Texas here Like why are we doing this? Like w what is happening So that's pretty I'm glad you figured it out cause that would've been a mystery that went for all time

Jenn: That was so funny. Um, all right, then we went to bed. So the next day, day two, we slept for nearly 12 hours, which I think is the longest that I've slept in quite some time, and then we headed out to explore. So we grabbed breakfast at a cafe called Buka, [00:15:00] which was super close to our hotel, and also was not our last visit here.

Um, we then walked over to the botanical gardens, which are free. We love a free activity. But you do need to pay if you want to enter the palm house or the butterfly house, which we did not do, so I cannot speak to what they are like. But we really enjoyed walking through the park here The next thing we did was Rosenborg Castle.

So we bought a Royal Palace Pass. It was 335 Danish krone, or about $75 a person. So Rosenborg is the only palace that you need to book a time slot for, and when you buy the pass, you have to visit Rosenborg Palace first, and then that, um, kicks off how, uh, like the timing of your palace pass. So, tickets do sell out for Rosenborg [00:16:00] Palace, so if you want to go, I would definitely book online in advance rather than just showing up at the gate and hoping you have time.

They were super strict about entering at the time on your ticket. Like, they made you stand outside until the minute that you were allowed to go in. So the castle is an early 17th century castle, where you can wander through the rooms. We like to admire the furniture and the paintings . On the second floor, you can explore the Great Hall and see there are these giant three silver lions that are like...

I don't know if they're quite life-sized silver lions, but they're pretty close to life-size. And they're made of silver and narwhal tusk. And then in the basement you can see the treasury which houses the crown, the crown jewels and other royal jewelry. So super fun. So then we walked over and had lu- lunch at a food market called Torvehallerne KBH.

[00:17:00] Not our last visit here. Also, I'm sorry if I butcher any of these Danish names. My Danish pronunciation got slightly better while I was in Copenhagen, but it's not even close to perfect. So after lunch, uh, which, uh, we really enjoyed there, we visited Christiansborg Palace. So this was part of our palace pass.

So the palace pass gives you three days to visit all three palaces. Um, because we started the pass on a Saturday, we only had two days because all of the palaces are closed on Mondays, so that's something to keep in mind that I messed up while I was booking our Rosenborg Palace . Uh, but anyway, y- it's definitely doable to do all three of them in two days as well.

So Christiansborg Palace, you can tour the royal reception rooms, which are still used today by the members of the royal family, and the library was a highlight for us. [00:18:00] It had an elevator to get to the second story of books. Like, it was so cool. It was like a Beauty and the Beast library.

Uh, and then at Christiansborg, you can go up the tower, which is the highest structure in Copenhagen, and we got super great views. We could see all the way to Sweden 'cause it was a super clear day. Uh, the tower is free. Like, even if you don't visit the palace, you can just, uh, go get in line to go up the tower.

But you do need to wait in line and then go through security before going up. We actually did the palace, went back to our hotel, realized that we forgot to do the tower, and then went back to go do the tower. But it all worked out. We finished the day by having dinner at Hidden Dim Sum, which was, I think, my favorite meal of the whole trip. Everything we had there was super delicious, although, of course, very expensive.

Meggan: I'm seeing that as a theme. So we liked it but it was [00:19:00] also very costly but I enjoyed that you were able to get some free things in. Do you think the 75 Canadian or or however it worked out in other currencies or whatnot but do you think for you coming from Canada 75 per person was uh worth it

Jenn: Yeah, I will... I'll talk about that when I talk about the third palace a little bit, but I don't think that $75 a person for three palace entrances is excessive. Like, I think that that's, um, pretty in line. I will say I pr- I- I'll, I'll, you know what? Pause, and I will come to this when I talk about it later, 'cause I do have some thoughts about the whole Copenhagen is, is expensive narrative.

Okay, so day three. We grabbed coffee and co- uh, breakfast pastries again at Buka. Um, someti- we, we do like to go back to places and, you know, part of me is like, "Well, you should [00:20:00] go try a new place." But this place was open, uh, earlier than a lot of other places, and we like to get out and explore, you know, fairly early.

