Copenhagen

Introduction

Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen... This cosmopolitan city has been the capital of Denmark for 600 years and is also the largest city in Scandinavia, but it hasn't let these high-ranking geopolitical facts go to its head. The city maintains a refreshingly low-level approach to the modernisation of its historic skyline and Copenhageners continue to live up to their reputation as tolerant, fun-loving folk.

No matter what your interests, Copenhagen has a whole lot of sightseeing and entertainment on offer; historic or modern, gay or straight, sleek shops or cosy cafes - and it's all right in the heart of the city, presented with typical Scandinavian assurance and flair.

Orientation

Copenhagen sits on the east coast of Denmark's largest island, Zealand. A prominent point of orientation in the city is the main rail station, Central Station, which is bordered to the west by the primary hotel precinct and to the northeast by the longstanding entertainment attraction of Tivoli. Just north of Tivoli is Rådhuspladsen, the central city square and the main terminus for the local bus network. To the east is the city's waterfront, including the canal-riddled district of Christianshavn.

Just about every capital city attempts to claim the world's biggest/longest/tallest something-or-other to increase its international stature - for Copenhagen, it's the longest pedestrian mall on earth. The mall, Strøget, is an amalgamation of five streets - Frederiksberggade, Nygade, Vimmelskaftet, Amagertorv and Østergade - and runs right through the centre of the city between Rådhuspladsen and Kongens Nytorv, the square at the head of the Nyhavn canal.

When to Go

Copenhagen enjoys a consistently mild climate for most of the year, with average temperatures usually in the range of 9°C (48°F) to 15°C (59°F); though, in winter the shorter daylight hours, the cold and the seasonal closure of many of the city's tourist attractions combine to dull the glow on travellers' cheeks. From May to June, green is the predominant colour of Copenhagen's rural surrounds, temperatures are nice and warm, and the peak tourist season is still a month away, making this an ideal time to visit. Nonetheless, the peak season of July/August is a great time to be in Copenhagen - open-air concerts, music festivals, lots of street activity and longer hours at sightseeing attractions make it worth braving the crowds. Unfortunately, rain and grey skies will be your faithful companions in Copenhagen, since precipitation is spread fairly evenly throughout the year.

Events

The Night Film Festival takes place over 10 days in March, and features around 140 international films in their original languages. The three-day Copenhagen Carnival is held over the Whitsunday weekend (usually late May), filling the streets of the city centre with parades, samba dancing and other organised festivities. Beach bonfires are lit up all around the country on Midsummer Eve (23 June), while those who enjoy a good flaring of the nostrils should head for Klampenborg just to the north of Copenhagen for Denmark's most important horse race, the Danish Derby. The Copenhagen Jazz Festival gets toes a-tappin' over 10 days in early July, but if chamber or classical music is more your thang, hang out for the Summer Festival later that month.

In late August and early September the Danish capital plays host to the Golden Days Festival, with art exhibits, poetry readings and theatre focusing on Denmark's 'Golden Age' (1800-50). Christmas is a big celebratory deal around the country and it'll be hard to escape the numerous feel-good community fairs no matter where you are.

Public Holidays
1 January - New Year's Day
Thursday before Easter - Maundy Thursday
Friday before Easter - Good Friday
Sunday in March/April - Easter Day
day after Easter - Easter Monday
fourth Friday after Easter - Common Prayer Day
sixth Thursday after Easter - Ascension Day
seventh Sunday after Easter - Whitsunday
eight Monday after Easter - Whitmonday
5 June - Constitution Day
24 December - Christmas Eve
25 DEcember - Christmas Day
26 December - Boxing Day

Attractions

Funsters will want to head to Tivoli, the popular amusement park-cum-flower garden in the heart of the city. The famed park has been operating for over 150 years and so has had plenty of time to figure out how to best cater to the hordes of tourists and locals, many trailing enthusiastic youngsters, who flock there between mid-April and late-September each year. There are all the usual fun-park attractions, such as a roller coaster, Ferris wheel, open-air performances, carnival games and food pavilions. For the more cultured fun-loving palates, there are also traditional folk dances and a large concert hall hosting international symphony orchestras and ballet troupes. Tivoli also opens up for a few weeks prior to Christmas for holiday festivities, a seasonal market and ice-skating on the lake.

When you've had all the gee-whiz, whoop-it-up, wallet-emptying festivities you can stomach, stagger out to the northern corner of the Tivoli compound and proceed in a calmer consumer-oriented manner up the world's longest pedestrian mall, Strøget. Strøget is a long chain of five streets that is replete with shops and eateries, as well as a myriad of entertainment options, including street theatre.

