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Sightseeing Overview
The heart of Copenhagen is ringed by a series of lakes to the northwest and by the inner harbor to the southeast. It is characterized by narrow and predominantly pedestrian streets lined with gabled houses, enticing shops and cafes. The huge Rådhuspladsen (City Hall Square) lies at the western end of the central area. From here, a series of pedestrianized streets (Strøget) extend as far as Kongens Nytorv (King's New Square).

The castles of Rosenborg and Amalienborg and the seaman's district of Nyboder are to be found in the area to the north and east of Kongens Nytorv. Slotsholmen Island, the site of Absalon's original bastion, lies to the southwest. The inner harbor separates the main part of the city from Christianshavn. This island was first developed in the 17th century, when Christian IV offered tax incentives to encourage merchants, shipbuilders and tradesmen to settle there.

In the 20th century, Denmark has achieved international renown for its contemporary design. Arne Jakobsen's furniture graces cool bars and cafes worldwide (not least in Copenhagen). In the city, the architectural heritage of Christian IV is supplemented by daring modern buildings, including the glittering waterfront extension to the Royal Library, known as the ‘Black Diamond', and the Opera House, which opened in January 2005.

Tourist Information
Wonderful Copenhagen Tourist Information - CPH Right Now
Bernstorffsgade 1 (at the entrance to Tivoli)
Tel: 7022 2442.
Website: www.visitcopenhagen.com  
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0900-1800 (May-Jun); Mon-Sat 0900-2000, Sun 1000-1800 (Jul-Aug); Mon-Fri 0900-1600, Sat 0900-1400, Sun closed (Sep-Apr).

Passes
The Copenhagen Card (CPHCARD) is valid for either 24 or 72 hours and provides free admission to more than 60 attractions, as well as free travel on all buses and trains and a comprehensive guide that includes maps and detailed information on more than 100 museums, sights and other services. These cards are available from travel agencies, hotels, railway stations or at the main tourist information office.

Key Attractions:

Rundetårn (The Round Tower)
In the streets to the north of Strøget is the Rundetårn, the oldest observatory in Europe. Built by Christian IV in 1642, the building forms part of a scholastic complex that also includes a university library (now an exhibition hall) and student church. A 209m- (686ft-) long spiral ramp leads to the top of the tower 35m (115ft) above the street, from where there is a good view over the old parts of the city.

Købmagergade 52A
Tel: 3373 0373.
Website: www.rundetaarn.dk  
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 1000-2000, Sun 1200-2000 (Jun-late Sep); Mon-Sat 1000-1700, Sun 1200-1700 (late Sep-May).
Admission charge.

Tivoli
One of the most famous European amusement parks, Tivoli is a charmingly bizarre mixture of the natural and the artificial. Georg Carstensen designed it as a pleasure ground for the masses, and Christian VIII, the then King of Denmark, eventually gave his royal permission for the amusement park in the heart of Copenhagen. ‘When the populace are enjoying themselves they forget about politicking,’ the widely traveled Carstensen reasoned. When it opened in 1843, visitors had a choice of two amusements - a horse-drawn carousel and a rollercoaster. Today, there are 25 rides, as well as games and arcades, two theaters, an open-air stage and a museum. Of the four rollercoasters, the ‘Rutschebanen’ is the oldest (dates from 1914) and still the most popular. The Tivoli Boys Guard Band parade through the gardens at 1730 and 1930 on weekends and public holidays, with a full orchestra, stagecoach and horses. Crowded, pricey and unbelievably kitsch, Tivoli remains strangely appealing, particularly at night when the trees are illuminated with lanterns. Numerous concerts and special events are held here every summer (April to September), as well as a Christmas market in December.

Vesterbrogade 3
Tel: 3315 1001 (ticket center).
Website: www.tivoli.dk  
Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 1100-2300, Fri 1100-0030, Sat 1100-2400 (mid Apr-mid Jun and mid Aug-mid Sep); Sun-Thurs 1100-2400, Fri and Sat 1100-0030 (mid Jun-mid Aug).
Admission charge.

Waterfront
Nyhavn (New Harbour) is an inlet off the Inderhavnen, towards Kongens Nytorv (King’s New Square). Brothels and bars serving the visiting sailors once used to dominate this seedy area, but now the multicolored, 17th-century gabled buildings accommodate bustling restaurants and pavement cafes serving traditional Danish food beside a pedestrian thoroughfare and the masts of traditional yachts. Hans Christian Andersen lived at three different houses here and on his birthday (2 April) may still be encountered here, in the form of a person in costume wandering the streets.

It is a very pleasant walk from Nyhavn along Bredgade to Churchill Park or along the waterfront beyond the Admiral Hotel (both routes passing Amalienborg Castle), to the spot in the northeast of the city where Den Lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid) stares wistfully out to sea. Erected in 1913, the statue commemorates the Hans Christian Andersen heroine and has become a global symbol of Copenhagen. Despite being decapitated a few times and being rather smaller in stature than might be imagined, the mermaid remains perennially popular with visitors.

Nyhavn 17
Tel: 3312 5419.

Den Lille Havfrue
Promenade, Langelinie
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Free admission.

Rosenborg Slot (Rosenborg Castle)
Built between 1606 and 1634, Rosenborg was the chief residence of Christian IV and the main royal palace until the end of the last century. This redbrick, Dutch Renaissance-style palace displays the Crown jewels and other royal treasures, dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries, on the ground floor. In 1999, the Rosenborg Tapestries, woven especially for the banquet room of Rosenborg in the late 1600s, were returned to their original location after some years at Christiansborg Castle. The gardens (Kongens Have) surrounding the palace were laid out in 1606 and are some of the most attractive in the city.

