Copenhagen, Denmark — Where to Go
Copenhagen Sightseeing Overview
The heart of Copenhagen is ringed by a series of lakes to the northwest and by the inner harbor to the southeast. The castles of Rosenborg and Amalienborg and the seaman's district of Nyboder are found to the north and east of Kongens Nytorv. Slotsholmen Island 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.
Copenhagen's foundation dates back to 1167, when Bishop Absalon built a bastion on the island of Slotsholmen, today the site of Christiansborg Palace and the Danish parliament. In 1417, the city became the royal capital of a huge swathe of Scandinavia that included Denmark, parts of Sweden and Norway. Many of Copenhagen's most impressive buildings were constructed during the celebrated reign of Christian IV (1588-1648), including the Børsen (Stock Exchange), the Rundetårn (Round Tower) and the Palace of Rosenborg.
Christian IV was responsible for Copenhagen's canal network and for the development of Christianshavn (an island across the inner harbor) as a focus for trade and shipping. In the following centuries, an outbreak of plague, two terrible fires and military attacks by the Swedes (in the 17th century) and the British (in the 19th century) caused widespread damage.
In the 20th century, Denmark has achieved international renown for its contemporary design. Arne Jakobsen's furniture graces cool bars and cafés worldwide. 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', the Opera House, and more recently the new Playhouse and Copenhagen Concert Hall.
Copenhagen Tourist Information
Wonderful Copenhagen Tourist Information
Vesterbrogade 4A
Tel: 7022 2442.
Website: www.visitcopenhagen.com
Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0900-1800, Sun 1000-1400 (May-Jun); Mon-Sat 0900-2000, Sun 1000-1800 (Jul-Aug); Mon-Fri 0900-1600, Sat 0900-1400, Sun closed (Sep-Apr).
Copenhagen Sightseeing
The Copenhagen Card (CPHCARD) is valid for either 24 or 72 hours. It offers free admission to more than 60 attractions, free bus and train travel, and a comprehensive guide on more than 100 museums, sights and other services. Up to two children (aged up to nine) can travel free with an adult carrying a CPHCARD. These cards are available from travel agencies, hotels, railway stations or the main tourist information office.
Copenhagen Sightseeing
The Copenhagen Card (CPHCARD) is valid for either 24 or 72 hours. It offers free admission to more than 60 attractions, free bus and train travel, and a comprehensive guide on more than 100 museums, sights and other services. Up to two children (aged up to nine) can travel free with an adult carrying a CPHCARD. These cards are available from travel agencies, hotels, railway stations or the main tourist information office.
Key Attractions in Copenhagen, Denmark
Rundetårn (The Round Tower)
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. An impressive 209m-long (686ft) spiral ramp leads to the top of the tower 35m (115ft) above the street, from where there are good views over the old city.
Købmagergade 52A
Tel: 3373 0373.
Website: www.rundetaarn.dk
Opening hours: Daily 1000-2000 (mid May-late Sep); Daily 1000-1700 (late Sep-mid May). Plus (extra) mid-Oct to mid-Mar Tues-Wed 19-22.
Admission charge: Y.
Tivoli
One of the Europe’s top amusement parks, Tivoli is a bizarre mixture of the natural and the artificial. It opened in 1843, with a horse-drawn carousel and a rollercoaster. Today, there are 25 rides, plus games, 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. Crowded, pricey and unbelievably kitsch, Tivoli remains strangely appealing. It hosts numerous special events in the summer, 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). Plus week 42 for Halloween (1100-2200) and for Christmas from mid-Nov until 30 Dec (closed 24 and 25 Dec) 1100-2200.
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Den Lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid)
Nyhavn (New Harbour) is an inlet off the Inderhavnen. Brothels and bars for visiting sailors once dominated this seedy area, but now the multicolored, 17th-century gabled buildings accommodate bustling restaurants and pavement cafés serving traditional Danish food beside a pedestrian thoroughfare and the masts of traditional yachts. Children’s writer Hans Christian Andersen lived at three different houses here. It is a very pleasant walk from Nyhavn along the waterfront via 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.
Promenade, Langelinie
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission charge: N.
Rosenborg Slot (Rosenborg Castle)
Built between 1606-1634, Rosenborg was the chief residence of Christian IV and the main royal palace until the end of the last century. This red-brick, Dutch Renaissance-style palace displays the crown jewels and other royal treasures. 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); daily 1000-1700 (Jun-Aug); daily 1000-1600 (Sep-Oct); Tues-Sun 1100-1400 (Nov- Dec).
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y (to ground floor and treasury only).
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: Y.
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. Free guided tours in English take place daily at 1100 (Jun-Aug) and on selected days in September.
Fredriksholms Kanal 12
Tel: 3313 4411.
Website: www.natmus.dk
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1700.
Admission charge: N.
Disabled access: Y.
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..
Sølvgade 48-50
Tel: 3374 8494.
Website: www.smk.dk
Opening hours: Tues and Thurs-Sun 1000-1700, Wed 1000-2000.
Admission charge: N (charges for 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 café overlooking the beautiful winter garden is a great spot for lunch.
Dantes Plads 7
Tel: 3341 8141.
Website: www.glyptoteket.dk
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1100-1700.
Admission charge: Y (except on Sundays).
Disabled access: Y.
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-cafés, the area is seductively rural, with picturesque farmhouses and wooden cabins overlooking the calm waterways of the Stadsgraven. Afternoon tours guided by a resident of the commune take approximately 90 minutes, but are not free.
Bådsmandsstræde 43
Tel: 3295 6507.
Website: www.christiania.org
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission charge: N.
Further Distractions
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: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Guinness World Records Museum
Visitors can experience over 500 outstanding world records through interactive challenges and displays, 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.
Østergade 16
Tel: 3332 3131.
Website: www.topattractions.dk
Opening hours: Sun-Thurs 1000-1800, Fri-Sat 1000-2000 (Sep-mid Jun); daily 1000-2200 (mid Jun-Aug).
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Carlsberg Visitors Center and Carlsberg Museum
Carlsberg is, according to its own long-running marketing campaign, ‘probably the best lager in the world'. Whether or not you agree, the Visitors Center is an intoxicating experience. The tour details the history and 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: Tue-Sun 1000-1700, Thu 1000-1930 (May-Aug); Tue-Sun 1000-1600 (Sep-Apr).
Admission charge: Y.
Disabled access: Y.
Carlsberg Museum
Valby Langgade 1
Tel: 3327 1273.
Website: www.visitcarlsberg.dk
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 1000-1500.
Admission charge: N.