And then when... You know, my husband has food allergies, and so when you find somewhere that's safe, it's also, you know, you just, you go back. So that's what we did. Anyway, this morning on day three we were meeting our walking tour guide at 9:30 AM, which was conveniently starting on the steps of City Hall, which we could see from our room, so that was great.

So we did the grand tour of Copenhagen with Copenhagen Free Walking Tours. Our guide, Jack, was originally from Northern Ireland, but he had been, uh, living in Copenhagen for several years. I think he said six years. So he knew the city pretty well. The tour was really, really great, and I ... Along the way, we learned that 50% of the Danish population is [00:21:00] single, of, like, the adult population is single.

And then also there's a tradition that if you are not married by 25, they tie you to a pole and throw cinnamon at you. And then if you're not married by 30, they throw bla- like, tie you to the pole again and throw black pepper at you. So that's something

Meggan: It it so like okay I don't I'm I'm at a loss for words for once I'm gonna say Um so like that's like a different version of the cinnamon challenge for sure

Jenn: Yes

Meggan: and then black pepper seems just rude A and then yet still half the population of adults is single so it's not scary enough that people are just doing it so they don't have to do that

Jenn: No. No, no, no. But, uh, yeah, if you're, uh, single and you want to mingle, head to, head to Denmark

Meggan: That's right That's right L okay that's the that's the best fun fact I think [00:22:00] I've heard Continue

Jenn: So after the tour, so the tour ended, um, in like a square. I forget what it was called. Anyway, it ended in a square, and we asked our guide, Jack, like, "Oh, how do we get into Amalienborg Palace?" Which was the third palace on our, palace pass. And he was like, "Do not bother to go to there. It is terrible." And we were like, "Well, we've already essentially paid for it. We're gonna go." So we go over, and it was definitely the least interesting of all of the palaces and places that we visited. If you have the palace pass, it's probably worth doing, otherwise I wouldn't bother. We saw, like, a couple of rooms. It is the palace where the royals actually live, so, like, most of it is not accessible to visitors, obviously. S- I, I don't, I have not done the math if the two, like, um, other palaces' price [00:23:00] would've made sense to just buy those separately and not buy the palace pass if you're not going to Amalienborg. So, uh, do your own math there and see if it's worth it.

Next we visited Marmorkirken, also known as Frederick's Church, or the Marble Church, which is a large, ornate Lutheran church. Uh, it was free, so worth visiting. Super beautiful in there. We sat down for, in the pews for a few minutes So the next place we went was down Nyhavn.

So I look at this word, it is N-Y-H-A-V-N. Of course, us English anglophones are gonna say Nyhavn, uh, but it's like "new" and "houn", so Nyhavn, uh, which is the street that, like, all of the promo tourist photos are from, like the colorful buildings on, uh, the water. , It's super, [00:24:00] super busy. A lot of restaurants which I'm sure are really expensive. And it's a really beautiful area, and I'm sad that we did not make it back there early in the morning when less people were around to, like, take some pictures, but, oh well, that's how life goes. So next, we walked across the bridge to go to Broens Street Market to grab some lunch. There was a lot of different booths, and it was really great, lots of options.

After a break in our hotel, we decided to walk to Assistens Kirkegård. Ryan and I both agreed that this was one of the highlights of our trip. It was such a beautiful, beautiful day, and we wandered through. It's like a park and cemetery. There were lots of families, lots of people just, like, laying on blankets, having a picnic, visiting with friends, playing with their kids. There were people drawing and [00:25:00] reading and, like, it was just... It was so, so great. Uh, l- just people enjoying the weather. So we visited the grave site of Hans Christian Andersen. We sat on a bench for a while and just enjoyed. And then we walked back and grabbed dinner at, uh, Tivoli Food Hall once again

Meggan: Christian Anderson so wrote Winnie the Pooh Am I right

Jenn: No, Hans Christian Andersen,

Meggan: things

Jenn: he, uh, wrote fairy tales, so, like, The Little Mermaid,

Meggan: Mmhmm

Jenn: the original fairy tale that, like, the Disney Frozen movie is based on.

