Spring Break in Copenhagen

Recently on Instagram I shared our top five Spring Break trips and it occurred to me that I'm still yet to share our number one trip here on the blog.

I mean, it was only almost six years ago so I'm pretty much right on track based on my posting schedule. I'll get caught up one day!

So where did we go for our number one Spring Break trip ever? Copenhagen, Denmark! You probably saw that in the post title, right? 

As a city girl who loves nothing more than exploring urban, historical and cultural sites with plenty of good food, art and shopping thrown in, Copenhagen was a dream destination. In fact, it was a destination that I'd been dreaming of visiting for decades. That said, planning a trip to Denmark wasn't really on my immediate radar until I saw a particular ad pop up in my Facebook feed in January 2017. It was an SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) ad for a kids fly free promotion. I clicked the link not expecting much, but lo and behold this fantastic deal covered all three of our kids (we just had to pay their taxes/fees) and the dates just happened to line up perfectly with our upcoming Spring Break. How could I resist? My only conundrum was which destination to choose for the deal: Copenhagen, Oslo or Stockholm. All three cities have been on my bucket list since I was a kid (growing up with a Finnish best friend meant that I was a little obsessed with Scandinavia from a young age) so it was a tough choice, but ultimately I decided that Copenhagen would be it. 

And what an amazing destination it turned out to be!

I mean, just look at the photos below. Such a beautiful city.

Don't these pictures just make you want to visit Copenhagen? It really does feel like a fairytale come to life - with a good dose of Scandinavian mid century modern design thrown in! 

Read on to learn about my favorite things to so, see and eat in Copenhagen.

As with most of my travel posts, this is a long one so grab yourself a cup of tea and make yourself comfy! 

Walk around the city and take in the views

Getting out and about to explore the neighborhood on foot is always one of my favorite things to do when we visit a new city (or even favorite cities that we've visited many times before). It's a great way to take in the sights and sounds of the city, find great places to eat and take in a little of the local culture. Copenhagen is a very walkable city and with so much beautiful architecture and history there's always something to see. Copenhagen is home to many different architectural styles and there are a lot of colorful buildings. The sidewalks are often cobbled or paved, so make sure to keep that in mind if you're traveling with a stroller. Expect to do a lot of walking in Copenhagen so make sure to wear comfy shoes!

Take a stroll along Nyhavn

The colorful buildings that line Nyhavn are one of the most iconic sights in Copenhagen. This area draws in the biggest tourist crowds, so you can expect it to be pretty busy at all times, but it's busy for a good reason. I mean, look at how picture perfect it is! As you can probably guess, the cafes along Nyhavn tend to be a little pricier than in other places, but it's such an iconic spot that I feel it's worth the splurge for at least one meal along the waterfront. Nyhavn is the starting and ending point for most of the canal boat tours.

See Copenhagen from the water on a canal boat tour

A canal boat tour is a must when visiting Copenhagen. It's a great way to see the city from a different perspective and many of them will take you to places you otherwise wouldn't see. Our boat tour took us along the canals in the city starting in Nyhavn. We went out into the harbour, past the modern opera house, the iconic Little Mermaid statue and maritime museums with old ships and a submarine. We opted to sit outside for the best views, but I won't lie - it did get pretty windy and chilly. If you plan to sit outside make sure to dress warmly! The canal boats are long and low so they easily glide under the many bridges crossing the canals, but even so there were a few where we had to make sure we stayed seated as there wasn't an awful lot of clearance under the bridge. The kids thought those were pretty fun! 

See how the royals lived at Rosenborg Castle

Who loves visiting castles? Me! One of the things that has always fascinated me the most when visiting Europe is the castles. If you're a fan of castles too, then you're in luck as Copenhagen is home to six! There are three castles/palaces within the city proper (Rosenborg Castle, Amalienborg Palace and Christiansborg Palace), and three in the surrounding neighborhoods (Kronborg Castle, Frederiksborg Castle and Hermitage Palace). With so many castles to choose from it was tough deciding which one to go to in our limited time, but we ended going with Rosenborg Castle. Rosenborg is a Renaissance castle built between 1606 and 1634 for Christian IV. It was used as a royal residence until the early 18th century when and then opened to the public as a museum in 1838. The opulent interior is filled with historical pieces including crown jewels, furniture and artwork, as well as its fair share of quirky touches such as odd paintings (hello drinkers peering from below) and a mirrored bedroom. The expansive grounds are lovely and I can only imagine how beautiful they must look in warmer months when the trees are green again.

