36 Hours in Copenhagen — APG Adventures

We spent 1.5 days in beautiful Copenhagen, Denmark in May 2018 on our mini-Scandinavian adventure (including Norway). We totally fell in love with this adorable and charming city!

Accommodations:

We rented an air b&b in Christianshavn which is right across a walking bridge to Nyhavn (picturesque row house fronts that is well known). It was the perfect location and we were able to walk everywhere. It kept us away from the extreme touristy location but still close enough to enjoy within a 10 min walk. The flat was great for just Ken and I as it was very small, and a 5 floor walk-up. The bathroom was like a closet that doubled as a shower so a bit tight, but again the location was great, and the host could not have been nicer. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20132857

Traveling in May, the weather is a bit unpredictable, but for us we lucked out and the weather was unseasonably warm, in the mid 70’s and sunny. We were there right at the end of May leading up to Memorial Day wknd.

Transportation into the city from the airport: We grabbed the metro from the airport directly to Christianshavn (about 20 min ride) - super easy!

Day 1: Despite the jet-lag, upon arriving in Christianshavn we grabbed lunch and met our Air B&B host before we ventured out to start to sight-see. Immediately we discovered you can grab a cocktail/beer/wine and just walk around with it! This was a big hit with Ken and refreshing to have a glass of rose as you were walking around 😊

We went straight to the Nyhavn picturesque canal and walked around. Our host gave us a fantastic dinner reservation Sankt Annae 8. https://www.sanktannae8.com/ There are only a few things everyday on the menu, so there wasn’t much of a choice to make, and we went with it! They also had a great wine selection. It was on the Christianshavn side so very close to our air b&b. We did make a reservation as they only have a few tables.

Day 2 - this was our only full day in Copenhagen so we started out early the next morning ready to take on the sites! We grabbed a well known croissant that was a light pastry flakey treat with almond paste on the inside, not too sweet and I loved it! Definitely get one of these!

Sites: Canal Cruise – this was a perfect way to start the day as it wasn’t too hot or crowded yet, and we could really get the lay of the land to determine just what we wanted to see on our only day in the city. The cruise has variations but we did the Canal Tours Copenhagen which takes off right near the Nyhavn canal. It lasts an hour and was very enjoyable. The cruise takes you around to all of the sites via the water, so it is a great way to cover a lot of ground quickly. We chose not to see the Little Mermaid by land as we saw the back of her from the water. It was a bit of a walk and she is tiny! (hence Little Mermaid!), we decided not to take our time on this.

Next, we walked over the royal palace and happened to hit it right at noon when they were doing the changing of the guard so that was pretty cool to see. We continued on, walking through a cool church near the royal palace and happened upon a great lunch spot. Café amadeaus http://www.cafe-amadeus.dk/ We were able to sit outside, and Ken tried the well known “Smorrebrod” and great beer.

After lunch we went over to the Rosenborg house and gardens where the crown jewels are held. They were so beautiful to see and we walked through the museum that was very empty so it was easy to get through relatively fast.

Next we went to the round tower where we climbed up to the top to see all of Copenhagen. This was interesting as it was a rolling slope to walk up, not steps so much easier. They even have a cut out hallway up where you can step into the core and look down which is said to be the center of the city, umm no thank you on my part! Ken did it, however I was too scared.

At this point we were hot and ready for a snack/happy hour. We did quite a bit of walking and sightseeing of this beautiful city!

An alternative dinner or lunch option would be the street food market on the walking bridge between Christianshavn and Nyvahn – the food looked excellent and if we would have been near it for lunch we would have eaten there, or if we would have had one more day! Looked delicious!

Dinner – We ate at Tony’s Havnegade – http://madklubben.dk/en/tonys/ which was excellent – Italian food and had a price fixed menu which was a great value, and cool vibe in the restaurant. We did make a reservation.