Meggan: Okay

Jenn: yeah. So lots of, um, lots of disturbing, if you've ever read them, uh, fairy tales. Um, if, if someone's looking for a truly horrific fairy tale, I would read, The Little Match Girl, because that traumatized me as a child, so.

Meggan: Well I'm glad you saw his grave site then after he traumatized you. [00:26:00] Let's carry on to day four

Jenn: Yeah. So, uh, we had breakfast at Buka again. To be fair, we did have something different each time pastry wise, so, you know, that's something. Like I said, it was one of the only places around us that was open ear- or like a bakery that was open early. Anyway, today we took the train to Malmö, Sweden. So we walked over to Copenhagen Central Station and bought return tickets, which was 396 Danish krone for two people. Uh, or about 85 Canadian dollars. I will also note that for some reason, my usual credit card was not working at the ticket machines. It would just say wrong currency and not let me pay. So I had to use a different card, which was super weird 'cause that card worked literally everywhere else on the trip, uh, including the machine at the airport when we were going into the town or the city.

But just [00:27:00] a good reminder to have multiple credit card options because you literally never know when this could happen. Anywho, the ride, uh, train ride to Malmö is about 40 minutes. So we walked from Malmö Central Station to Stortorget Square, and then we walked through Malmö's old cemetery and then Kungsparken, which is the oldest park in Malmö.

And then we walked through Slottsträdgården, which is another large park behind Malmö Museum. So we were visiting on a Monday, and I thought that Malmö Castle and Museum was closed, but we were surprised to see that it was open when we were walking by. So we bought a ticket, and we went in, and it's really confusing when you go in, uh, 'cause it's like castle, aquarium, art museum is like all kind of one area, which is a weird, like, mix of [00:28:00] things a little bit. So first we did the aquarium 'cause that starts in the basement, and then a natural history museum, and then up, another upstairs to the art museum, and then to the castle. So a little confusing. After that, we, uh, walked to Lilla Torg, which is a historic market square. We had lunch in an Italian place called Café Pronto.

I will say this was a decision because we were extremely hungry and it was there. Uh, you know, probably touristy. The food was fine, but not amazing. But I will say food is much cheaper in Malmö compared to Copenhagen, so at least there's that. Uh, and then we went to St. Petri Cathedral, which is a beautiful Gothic style church, another free experience, and really beautiful.

And then we took the train back to Copenhagen I don't remember what we did for dinner that night 'cause we got back to [00:29:00] Copenhagen. I think we just had snacks. I think 'cause we had lunch at like 3:00 PM, and then we had some snacks at night

Meggan: Good old girl dinner amongst you and your hubby I love it

Jenn: Yes, yes. All right, so day five was, uh, in our plan as being a very restful day, and it was. But I will say that honestly our whole week was pretty restful. We didn't jam too much in, which was amazing. So anyway, we walked to, Torvehallerne KBH for breakfast. I got a waffle with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and a yogurt cream at Grød, and it was so, so good.

It was strawberry season in Copenhagen, which was amazing 'cause I was sad to be missing part of strawberry season here in Nova Scotia. Um, so after that we kind of wandered back to our hotel. We did a bit of shopping, and w- we relaxed for quite a while just, like, reading our books [00:30:00] and chilling and enjoying our balcony.

And then we walked over to Tivoli Gardens, which is the second oldest operating amusement park in the world, and the first oldest, or the oldest I guess you could say, is also in Denmark. So that's a fun fact. I bought tickets for Tivoli online in advance. Uh, we bought an entrance pass, entrance ticket that did not include access to any of the rides, because when I looked at the rides online, there really weren't many that I thought we would want to go on.