Walk the spiral ramp to the top of the Round Tower

Right in the heart of Copenhagen you'll find the 17th century Round Tower. Built in 1648, this Renaissance building is home to Trinity Church, a library hall, a planetarium, and observatory, but it's most interesting feature is the ramp that winds itself seven and a half times around the the hollow central core of the tower to the top. As you walk up the ramp you'll find arched alcoves (perfect for little hiding spots for kids) and windows with views over the streets below. From the very top the views over Copenhagen are stunning - but it does get very windy!  

Make some animal friends at Copenhagen Zoo

When we travel I always like to make sure that we throw in a couple of activities that are a little more kid focused. While my girls were fascinated with the castles and historic buildings of Copenhagen, I knew that they would appreciate a day off from the history lessons, so we spent a day making new animal friends at Copenhagen Zoo. Copenhagen Zoo is located in Frederiksberg Have just outside of Copenhagen. Frederiksberg Have is also home to Frederiksberg Palace and the gorgeous 18th century gardens of the palace, so there's a lot on offer in this one location. The kids were excited to see hippos, giraffes, red pandas, tigers, penguins (mind the short fence!) and so much more. The zoo features lots of fun animal sculptures that the kids loved to climb on as well as a great playground. There's an observation tower and plenty of places to eat. We were excited to eat red hotdogs here just like the ones we have back home in Australia that don't seem to exist in the US. Right outside the zoo we visited Hansens Gamle Familiehave for dinner. This is one of the oldest family restaurants in Copenhagen serving traditional Danish style meals. If you're wanting to try traditional Danish food in a kid friendly environment this is a great spot. 

Explore Danish design at the Designmuseum Danmark

This one was definitely more for me than anyone else, but it ended up being a destination that the whole family enjoyed. If you're a fan of modern Danish design, the Designmuseum Danmark is a must see. Housed in an 18th century Rococo style building, this museum features classic Danish designs including furniture, posters, architecture, industrial design, packaging, and so much more. There are plenty of interactive displays to keep kids entertained as well as a studio offering seasonal craft workshops for families. We visited in the lead up to Easter so the girls created an Easter egg craft. 

The museum has a fantastic gift shop, a cafe and an outdoor area where kids can burn off energy from those cafe sweets! 

Meet the Little Mermaid

One of Copenhagen's most famous residents can be found perched on a rock along the shore of the harbor right by the Kastellet fortress. You may know her as Ariel in the Disney movies, but Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid didn't actually have a name in the original story. She was simply the Little Mermaid, or Den Lille Havfreu. Our canal boat tour that I mentioned earlier took us by the Little Mermaid, but we were keen to see her up close so we hopped on a city bus and made our way to the waterfront. We actually could've walked to the Little Mermaid (it's only about a 30 minute walk from the Round Tower) but I had dislocated my shoulder earlier that day and was in quite a bit of pain so we took the bus instead. The statue is quite tiny, but you'll know when you've found it because there will be big crowds. There are plenty of rocks nearby for posing on - or for jumping across in my kids' case. You know one of them fell in, right? Lola slipped off a rock and fell into the icy cold water. We must've looked quite the sight with Lola soaking wet, Kim with his arm in a cast (he broke his wrist shortly before our trip) and me clutching my dislocated shoulder! Anyway, the Little Mermaid is a must see while in Copenhagen. Make sure to check out the nearby Kastellet while you're in the area - unless one of your kids falls in the water and you have to rush back to your accommodation for new clothes!

Spend a fun day at Tivoli Gardens

This was probably the kids' favorite day out of our entire trip! We're generally not amusement park people, but our visit to Copenhagen happened to line up with the re-opening of Tivoli Gardens after their annual Winter closure. We had walked past the entrance of Tivoli Gardens pretty much every day of our trip and the girls were intrigued by what was inside. The re-opening day just happened to coincide with our last full day in Copenhagen so we decided what better place to end our week. If you're like me and not too fussed about visiting amusement parks, this is the place for you. It's on a much smaller scale than similar parks you'd find in the US and it's filled with classic rides, beautiful gardens (Spring was out in full force here!) and so much history. Tivoli Gardens opened in 1843 making it the third oldest amusement park in the whole world. I've shared our visit Tivoli Gardens on the blog before and you can find that in depth post here. We ended up staying at Tivoli Gardens for the entire day, only leaving when it closing time. There's a good mix of rides and attractions here for kids of all ages as well as lots of great places to eat. 

