I never thought that I would say this, but I traveled somewhere specifically for the cold. For the first time ever, I made winter travel plans as opposed to planning my stay in a destination during its warmer months. Not because I’m a winter sports enthusiast, because I definitely am not one, but because I wanted to experience what it would be like to explore a European Christmas market.
I’m sure that Copenhagen is just as beautiful and amazing to visit during the summer time, but I’ve always been dying to visit its renowned Christmas displays and take part in its festivities. What can I say, I’m a Christmas fanatic at heart. How else are we supposed to get through these dreary winter months without Christmas cheer to partake in? If only Christmas could last a little bit longer and spill over into the new year so that January and February wouldn’t feel as dark and cold all of the time.
If you’re in search of a summer or fall travel guide to Copenhagen, then this post probably isn’t for you as it has some fun Christmas only activities, but I promise you that everything else that I mention besides the festivities is accessible year round, so maybe this post will come in handy. Nonetheless, here are my 10 things to do in Copenhagen!
Visit the Famous Tivoli Gardens
Let’s get the ultimate Christmas activity out of the way so that I can talk about other fun things to do in Copenhagen. Tivoli Gardens is the second oldest operating theme park in the World, and hosts a fully immersive Christmas Market every year that it is famous for. Though you can definitely adventure and explore the theme park year round, I would probably say that it’s best during the Christmas season because it gets transformed into the ultimate Christmas wonderland, leaving you feeling like you just walked into Santa’s village.
Not only is everything positively twinkling, magical, and glowing, but the food is absolutely amazing as well. The park operates a phenomenal recycling program where they’ll pay you back for every plastic cup you return into their recycling vending machines upon your exit of the park. Talk about reduce, reuse, recycle! Denmark is well known for being an extremely clean city and I can understand why.
Besides the rides and food, you can also walk around and explore the parks grounds to admire the beautiful installations and shop through the various little boutiques. I’d recommend picking up a Christmas ornament or two as a neat little souvenir while you’re there.
Pro-tip: try visiting the park during a weekday to avoid the hoards of tourists and families that pack up the place during the weekends.
Dine at a Michelin Star Restaurant
When visiting Denmark, the number one thing that you have to do is to dine at a Michelin star restaurant. The country boasts a hefty 33 stars in total with 27 different restaurants to choose from, so there’s bound to be a cuisine that appeals to everyone. Of course while in Copenhagen we made a point of stopping into one for dinner and chose Restaurant Relae. Michelin Star restaurants often come with a pricey tab to pay and we didn’t want to overly splurge, so we opted for a 1-star establishment and it did not disappoint.
The unpretentious decor served as a calm and relaxing environment to dine in. Located on the corner of a street tucked into a quiet neighborhood, we immediately felt right at home. We were further bemused to find out that the chef was also a fellow Canadian. The restaurant’s atmosphere was light, uncomplicated, and airy, and to our surprise, we found out that each course was to be enjoyed with a specific set of utensils, all stored within the drawers built into the table at each place setting. Yes, you read correct. Each time one of our 7 courses arrived, we were instructed to selected a specific utensil from within each of our personal drawers to enjoy the meal with.
While the cuisine type may not exactly have been my preferred kind, the staff was perfectly attentive, the food was positively delicious, and our experience was impeccable. It was everything that I could ever expect from a Michelin Star restaurant, and I can only imagine what it must be like to dine at a 3-star establishment.
Pro-tip: most of the Michelin Star Restaurants book well in advance, so make sure to make your reservations prior to your trip to ensure that you get a table.
Score a Deal at Acne Archive
If you’re fan of the Swedish clothing house Acne Studios, then you’re definitely going to want to pay a visit to Acne Archive. This outlet store carries leftovers from the brand’s previous season’s collections at seriously marked down prices (but are still relatively expensive), and you’re bound to score an amazing deal there if you’re able to find something that you like! Although the Swedish design house also has an outlet of its own in Stockholm (which we also visited on this trip), you’ll want to make a visit to the Copenhagen location because chances are you won’t ever find deals as amazing as this when it comes to anything Acne Studios outside of the Scandinavian countries.
For instance, these beautiful boots were from a few previous seasons, so there weren’t that many pieces available left in stock and were seriously marked down. I believe they originally retailed for around $1,500+ and I was able to get them for around $300. While the prices may not necessarily scream bargain to most, they definitely are a sale when it comes to Acne Studios.
Pro-tip: Copenhagen’s Acne Archive is a little bit more expensive than Stockholm’s, but the stock in each location is a little bit different so remember to consider that before you walk out!
Take Advantage of Magasin du Nord’s Tourist Discount
Located next to the little neighbourhood of Nyhavn is Copenhagen’s beloved department store, Magasin Du Nord. In step inside and you’ll encounter a plethora of beautiful Danish design fused with modern styles. Not only is there a little cafe nestled in their book department that you could spend all day cozying up with a book, but the store also has a lavish clothing department filled with Danish designers and beautiful clothes.
My absolute favourite part of the store probably had to be their home decor department. If I didn’t live in a tiny condo, I’d probably spend all of my life’s savings on the stunning decor pieces there. And while you’re visiting, you might as well do a little bit of shopping! We found out that the department store offers foreigners and tourist an additional 10% off of whatever the prices of their products are. If you’re on the hunt for some souvenirs, this will be the best bang for your buck!