But of course, I couldn't go there and not ride any rides, so you can buy rides individually. , So we did go on Den Flyvende Kuffert, or the flying trunk. Which is a dark ride, uh, based on Hans Christian Andersen's stories. If you've ever been [00:31:00] to Disney World or Disneyland, uh, it's very similar to, like, a Peter Pan's flight or, like, a haunted mansion.

Like, you get in a, in a ride vehicle, just you and whoever you're with, uh, and it moves you through different scenes. Uh, and as a side note, one of the reasons I really wanted to go here was Walt Disney apparently visited Tivoli in 1951 and took a lot of inspiration for Disneyland. So, you know, little bit of a pilgrimage for us Disney people.

So I will say having the Tivoli app on your phone is really helpful if you want to buy rides because at the entrance to a ride you need to scan a QR code to get on if you don't have a ride bracelet. After that, we spent a lot of time walking around the park. It is super, super beautiful. There are flowers and gardens everywhere, lots and lots of restaurant options, lots of places, like, just to relax, like benches and chairs, which was really nice.

We watched [00:32:00] a show at the Pantomime Theatre, which is the oldest surviving building in the park. And the day that we visited was Sankt Hans Aften or St. John's Eve, which is a really big, uh, celebration in Copenhagen. It is celebrated on June 23rd every summer, so there were special events in the park for that.

It was super fun to see. We went to a singalong concert, which was all in Danish, of course, and of, you know, of course, we couldn't understand, but it was really fun to, like, watch and listen. And then we got our spots for a bonfire that happens on the lake. So a Danish archer named Lars Andersen shot a flaming or multiple flaming arrows at, like, a wooden structure that they had on the lake, and the Copenhagen Boys Choir performed traditional Danish songs, and it was really, really special to be part of something like this.

I don't think we've ever done anything like this when [00:33:00] we've traveled before, so it was really, really cool. Uh, there were bonfires and celebrations taking place ac- like, throughout Copenhagen, so those would've been cool to see as well, but we just happened to be booked to be at Tivoli that night. And the park was super beautiful after it got a bit darker and, like, all the lights came on and we wandered around for a while just taking pictures and enjoying. But it didn't get dark until super late in the evening, so that's how it is.

Meggan: Yeah, lots of time to enjoy when when the sun doesn't go down till late. And I'm glad you made your pilgrimage and I'm glad you enjoyed your experience I I assumed that had something to do with it so good for you and it sounds like it was lovely.

Jenn: Yeah yeah. It was, it was fun. I would... It's definitely worth it, I would say, even not going on any of the rides, just, like, walking around and enjoying. It's a really, really beautiful park.

So day six. So on this morning we went to St. [00:34:00] Peter's Bakery, which claims to be Copenhagen's oldest bakery. Uh, specifically, I really wanted to have a cardamom bun. They're traditionally Swedish, but you know, we were close. Anyway, uh, Ryan couldn't have the cardamom bun 'cause she, the, um, workers at the bakery told us that there was, uh, almonds in them. I didn't see any almonds, but that's what they told us. Anyway, Ryan got one of their cinnamon rolls, which we later learned is one of their most popular items, and they only sell them on Wednesdays, so like, what... you know, what a coincidence. Uh, they're known as Wednesday snails or onsdagssnegle. And Ryan said this is one of the best cinnamon rolls that he has ever had, and that is saying something, 'cause this man has had a lot of cinnamon rolls in his life, so Um, the bakery is super small, which with not much seating, so we took them to go and went and sat in a square while [00:35:00] we ate them.

And then we walked to the Little Mermaid statue, which is, like I said, about a 30-minute-ish walk from our hotel. The plan for this day was to get up super early and go do it, but I planned badly because, like I said, we were out late the night before at Tivoli. So that was my bad. Anyway, we got to the Little Mermaid statue.

I don't know what time, probably, like, I don't know, noon, maybe 11:00, and it was so busy. The Little Mermaid is right by the cruise ship port and, like, bus tours were there. It was a bit of a madhouse, and the statue is so, so small. Uh, so we got our picture, and then we got the heck out of there. So don't be like me and try...