Make time for down time in a park or playground

For me, it's always important to schedule in a little down time when traveling. This can look different depending on where we are, but usually involves visiting a playground or park where us adults can sit and relax while the kids burn off some energy - because you know they always have a lot of energy no matter how much sightseeing we've done! Copenhagen is home to many parks and public gardens so finding a green space to spend a little time is pretty easy. Just take a look at Google maps and you'll find a lot of green spots. Playgrounds are a little trickier to find, but we found a few nestled in residential neighborhoods. One park that we spent some time relaxing in was University Gardens in Frederiksberg. This lush park is filled with grassy areas for picnicking and playing, paths for strolling and plenty of seating. Spring was in full bloom here with tulips and daffodils all over. Another day we found ourselves walking along a small body of water with geese and swans. The kids would've happily skipped rocks and watched the birds for hours. We didn't stop quite that long, but it was nice to take a little break and enjoy some nature. We also found a little playground nearby our AirBnB that the kids enjoyed playing in. Even if it's just a half hour stop to play on swings or run around in a park I find it makes a huge difference to our day.

Take a bike ride around the city

Copenhagen has a lot of bikes. And I mean a lot! One thing you'll notice here is that there are way more bikes on the roads than there are cars. I mean, just look at that pic below with just two cars and eleven bikes stopped at a traffic light. With such an emphasis on biking as a form of transportation Copenhagen is a pretty safe city to ride around. This means that even if you haven't ridden a bike in a really long time you'll likely feel pretty comfortable biking here. Drivers are pretty good about sharing the road with cyclists, which is definitely not true in many American and Australian cities. Plus there are plenty of family friendly bike options, like the classic Christiania cargo bikes, so if you're visiting with kids that are too little to peddle themselves you can still easily get around by bike. We mostly stuck with walking, but we rented bikes one day and it was such a fun way to get around the city. Kim rode a Christiania bike with Lola and Mathilde in the front while Ava and I rode regular bikes. Because Copenhagen is such a bike friendly city you'll generally have no problems finding somewhere to park your bike when you're out and about. Locking up bikes does not seem to be common so no need to worry if you can't find something to lock your bikes against. Make sure to read my "Good to know" tips at the bottom of this post for the Danish left turn bike rules.

Check out statues, fountains and public art

Like most European cities, Copenhagen is full of statues, fountains, gargoyles and plenty of quirky design touches. Grand statues of historical and mythical figures. Ornate fountains dotting the city squares. Gargoyles clinging to the roof tops of buildings. There's always something interesting to see if only you look for it. Sometimes these features are right there, like the towering statues, but sometimes you need to change your perspective a little. Look down and you'll find ornate sewer covers engraved with city crests. Look up and you'll spot murals on the sides of buildings or maybe even a unicorn head on a pharmacy. That one was a fun surprise! All these little touches help make Copenhagen such a beautiful city and we really enjoyed keeping an eye out for them (and interacting with some of them) as we walked around.    

Eat, eat, eat!

Copenhagen is a great place for eating out! It's a pretty international city when it comes to cuisine so we ate a fairly mixed variety of foods when we were there (going to Wagamama for noodles was a big hit with the kids) but we also made sure to try some Danish foods. We visited a small café where we ate the classic open faced Smørrebrød sandwiches, we dined at a traditional family style restaurant, and the kids were excited to find classic red hotdogs. Our favorite Danish discovery was a type of marshmallow fluff served on top of ice cream. We pretty much ate this every day - thanks to there being a delicious chocolate and ice cream store across the street from our AirBnB! Because we had a kitchen in our AirBnB we also went grocery shopping a couple of times. Supermarkets are always a fun place to visit when in a new country. I love seeing all the different product names and the packaging. We found a few interesting products that required impromptu supermarket photo shoots (Kim chips and Obama beer, for example) but our best find was a brand of chocolate milk called Matilde. We never find products with Mathilde's name on them (there are plenty of Ava and Lola products and stores out there) so she was very excited when we found this milk. The spelling wasn't quite the same, but it was close enough that Mathilde decided it was her milk. She even thought the little girl on the label was her! We brought home empty Matilde milk bottles in our luggage so she could continue drinking out of them after our trip.

Go Shopping

We generally don't do an awful lot of shopping when we travel apart from buying Christmas ornaments and fridge magnets as souvenirs as well as the kids buying something little for themselves, but on this trip I just knew I had to bring home a little Danish design for myself. If you're a fan of mid-century modern design then Denmark is a shopping dream come true! I splurged on Kristian Vedel wooden birds at the Designmuseum Danmark, shopped for classic Danish styles for me at Samsoe Samsoe and Danefae for the kids, and the kids stocked up Plus Plus blocks which they were able to buy by weight and color. as well as Lego.

  

Where to stay

During our time in Copenhagen we actually stayed just outside of the city proper in Frederiksberg. This was a great location because it was fairly close to everything (just a twenty minute walk to Tivoli Gardens and the main train station in one direction, and twenty minutes to Copenhagen Zoo in the other) and it was substantially cheaper than staying somewhere more tourist oriented. Walking along the streets of Frederiksberg into Copenhagen gave us a chance to experience a bit of every day life. There were also regular buses for when we chose not to walk. We stayed in an AirBnB which gave us the option to eat some meals at home to save money. We generally ate out for lunch and dinner, but we always ate breakfast at "home" before heading out and there were a few times we got back early and hit up the local supermarket for dinner supplies.  

