Sightseeing in Copenhagen

Last weekend, I visited Copenhagen. The main reason for this was to see my sister who was on holiday there, and to meet her fiancé and his family (all who are really lovely!), but we managed to fit in a whole load of tourist stuff too! I thought I would recap the best bits here.

Bus & Canal Tour.

We bought dual tickets for a Hop on Hop off bus and boat tour (with a 10% student discount!) that took us around Copenhagen with an audio guide, and gave us the freedom to jump off wherever we fancied it. We actually went around all the routes that were offered and there is probably no better way to see a city in a short space of time! I particularly liked the boat tour and seeing areas from the water (instead of the busy streets!) such as Nyhavn, the Carlsberg factory, Kastellet fortress, the Little Mermaid, the Opera House, Trekroner Fort and tons more.

Strøget Shopping Street.

We stayed at the Palace Hotel for a night which was perfectly situated to strolling up and down this street! We didn't do much shopping but it was just as interesting to people watch, window-shop at Georg Jenson and Louis Vuitton, watch (or avoid) some of the more interesting street entertainers, and also to see the huge Lego store (I didn't realise such a thing even existed). There's also a Hotel Chocolat there which we graced with our presence a couple of times!

Amalienborg Palace.

AKA, "that one with the horse statue in the middle". This is where some of the Danish royals live and it was (of course) very nice and, inside, quite grand. We went into the museum there which was very interesting and taught me a lot about the Danish royal family, as well as showcasing certain studies and sitting rooms as they were when the specific King/Queen was living in them - quite interesting to see how fashions have changed. I have heard that it is not half as impressive as Kronborg Castle, though, which I would like to visit in the future.

National Museum.

This was great! We spent just a couple of hours there (I would spend all day in a history museum if given the chance) and wondered through the main exhibits on life in the Viking ages. It was really fascinating and I couldn't believe the age of some of the artifacts, including an Aurochs skeleton from 8300BC, the body of a woman preserved perfectly by a peat bog (she was originally placed there as a sacrifice to the gods c.1400BC, I think), and a bunch of runestones. It was super interesting!

Christiania.

Described as the 'hippy freetown' that follows it's own rules, I originally thought that the ideal that Christiania was founded upon in the 1970s sounded quite nice. In reality, when we visited, I realised that it was just where people went to buy and smoke marijuana - there was nothing special about it at all, just a bunch of drug users lazing around and not contributing to society. I was really disappointed by Christiania and it strikes me as a complete waste of space! Especially as there is a rather lovely lake situated right there.

Copenhagen Zoo.

Not the best zoo I've ever been to, but fun for a few hours! The penguins and bears were particularly cute and entertaining. However, the zoo staff had also strung up and were skinning a dead impala in front of a bunch of children which I found very disturbing (not something I would want my future children to see!) and definitely put a bit of a dampener on the visit.

Other Thoughts...

Although I was a bit wary of Copenhagen on the first day (being sworn and shouted at by cyclists will do that - oops - I'm a tourist and I was just getting on the bus!) it definitely grew on me. It's very different to Oslo. There were people everywhere (and by that I mean they were all getting in my way) and it was surprisingly expensive to be a tourists there (moreso than living in Oslo!). I loved just walking around Nyhavn and Gammel Strand and taking in the atmosphere. Although I still prefer Oslo, I would definitely go back at some point!