I mean, try to get there early in the day. It's, it's really funny 'cause even, like, Danish people and people who live in Copenhagen kind of, like, make a [00:36:00] joke about how, like, small the statue is and how, like, underwhelming it is. But I don't know, I think it's still worth going to in a weird way. Uh, but I certainly won't judge you if you don't think it's worth it.

After that, we walked around Kastellet, or Citadel in English, uh, which is a fortress, and it is free to visit, but it is also an active military area, so just be mindful that people, like, live and work here. There were a lot of people just, like, wandering in the road like it was all, you know, for them to wander, but there are, like, cars driving down it

Uh, so yeah, just keep that in mind. Oh, we also visited a church there, um, right by... in that area. And, um, it was really, really great because there was someone working there when you walked in, and she'd ask you where you're from, and then she would give you a laminated piece of paper with information about the church, and they had, like, all kinds of different [00:37:00] languages. And it was just funny 'cause when we walked in she's like, "Where are you from?" And we said, "Canada," and she said, "Oh, do you want English or French?" Which was just, like, so thoughtful and lovely. Um, I can't remember what that church is called, but it's right by, um, Kastellet and the Little Mermaid.

So after a hotel break, we went to Rundetaarn, or the Round Tower, which is one of Copenhagen's most iconic buildings. So this tower was built in 1642 by Christian IV as an observatory. And to get to the top, you walk a spiral, uh, ramp, and then there's a very short and narrow staircase to get, uh, from the inside to the outside. Uh, our tour guide told us that Christian IV was lazy, and that's why it is a ramp instead of stairs.

But also you could walk, uh, horse and carriage up it, I think. So maybe that was the... I guess he was in the horse and carriage, and that took him up. [00:38:00] So, yeah, you can get some great views of the city, and normally you can visit the dome and the telescope, but it is under restoration this year. But it looks like it'll be open to the public in October this year, so 2026.

I can't remember how much this cost, but I think it was pretty reasonable. I wanna say, like, 11 Canadian dollars or something, so, uh, not that expensive, and, uh, pretty cool. We grabbed a super quick and cheap dinner at 7-Eleven, which I've never done before, but you know what? That's... It, it was food. It was edible. It did the trick, and, uh, it was not expensive, so there's that. Uh, we were also on a time crunch because we were taking a canal cruise tour with Stroma. So the cruise was really great, and it was super fun to see the city from the water. I'm gonna give you a tip, and it is to sit on the right-hand side of the boat, [00:39:00] uh, especially to see the Little Mermaid statue from the water.

And another tip to save a bit of money on this experience is to buy the tickets for the boat tour a few days ahead of time online. It's, like, 15 to 25% cheaper, and Monday to Thursday tours are cheaper as well. Also, be mindful of which departure, uh, point you choose 'cause there are two of them. They're not that far apart, but you still don't wanna mess it up.

the tour was about an hour long. We were honestly on the fence about doing a canal tour because we had a walking tour booked and a couple of other experiences booked. But the guy working passport control when we were coming into Copenhagen was like, "Well, you have to do it." Uh, and, uh, you know, no regrets.

It was a good tour. There are lots of options to see Copenhagen from the water. You can take the, the... What did I call it earlier? Like, the harbor bus, which is like a water, you know, boat taxi. [00:40:00] Um, so obviously you don't get the tour part of it, but you do get to see Copenhagen from the water. You can also rent your own boat and drive yourself down the canals and around.

Uh, you can rent a kayak, and then there's also an option, I ca- I'll have to find a link and put it in the show notes for you guys, but, uh, you can get a kayak and collect garbage, and then, uh, your kayak is free. Like, you get a free boat rental, by, you know, helping cl- keep their canals clean. So there's lots of options if you do wanna see the city from the water.