Handy tips for visiting Copenhagen

Money

Denmark is considered a pretty expensive country, and it is on the pricier side when it comes to many things, but I have to be honest and say that it wasn't anywhere near as expensive as I had imagined before we visited. Sure, somethings were a little pricier than they are in the US, but it was substantially cheaper than Australia for pretty much everything. Grocery shopping was pretty much on par with the prices we were used to in California and while eating out was a little pricey, this really depended on the location. When we strolled away from the more touristy areas the prices were only a little higher than the US, but much cheaper than eating out in Australia. One thing that makes everything SEEM expensive in Denmark is the Danish Kroner. At the time of writing (and also during our trip) the exchange rate was about US$1 to DKK7. Which means that a latte looks crazy expensive at DKK35 but it's actually only US$5.  Those big numbers can be pretty deceiving but when you factor in the exchange rate the prices really aren't that bad. In fact, I found that entry to tourist attractions was a lot cheaper in Denmark than most other places we've visited. For example, Tivoli Gardens costs around US$65 for adults which is a lot cheaper than entry to Disneyland. Rosenborg Castle and the Designmuseum are both under US$20 for adults with free or heavily discounted entry for children.     

Credit Cards

Ok, this was an odd one that may not be an issue now that the US is finally catching up with Europe when it comes to credit card technology, but we ran into a few issues using our American credit cards. Despite having chips, our American credit cards required a signature in order for the transaction to go through. Signing for credit card transactions is a thing of the past in Denmark - and many other countries. In fact, when this first happened in a supermarket none of the staff even knew that this had been a thing in the past! Not even the supermarket manager could work out how to process a signature so we switched to using our Australian credit card after that. Obviously this is not an option for most American tourists, so just keep in mind that if your credit card doesn't have a tap option you may run into some problems.  

Getting around

As I've mentioned a few times above, we mostly explored Copenhagen on foot. It's an incredibly walkable city and walking is a great way to take in the sights. Biking is another great way to get around Copenhagen and there are plenty of bike rental stores to be found. Cargo bikes are common and are a great way to carry kids and shopping. The city bus system is fantastic with regular buses servicing pretty much anywhere you'd want to go. We downloaded the DOT Ticket app and used this for our bus passes. This app can also be used for train travel which is handy for day trips.  

Cobblestones vs strollers

As is the case in many European cities, Copenhagen has many sidewalks and roads that are paved with cobblestones or otherwise bumpy pavers. If you're traveling with young children and will be bringing a stroller this is definitely something to keep in mind. We used a McLaren umbrella stroller for when Mathilde's little legs were tired (she was almost 3 at the time) but with its tiny wheels it was a pretty bumpy ride. For an older toddler this wasn't so bad (in fact, Mathilde thought all the bumps were funny) but if you're traveling with a baby or a younger toddler that still naps you may want to consider bring a stroller with larger wheels. I noticed that most locals seemed to have jogger style strollers with larger wheels. 

Bikes - left hand turns

I mentioned above that there is a special rule for making left hand turns while bike riding in Copenhagen. Even though it adds a little extra time to your ride, I actually really like this rule as it makes the road much safer for everyone. No trying to get across lanes of moving traffic. Instead of getting into the left lane to turn left at traffic lights, bikes stay on the right, crossing through the intersection on green and stopping on the other side. Riders are required to hold their arm up to indicate to traffic that they will be stopping on the other side of the intersection. They then join the traffic on the perpendicular road to complete the turn. Think of it is being the same as crossing two ways as a pedestrian.    

Language

Danish is the language of Denmark and obviously everything is in Danish. We generally encountered English speaking service staff in stores, cafes and attractions but we made sure to learn a few simple words and phrases in Danish as well. This is something I always make sure to do when visiting non-English speaking countries. One thing I did notice, is that even at highly touristed places, signage was often only in Danish. This was also true of menus at many places we visited. As someone who speaks German, I found there were enough similarities that I was able to get the general gist of most Danish signs and menus I read, but Google Translate would definitely come in handy here. The kids didn't let everything being in Danish stop them from completing word searches and crosswords on kid's menus!

Electricity

If you're traveling to Denmark from the US make sure to check that all electrical items you pack are dual voltage 110/220. Computer equipment, and phone/camera chargers are generally dual voltage, but not all hair dryers and straightening irons etc are (or they may require a change in settings) so make sure to check this first. The standard European Type C adapter should work in most power sockets. I just had to include a picture here of the Danish power sockets because they look like an adorable little smiling face!