Strøget
While you’re in the area, you might as well also wander into Strøget, Europe’s longest pedestrian shopping street spanning 1.1 km. With zero cars, shopping doesn’t get easier than this. We probably spent a couple of days wandering around this area because there’s so much to see and shop that it’s hard to finish within one day unless you have zero distractions. I also loved exploring this neighobourhood because besides shopping, there were also so many beautiful and twinkly Christmas lights and displays to admire as well. I would recommend setting aside a half to full day to fully explore this space and its accompanying Christmas markets.
Climb the Church of Our Saviour’s Spire
This is a definite must for anyone who’s up for a bit of adventure. If you dare to climb the 150 steps up the exterior of the Church of Our Saviour’s spire, then you’ll be rewarded with this breathtaking view of the city. You will have to pay a small fee though, so make sure to bring some change with you.
The path up to the top is quite cramped and the stairs are narrow, so make sure to take your time making it up to the top. When you get to the exterior, be wary of the wind. It can get quite windy outside, and both directions going up and down the staircase share the same path so chances are you’ll either be squished against the spire, or pushed up against the railing’s ledge.
Relive a World of Old and New at The Royal Library
Heralded as one of the largest libraries in the world, Copenhagen’s Royal Library is partially Denmark’s national library and partially the University of Copenhagen’s library as well. Not only will you see general public taking out books, but students studying within private study halls as well. This library is a beautiful world of old and new where you can see how the stunningly preserved original design of the library melts into the modern curves of the public side. Not all areas of the library are open to the general public, but you’re more than welcome to wander around and to admire the phenomenal architecture. Maybe even bring yourself a book and cozy up there for a few hours. If you’re a bibliophile like me, then you won’t want to miss out on this.
Explore Christiansborg Palace
Besides the Christmas Markets, Christiansborg Palace was my absolute must visit while in Copenhagen. By now you’ll know that I’m obsessed with libraries (the geek in me is really coming out in this post), and the Christiansborg Palace’s library looks like something straight out of a fairy tale. Fans of Beauty and the Beast will be impressed with this one for sure.
Begin your journey underneath the palace as you tour the ruins to learn about the palace’s history. Not only did it burn down twice, but each time it was rebuilt to be bigger, larger, and grander. Today, the palace’s footprint is exponentially larger than what it was originally designed to be. In the ruins, you’ll be able to explore the original palace’s footprint to get an idea of how big it was originally intended to be. Pack a light jacket with you because it gets a little chilly down there.
After making your way through the ruins, head back up visit the Reception Rooms, this is where you’ll find the beautiful library and all of the other overly ornate rooms. I’m not joking when I say that they have a room for everything that you can imagine, because there are so many rooms you’re likely to run out of things to do in each room.
The property is quite large, so I would set aside at least half of a day in order to see and take it all in.
Pro-tip: Visit as early as you can in the day as the palace gets busy quite quickly.
Visit the Kronborg Castle—the Castle that Inspired Hamlet
Yup, this is the famous castle that is also known as Elsinore Castle in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Built in 1420s, Kronborg Castle is situated at the most North Eastern tip of Denmark and is a short 1 hour drive from Copenhagen. As the city itself is quite small, if you run out of things to do after a few days there, I would highly recommend a road trip up North to visit some of the beautiful castles scattered across the country.
Not only are you able explore the royal apartments, but the case mates and garrisons underneath the castle too. Be careful exploring the case mates though as there isn’t much lighting underground (we used the flashlights on our phones to light the way), the ground is not flat, it’s quite chilly, and it’s easy to get lost in the tens of rooms that weave around and underneath the castle. If you do find yourself there though, you’ll stumble upon the large statue of a Danish king known as Ogier. Legend has it that he lies underneath Kronborg Castle sleeping until he is needed to help battle for the safety of his homeland. From there he will rise and fight for Denmark’s freedom.
Pay a Visit to the Little Mermaid Statue
Lovers of Disney and The Little Mermaid definitely need to pay a visit to the statue erected in honour of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale. But fare warning that the statue itself is fairly underwhelming contrary to what you might be expecting. If you’re taking local transit, be prepared for a 5-10 minute walk into the park from the main road just to be able to get alongside the river to see the statue. If you’re traveling via motorized scooters, you’ll be able to get a lot closer before having to hop off and walk on foot for about half a minute.
The statue itself is situated over top of a rock that is fairly far from the actual shore. The photo that you see above was actually taken with my phone as it was raining the day that we went to visit the statue and I didn’t want my camera to get water damaged. I ended up zooming in quite a bit in order to get her large enough to snap a photo of, seeing as she’s actually quite far away from where you can stand. You’d have to comfortable walk or even swim in a bit of water to get up close and personal enough to her to be able to touch her. I wouldn’t recommend doing either of those things because I have absolutely no idea how deep or even clean the water is.
During high season mobs of tourists come to visit the statue so my advice would be to visit during off season and even close to sunset like we did as there will be significantly less people. We visited Copenhagen during off-season and still encountered about 10-15 other tourists also taking photos of the statue when we visited for ourselves.