Copenhagen has a number of world-class museums on offer. One of the must-sees for anyone who wants a comprehensive grounding in Danish history and culture is the Nationalmuseet (National Museum), sandwiched between Tivoli and Slotsholmen. True to its name, the Nationalmuseet has the biggest collection of Danish historical artefacts in the country, dating from the Upper Palaeolithic period (everyone's favourite) to the mid-19th century. Highlights include the Sun Chariot, which is over 3500 years old, and an exhibition of 3000-year-old bronze lurs.

The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, also near Tivoli, was built at the end of the 19th century by beer baron Carl Jacobsen in between frothy drinks. It houses mainly Greek, Egyptian, Etruscan and Roman art and sculpture, and is notable ambience-wise for the glass-domed, palm tree-studded conservatory at its centre. The museum grew a new wing several years ago where you can see paintings by some painters you may have heard of, like Gauguin, Renoir, Monet and Degas. From October to March, you (and the Roman patricians of the gallery) can enjoy free chamber music at the museum's concert hall.

Perched on the edge of Kongens Have (King's Gardens) is the Dutch Renaissance-style Rosenborg Slot, built by a stressed King Christian IV in the 17th century as a relaxing, cosy summer retreat. Nowadays, its main claim to fame is that it's the storehouse for the Danish royal jewels and other assorted treasures, all of which are laid out on the lower level for your viewing pleasure. Visitors who haven't been permanently blinded by the wealth flashing off Christian III's sword, Christian IV's crown or Queen Margrethe II's costume jewellery can make their way upstairs to two dozen rooms, each furnished according to the era and tastes of a particular Danish monarch - the royal interior-decorating show begins with Christian IV and ends with Frederik VII, the last monarch to rule before Denmark's democratic constitution was enacted in the mid-19th century.

It's no Manhattan, but the small island of Slotsholmen in the city centre, connected to the rest of Copenhagen by a number of small bridges, is still significant in that it's the place that Denmark's national government calls home. Though the castaways who inhabit the island are predominantly politicians and government bureaucrats, Slotsholmen also attracts large numbers of visitors who come to check out its centrepiece, the palatial (literally) government offices of Christiansborg Slot. The original Christiansborg palace was constructed in the 1730s to replace the pokey Copenhagen Castle and several buildings, namely the royal stables and edifices surrounding the main courtyard, date from this time.

Christiansborg Slot serves up a few interesting sights within its walls. Folketinget, the parliamentary chamber, can be toured on Sunday year-round, as well as on weekdays over summer, and this includes a peek at Wanderer's Hall which contains the original copy of Denmark's Constitution. For sheer Renaissance grandness, De Kongelige Repræsentationslokaler (the Royal Reception Chambers) won't disappoint - it's where royal banquets are scoffed and heads of state entertained. Underneath the palace are the excavated ruins of two earlier castles, including Bishop Absalom's original 1167 effort.

To the north of stroll-worthy Strøget is Copenhagen's Latin Quarter, surrounding the old campus of Copenhagen University and brimming with pedestrians, cafes and bookshops. Kultorvet, a plaza just to the north of the Latin Quarter, is particularly busy during summer, when its beer gardens and produce stalls are well attended, and when buskers will endeavour to win your patronage. Directly opposite the university grounds is Vor Frue Kirke, the city's striking neoclassical cathedral which was originally built in the late 12th century and then rebuilt three times after succumbing to various pesky fires. The interior is decorated with sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen's acclaimed statues of Christ and the 12 apostles.

Good views of the city's rooftops are available from the summit of the Rundetårn (Round Tower), a 35m-high (115ft-high) pile of bricks a few blocks east of the Latin Quarter. The Rundetårn was erected as an observatory in 1642 and is still used by amateur astronomers in the wintertime, qualifying it as the oldest functioning observatory in Europe.

Christianshavn is a self-contained area floating on Copenhagen's eastern fringe, originally established in the 17th century as a centre of commerce and a strategic extra chunk of land between the Danish capital and unfriendly visitors from continental Europe. This canal-punctured district now has an eclectic residential mix of artists and yuppies, and hence pretensions to one day grow up and be Amsterdam. One of the highlights of Christianshavn is Vor Frelsers Kirke (Our Saviour's Church), topped by a 95m (311ft), 400-step spiral steeple which affords breathtaking views over the city. The grand interior of the church includes an ornate baroque altar and an elaborately carved pipe organ. In Christianshaven's north is the Orlogmuseet (Royal Danish Naval Museum), where you can see over 300 model ships and naval knick-knacks from the last couple of centuries.