I, I think it's probably worth doing at least one of those. Maybe, you know, if, if you're, um, if you don't wanna spend a lot, you could do the, the free, like, uh, collect garbage or you can just take a water, taxi. So lots of options

Meggan: I'm glad you did the canal tour I really loved that in Amsterdam and I think it's a really relaxed way to see a city. Like walking tours I think are really good too and I do. But we also did a canal tour in Ottawa as [00:41:00] well and I just I don't know it's it's enjoyable to see stuff float by I I guess I don't I don't know why that appeals to me. But what also appeals to me cause I'm lazy is the ramp I really feel like Christian IV and I are like kin so I understand that I too am lazy so good for him.

Jenn: Love that. Yeah, um, yeah, that's a really funny, funny anecdote I guess. Um, so on to our last day. So a few weeks before our trip to Copenhagen, my best friend sent me a reel of a bakery called Kong Hans Klaeder, a hole-in-the-wall bakery. So this bakery is, like, below street level, and you literally, like, order by, like, bending down or crouching down, uh, to a window that's, like, on the ground and ringing a bell.

And then someone will come and, uh, get your order, coffee and pastries. And, and, uh, so yeah, that's what we [00:42:00] did. We, like, were Google Maps, like, trying to find it. I was really surprised that it wasn't super busy. Like, there was no lineup. There was nobody there. Maybe the secret's not out about this spot. It hasn't become super Instagram famous, TikTok famous yet.

But we got some chocolate croissants and a coffee. Super delicious, fun experience. The restaurant, Kong Hans Klaeder, is a two-Michelin-starred restaurant. Um, they serve classic French cuisine with contemporary Nordic influences, so it makes sense that these French pastries were amazing. , After that, we walked through Ørstedsparken and just, like, wandered around the park, around the lake that was in the park.

And then for lunch that day, we really wanted to try smørrebrød, which is a traditional open-faced sandwich in Denmark. It's usually, like, a dense buttered bread, like a whole grain type rye, [00:43:00] and then with toppings that can get super fancy and intricate. It was a real challenge finding a place that had vegetarian options.

Basically, all of them had meat or fish. Uh, we did find a vegetarian option at a booth in the Tivoli food market that had, like, potatoes and chives and fried onions and red onions and mayo. We loved the idea of it. Uh, we didn't think it was that great in reality, that particular, uh, those particular toppings.

Um, there was a lot of mayo on it. Like, it was, like, piped on with, like, a frosting piping bag type situation. It was a lot. But I do want to, like, experiment with it at home and maybe try making some veggie options on my own at home. So, uh, but if you're a, a meat eater, you're gonna have no problem. There's lots of places, uh, serving [00:44:00] smørrebrød.

Next we decided to do another free walking tour of a different area. Uh, so this time we met our guide to,, take a walking tour of Christianhavn. And our guide, Jacob, is from Denmark, and he took us by Christianborg Palace, uh, the old stock exchange building, which sadly they were, uh, restoring it, and it burned down.

So it's now being restored again, uh, and it will look like its former glory, but, uh, right now it's not much. , And then we walked over the bridge, uh, to the canal streets of Christianhavn, which is a man-made island, and he shared lots of history about the area. And then the tour ended right outside Christiania, uh, so we walked through there next.

So you might have heard of Freetown Christiania. It is an autonomous anarchist commune that was established in the 1970s in an old military area. The military [00:45:00] moved out, these people moved in, and, uh, they have not left. It's a really, really interesting area. It was super lively, lots of people, lots of music. There was, galleries and, and street art, and it was, uh, it was really cool. There are areas where photography is prohibited, so keep that in mind. I wish that we had taken a guided tour here specifically. I think it would have been super interesting to learn about this area from someone who lives there. Uh, just there's a lot of history there. So if I were going again, I would definitely book that. And then after we left Freetown Christiania, we walked by the Church of Our Savior, which is one of the, like, top things to do in Copenhagen. It's famous for its giant spiraling church, uh, bell tower. The church was sadly under scrim, and we visited too late, so we couldn't go in.

But the bell tower was still [00:46:00] open, uh, but we would have had to climb four hundred steps, and then the last stairs are outside, like, on the spiral part, three hundred and fifty feet in the air. And our guide had told us earlier that if it's windy, you can feel it moving, and I was like, "I'm out. Like, I'm, I don't wanna do that."