Øster Voldgade 4A
Tel: 3315 3286.
Website: www.rosenborgslot.dk  
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1100-1600 (Jan-Apr); daily 1000-1600 (May-Oct); Tues-Sun 1100-1400 (Nov-mid Dec).
Admission charge.

Amalienborg Slot (Amalienborg Palace)
This palace has been the winter residence of the Danish royal family since 1794. The four identical Rococo palaces face each other across the octagonal Amalienborg Slot, where the changing of the guard takes place each day at noon when the family is in residence. A museum, featuring some of the private chambers and royal treasures dating from 1863-1947, is open to the public.

Amalienborg
Tel: 3312 2186.
Website: www.rosenborgslot.dk  
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1600 (May-Oct); Tues-Sun 1100-1600 (Nov-Apr).
Admission charge.

Nationalmuseet (National Museum)
Housed in a 17th-century royal mansion, the National Museum is the country’s premier historical and cultural institution. Permanent collections include the history of Denmark from the Ice Age to 2000, Egyptian, Greek and Italian antiquities and a survey of indigenous populations. There is also an interactive children’s museum.

Fredriksholms Kanal 12
Tel: 3313 4411.
Website: www.natmus.dk  
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1700.
Free admission.

Statens Museum for Kunst (Royal Museum of Fine Art)
The Royal Museum of Fine Art houses Denmark’s largest art collection, including paintings by Rembrandt, Brueghel and Rubens, works by Titian, Mantegna and Picasso, and an excellent Matisse collection. The museum reopened in 1999, after renovation and expansion.

Sølvgade 48-50
Tel: 3374 8494.
Website: www.smk.dk  
Opening hours: Tues and Thurs-Sun 1000-1700, Wed 1000-2000.
Free admission; admission charge to temporary exhibitions.

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek was built by the Carlsberg brewer, Carl Jacobsen, between 1897 and 1906. Today, it houses a superb collection of Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities, Impressionist masterpieces and Danish and French art by Monet, Gauguin, Renoir, Degas and Cézanne. The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek reopened in June 2006 after a comprehensive refurbishment.

Dantes Plads 7
Tel: 3341 8141.
Website: www.glyptoteket.dk  
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1600.
Admission charge; free Sun.

Christiania Free Commune
On the eastern edge of Christianshavn, situated on the derelict site of a former military barracks, Christiania, the ‘Free City of Copenhagen’, is a working experiment in alternative lifestyles and communal living. First occupied in 1970, it is now home to about 1,000 people and several hundred dogs. Once away from the clothes stalls and eco-cafes, the area is seductively rural, with picturesque farmhouses and wooden cabins overlooking the calm waterways of the Stadsgraven. Guided tours can be arranged (see Tours of the City).

Bådsmandsstræde 43
Tel: 3295 6507.
Website: www.christiania.org  
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Free admission; charge for guided tours.

Further Distractions:

The Royal Copenhagen Collection
Following the complete refurbishment of porcelain manufacturer Royal Copenhagen’s flagship store at Amagertorv, a new museum, The Royal Copenhagen Collection, opened in March 2007 on the second floor of the beautiful old building, which dates back to 1616 and has been home to Royal Copenhagen since 1911. Visitors can follow the various stages of production, have the opportunity to hand-paint the famous patterns and experience the company’s history through film, the written word and not least by a closer look at porcelain objects from the Royal Copenhagen vaults.

6 Amagertorv
Tel: 3814 9697.
Website: www.royalcopenhagen.com  
Opening hours: Mon-Thurs 1000-1800, Fri 1000-1900, Sat 1000-1700, first Sun of every month 1200-1700.
Admission free, but there is a charge for guided tours, lessons in hand painting etc.

Experimentarium
Experimentarium is Denmark’s only science center, which opened in 1991 in the old bottling hall of the Tuborg Brewery. Visitors of all ages can interact with about 300 entertaining and informative sound and water exhibits and experiments. The center also stages science demonstrations, workshop activities and special exhibitions.

Tuborg Havnevej 7, Hellerup
Tel: 3927 3333.
Website: www.experimentarium.dk  
Opening hours: Mon and Wed-Fri 0930-1700, Tues 0930-2100, Sat and Sun 1100-1700.
Admission charge.

Guinness World Records Museum
Visitors can experience over 500 outstanding world records, from the tallest man to the most poisonous frog, and find out what it feels like to drive at 500kph (311mph) or take on the world’s best fighter. You might even bump into Harry Potter, one of the latest additions to the museum because of his phenomenal success.

Østergade 16
Tel: 3332 3131.
Website: www.topattractions.dk  
Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 1000-1800, Fri-Sat 1000-2000 (Sep-mid Jun); daily 0930-2200 (mid Jun-Aug).
Admission charge.

Carlsberg Visitors Center & Carlsberg Museum
Carlsberg is, according to its own long-running marketing campaign, ‘probably the best lager in the world’. Whether or not visitors agree with that claim, the Visitors Center is an intoxicating experience. The tour details the history of the brewery, as well as the modern processes of the brewery, with a route through the production plant. At the end, there’s a chance to sample the finished product. There is also a Carlsberg Museum, rather more old-fashioned, but housed in a beautiful building dating back to 1882, where extensive exhibits relate more to the cultural and historical relevance of the family and the brewery.

Carlsberg Visitors Center
Gamle Carlsbergvej 11
Tel: 3327 1314 or 1282.
Website: www.visitcarlsberg.dk  
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1600.
Admission charge.

Carlsberg Museum
Valby Langgade 1
Tel: 3327 1273.
Website: www.visitcarlsberg.dk  
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1500.
Free admission.

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