On the eastern side of the district is the self-labelled 'progressive' community of Christiania. Christiania started life as a military camp before being abandoned and taken over in 1971 by ambitious squatters who proclaimed their own 'free state'. Though it never achieved full independence and wrestled for a while with the inevitable consequences of unrestricted hard-drug use, Christiania still enjoys status as a rent- and tax-free enclave and a lively, arts-soaked environment. You can stroll or cycle through the area (cars aren't allowed) and check out the local craft market or organic-food eateries - informative guided tours are offered daily throughout summer.

Off the Beaten Track

People who visit Hillerød, 40km (25mi) north-west of Copenhagen, don't really go there to visit Hillerød - they go there to see the magnificent castle around which the small town is centred: Frederiksborg Slot. This Dutch Renaissance castle looks spectacular enough from the outside - spread as it is over several small islets on a lake called Slotsø - but the interior of this former fortress and now national museum is no let-down either, with over 70 publicly accessible rooms boasting gilded ceilings, full-wall tapestries, paintings and antiques. Particularly impressive are the Riddershalen (Knights Hall) and the Slotskirken (Coronation Chapel), the latter being where Danish monarchs received their extravagant new head-gear between 1671 and 1840.

To the south of Zealand is the small island of Møn, a lowly populated and slow-paced chunk of Denmark with some nice beaches, a couple of medieval churches and, on the east coast, the striking chalk-white cliffs of Møns Klint. One of the most spectacular sights in Denmark, Møns Klint was created 5000 years ago when Mother Nature unapologetically burped large calcareous deposits - accumulated via a stockpile of seashells - up from the ocean floor. The resulting 128m (420ft) white cliffs make a captivating seaside sight and are also of scientific interest as they contain fossils from the Cretaceous period.

Most visitors to Mons Klint limit their hiking efforts to the half-hour it takes to walk from the clifftop down to the beach and back again. However, those who find this unsatisfying can also take to the Klinteskoven (Klinte Forest) that stretches several kilometres inland from the cliffs. Numerous paths and horse trails wind their way through this forest, leading by turn to lakes, marshes and ancient barrows. One of the more interesting tracks heads a kilometre (0.6mi) west of the main visitor area to Timmesø Bjerg, site of a 1000-year-old ruined castle.

There are four Viking ring fortresses in Denmark, but Viking ring fortress purists will find that Trelleborg, which is situated 7km (4.3mi) west of the town of Slagelse in Southern Zealand, is the best preserved of all of them. Features of the site include a detailed reconstruction of a Viking house where you can imagine warriors feasting, sleeping and discussing hair-plaiting techniques, a museum containing pottery and other domestic items that have been excavated from the site and burial mounds up on the circular grassy rampart.

Activities

Despite its northern locale, Copenhagen's abundance of water means windsurfing, sailing, canoeing and swimming are all popular and easy to participate in. Beachy types with antifreeze in their veins might want to try Amager Strandpark, a popular spot on the shoreline to the city's south - it's only a short jet blast from the international airport, though, so don't expect to hear only the sounds the sea. Other beaches include Sydstranden, also in Amager but a little further south from Strandpark, and Charlottenlund and Klampenborg to the north of downtown. A number of urban swimming pools and saunas are also open to the public.

Cycling in Copenhagen is incredibly popular - and dead easy; there are excellent cycling lanes and paths, lots of bicycle racks and the city's as flat as a pancake. Green, clean Copenhagen is also a good city for a long stroll, particularly along the main north-south thoroughfare of Øster Voldgade, which is lined with a number of pleasant gardens. The botanical highlights include Kongens Have (King's Gardens), Botanisk Have (Botanical Garden) and Ørstedsparken. There are also plenty of places to play golf, badminton and squash, and to ice skate.

History

In the centre of Copenhagen is a small, canal-encircled island called Slotsholmen, which serves as Denmark's governmental seat. It was here in 1167 that Bishop Absalom constructed a small fortress within a harbourside village to try and stifle regular raids by the German Wends on the east coast of Zealand, thereby laying the foundations for the future capital of Denmark. The fortress inflated the village's sense of self-worth, causing it to grow significantly and to adopt the name Kømandshavn (Merchant's Port) - the moniker was eventually shortened to København.

The fortifications built by the bishop were destroyed during an attack on the town by ransackers from northern Germany in 1369 and work on a new defensive structure, Copenhagen Castle, began seven years later. The city's fate as the capital of Denmark was secured in 1416 when the reigning monarch, King Eric of Pomerania, moved into his sturdy new castle quarters. Grand Renaissance buildings such as the Rundetårn (Round Tower) - established as an observatory and still regularly used for that purpose - and Børsen, home to Denmark's stock exchange, were added in the first half of the 17th century by the aesthetically minded ruler Christian IV.