, So we skipped it. Um, we'd already had great views of the city from, from the two other spots that I mentioned, so, you know, this is on one of the, you know, what to do in Copenhagen lists, but we did skip it , so after that, we left the Christianshavn area and walked to Royal Library, which is also called the Black Diamond on the waterfront, and walked through there.

And then for dinner, we went to Mother Pizza at their city center location. And we had planned to go to their meatpacking district, uh, location, but there were no times available, and we had to be up a little bit early for our flight the next day. So we didn't make it to the meatpacking district area, which I was really sad about, but that's life. And then the next day I [00:47:00] flew home. So that was, uh, that was all we did

Meggan: Excellent So I guess leave us with some parting tips and thoughts on Copenhagen to wrap things up

Jenn: as I mentioned, I kept reading that Copenhagen's expensive, and it was, but it's mostly eating out, I think, that was expensive. And of course, the exchange rate doesn't help, but that's, you know, that's how life is. , Yeah, so visiting the bakeries in the morning for, like, two coffees or a latte and an Americano and two pastries, it would be, like, $40 Canadian.

So it's, you know, it is... It's not cheap. , But the grocery store was super reasonable. So if you book a place with a kitchen, you can definitely cut down on food costs if you cook yourself. Also, 7-Eleven, like I mentioned, pretty cheap, and they're, uh, you know, they're around. We, we saw quite a few of them.

And then there's also, hotdog stands, uh, [00:48:00] around, so those are another option. Another tip is to pack a water bottle, and water is not free at restaurants, even, like, still tap water, so keep that in mind. I also think that it feels expensive because there's not a ton of free things to do, especially compared to somewhere like the UK, where, like, most museums are free.

Like, you are paying in Copenhagen to go into museums and experiences. So, uh, that's something to keep in mind Uh, in terms of how we paid for things, I could not get Danish krone, , from my bank. So we decided to go without cash, and we actually didn't need cash at all. Even our walking tour guides, like for the tips at the end, they took a card payment, which was, uh, convenient.

Some places did charge more for a non-EU card, uh, even if you paid in Danish krone. So something to keep in mind. It was like [00:49:00] a, a s- pretty small charge, but still there nonetheless. I will say I don't think you need a full week to... you know, in Copenhagen specifically. , But we really enjoyed, like, taking it slow and having lots of downtime, like I said, which is not something that we normally do.

The city is super queer friendly. There's actually the oldest gay bar in the world there, which we did not make it to. , But it's, uh, it's there, and it looked super fun., The city is super clean and felt really safe, so good place for, um, solo travelers.

And I do wanna make a note about the weather. We visited mid to the end of June in 2026, which would normally have a temperature of like 20 to 22 degrees Celsius, or like 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and cooler at night, which that is the weather I packed for. But the weather we got was the European heat wave, so it was like 26 to nearly 30 degrees Celsius.

[00:50:00] It was hot. Uh, we didn't experience any rain except for a few drops on our second day. It was lovely blue skies. There were lots of locals out swimming and jumping into, uh, the water, uh, and enjoying the weather, which, was really great to see

Meggan: Excellent I think those are all super good tips You can only pack for what you know so how could you know there was gonna be a heatwave.

But that all makes a lot of sense. I love that it's queer friendly um love that it feels safe. Like those things are are really amazing. So thank you so much for sharing such great insights on your trip to Copenhagen. Sounds like an amazing time and I think it's gonna give others going there a lot to consider and also to look forward to and bits and pieces on how to plan their trip as well. Um Jenn's gonna be of course sharing some pictures on our social media so be sure to check those out and DM us if you have any questions. We'd love to hear from you directly. If Jenn didn't cover something or if you want more information from her please reach out. In the meantime you can find us on [00:51:00] Instagram Facebook and YouTube at Travel Mug Podcast our website travelmugpodcast.com And if you like what we're doing here you can support the show by leaving us a review or buying us a coffee The link is in the show notes until next time safe travels and don't forget your travel mug Bye everyone