Copenhagen grew swiftly in size and population, and by the beginning of the 18th century had around 60,000 people living within its confines. The next 100 years weren't kind to the burgeoning capital, however. By 1711 nearly one-third of the population had died from bubonic plague, and a pair of fires (in 1728 and 1795) turned large areas of the city, including most of its wooden buildings, to ash. To top it all off, in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars in 1807, Britain's Admiral Horatio Nelson decided he'd had enough of Denmark profiting from wartime foreign trade, and of rumours that the neutral Danes were considering putting their naval fleet at Napoleon's disposal, and ordered a savage bombardment of the city. Much of Copenhagen went up in flames (again) and the British rubbed salt into the wound by confiscating the entire national fleet.

Several decades later, Copenhagen had turned its attention away from the atrocities of war and was concentrating on the cultural revolution that was daubing, scribbling and philosophising its way across the country. The philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, the writer Hans Christian Andersen, the verbose theologian Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig, and Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, founder of the Danish School of Art, all contributed to this artistic 'Golden Age'. Copenhagen benefited physically from the revolution through the grand neoclassical statues bestowed on it by sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.

After Denmark became a democracy in 1849, it went through a lengthy and fairly peaceful period of economic development, not counting a political hiccup in 1864 when a short-lived war was successfully waged on it by Prussia. Denmark even managed to retain neutral status during WWI, but that ploy didn't work during WWII; the Nazis marched on Copenhagen and ended up occupying it and the rest of the country for five years.

Today, Copenhagen is flourishing as a centre of culture and the arts, and has had its historic skyline marred by only a few high-rise developments. An early highpoint of the new millennium for the Danish people would have to be the victory of the local Olsen Brothers in the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest, ensuring the staging of the 2001 gala event in Copenhagen. In July 2000 the Øresund Fixed Link, a massive 16km (10mi) bridge-tunnel, road-rail link between Copenhagen and the Swedish port of Malmo was opened; it is the first direct land link between Denmark and the rest of Scandinavian Europe. The death of the popular matriarch of the royal family, Queen Ingrid, in November 2000, was a low point for the country. In late 2001, for the first time in half a century, this liberal, tolerant country voted in a right-wing government on a platform of stronger immigration laws. It is yet to be seen how this political turn will affect Copenhagen's progressive social landscape in the long term.

Getting There & Away

Most planes landing in Denmark from overseas will bounce their way down the runways of Copenhagen international airport to the south of the city. The tarmac here constitutes one of northern Europe's main air entry points and a multitude of international carriers fly here. Departure tax is US$20 and is included in the ticket price. Denmark's domestic carrier, Maersk Air, links the capital with Billund, Esbjerg and Rønne.

Copenhagen airport is 9km (6mi) southeast of the city centre; a 12-minute train ride from Central Station or a 15-minute dash from the centre in a taxi. A local bus service (No 250S) connects the airport with Radhuspladsen, the city's central square, and also with Central Station, but takes 35 minutes. There's also a direct SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) bus running from the airport to Central Station and the SAS hotels located in the city.

The completion in July 2000 of the Øresundsfordindelsen (Øresund Fixed Link), a road-rail system comprising almost 16km (10mi) of bridges and tunnels (not to mention an artificial island) between Malmö in southern Sweden and Copenhagen, has given the Danish capital a welcome (albeit artificial) land link with the rest of Scandinavia and Western Europe.

The cheapest earthbound way of travelling to Copenhagen from elsewhere in Europe is by bus; the biggest regional operator servicing the city is Eurolines. The imposing bulk of Central Station is the terminal for rail services east across the Øresund to Sweden and west across Zealand to the other main Danish regions of Funen and Jutland; Central Station is also where you can catch buses to elsewhere in Denmark.

Getting Around

The city's extensive public transport system comprises a metro rail network called S-train, with 10 lines passing through Central Station, and a bus system called HT (or Hovedstadsomradets Trafikselskab for those who like tongue-twisters) that uses Radhuspladsen as its main terminal. Fares for both are charged according to a zone system, with a variety of single, multiple-ride or daily tickets available. In October 2002 a new underground metro system opened with limited routes, using the same tickets as trains and buses. Further extensions are under construction, with the final phase to be completed in 2007.

A car isn't necessary for exploring the inner-city sights, which are easily accessible via a leisurely stroll or public transport, but is useful for getting further afield. Unlike the driving situation in many other European capital cities, Copenhagen is manageable; morning and afternoon peak-hour bottlenecks are the only real hassle. Taxis are a good, albeit expensive, alternative to getting behind the wheel.

Excellent bike paths, lots of bike racks and no hills make cycling a great option for getting around; just remember to lock up your bike. Similarly, Copenhagen is eminently walkable. If you want to explore Copenhagen's waterways, various companies run organised boat tours around the city's canals.

Further Reading