A trip to Copenhagen

This was our first stop on our 2017 European Adventure (click here to view that trip overview page). Since we were traveling using United Airlines miles, our trip research & planning had revealed that we could fly into Copenhagen via SAS Airlines for fewer miles than any other European city served by any United Airlines or Star Alliance Airline flight.

I had not been to Copenhagen since I had worked for Siemens in the 1980's, and Celeste had never been there, so it was an easy decision for us to make Copenhagen a "stop & explore" city.

The decision to go there was made even simpler after I showed Celeste pictures of various Copenhagen interesting locations, and since our next trip stop was Oslo, Norway, then Copenhagen made that flight much shorter than it would have been from other European cities.

Although we were not in Copenhagen long enough to have needed a discount card, you can obtain discounts for most of the popular city sights with a "Copenhagen Card". Covers admission to 80+ attractions, includes public transportation including to and from the Airport. Click the image to the left to go to their website to learn more.

Hotel Christian IV

During our trip planning, we discovered that this hotel got good reviews and was located nicely, ie; just across the street from the King's Garden & the Rosenborg Castle, less than 1.2 kilometers from the Harbor and there were numerous restaurants in the area. The hotel also served a complimentary breakfast, which we found to be good.

By the way, if you read "reviews" about this hotel, you are going to find that they are all over the place where some people liked it, some people didn't and some people had unique "complaints" about it. We found it to be comfortable, reasonably priced and the food was good (free breakfast). Is it a "five star"? No, but we knew that we were going to be out exploring much more than we were going to be in the hotel - so for us it was a perfect hotel.

Click here to go to the hotel website, or Click here to view a map of the Hotel Location.

Jet Lag & Breakfast

We arrived early in the morning of July 18th, and we took a taxi from the airport to the Hotel Christian IV located at Dronningens Tvaergade 45. After arriving, we took a short nap and then headed out for a bite to eat at the Bistro Pastis, just around the corner from our hotel.

It is easy to see from the expression on my face, that jet lag has already set in - however - hunger was the motivating force at this point! If you are ever in this area, these folks serve a very tasty breakfast!

After finishing breakfast (and lots of coffee!), we decided to take a hike around the city. The plan was to walk towards the southern end of the city, and to return via the beautiful park ("The King's Garden") that surrounds Rosenborg Castle. This castle was originally built as a summer house by King Christian IV in 1606, and was used as a royal residence by Danish regents until 1710.

As you can see in the images below, the King's Garden and the Castle itself, are extremely beautiful!

The upper two floors of the Castle are the living areas, and they contain objects from the days of Frederik IV and Queen Louise, who were the last royal couple to take residence at Rosenborg.

Rosenborg Castle was used by Danish regents as a royal residence until around 1710. After the reign of Frederik IV, Rosenborg was used as a royal residence only twice, and both these times were during emergencies. The first time was after Christiansborg Palace burned down in 1794, and the second time was during the British attack on Copenhagen in 1801.

With jet lag a bit more under control, we decided that today would be the major hiking day. We ate breakfast at the hotel (since it was free), and decided that we would visit the harbor, Tivoli Gardens, and then hike up to the other end of the harbor to see the Little Mermaid statue.

Royal Danish Playhouse

We hiked from our hotel directly to the Amalienborg Palace, and from there to the Harbor where the Royal Danish Playhouse building is located. This is a beautiful building, right on the edge of the harbor.

IMAGE CREDITS: Image # 2 (right) is the property of Olivier Bruchez via Wikimedia Commons and CC BY-SA 2.0.

Nyhavn District

A short walk just around the corner from the Royal Danish Playhouse, is the Nyhavn district. This area is where most of the harbor tours depart from, and there are a number of very nice sidewalk cafes there.

Image # 2 above is the Memorial Anchor, located at the base of the Nyhavn canal, adjacent to Kongens Nytorv, is a maritime memorial in Copenhagen, Denmark, commemorating the civilian sailors who lost their lives at sea during the Second World War.

IMAGE CREDITS: Image # 2 (right) is the property of Medien-gbr via Wikimedia Commons "Public Domain". All other images are the property of Just Traveling Thru, LLC unless otherwise noted.

After exploring the Nyhavn area, we decided to hike over to Tivoli Gardens, a 2.6 kilometers walk. As you can see in the images below, Tivoli Gardens is not only very pretty, it is the oldest Amusement Park in Europe - first opened on August 15, 1843.

Tivoli Garden Entrance

This was the initial view we had of Tivoli Gardens, as we walked up along the Tietgensgade to the Glyptotek entrance. We wanted to visit it because it is a "must see" for all visitors to the city, young and old. The central location of the more than 175-year old park adds an extra dimension to this unique place.

The Concert Hall (Koncertsalen)

Tivoli Concert Hall is a 1,660-capacity concert hall at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark. The building, which was designed by Frits Schlegel and Hans Hansen, was built between 1954 and 1956.

Image Credits: Image # 2 (right) is the property of Dannebrog Spy via Wikipedia Commons. All other images are the property of Just Traveling Thru, LLC unless otherwise noted.

Copenhagen Harbor

The building with the slanted roof, is the world's greenest power plant with a ski slope on top of the building.

The roof has a 440-metre slope on the slanted roof of what will be the world's greenest power plant, designed to turn waste into energy and it will cater for skiers at four different levels, and includes a 45% 180-metre black run.

Copenhagen Bicycle Racks

These racks are all over the city, as bike riding exceeds the number of cars by a mile!

There are approximately 560,000 bicycles in the city of Copenhagen, more bicycles than people, yet they share only 48,000 bicycle stands. With a view to remedying the situation, in 2008 the Danish Cyclists Federation published a "Bicycling Parking Manual" with a number of guidelines.

POST EDIT: As of early 2022, there are now 675,000 bicycles in Copenhagen and there are only 120,000 cars ! Almost one third (29%) of all journeys across Copenhagen are done on a bike, and 41% of commutes (to work or study) are the result of pedal power.

Little Mermaid Statue

After hiking from the city, and passing through Langelinie Park, we arrived at the famous statue. The Little Mermaid Statue is really little - it is only 1.25 metres/4 feet high. The statue turned 100 years old on 23 August 2013.

 Quick History Lesson 

The Little Mermaid is a bronze statue by Edvard Eriksen, depicting a mermaid becoming human. The sculpture is displayed on a rock by the waterside at the Langelinie promenade in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is 1.25 metres (4.1 feet) tall and weighs 175 kilograms (385 lb).

Based on the fairy tale of the same name by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, the small and unimposing statue is a Copenhagen icon and has been a major tourist attraction since its unveiling in 1913. In recent decades it has become a popular target for defacement by vandals and political activists.

 The above information was extracted from Wikipedia

Kastellet Fortress

This fortress is a star shaped island immediately behind the Little Mermad Statue, and the Kastellet Bridge (image # 1) allows you to cross back to the mainland. As we walked from the Harbor area to the Kastellet Fortress, one of the best preserved Star Fortresses in Europe.

The Castle is constructed in the form of a pentagon with bastions at its corners. Kastellet was continuous with the ring of bastioned ramparts which used to encircle Copenhagen but of which only the ramparts of Christianshavn remain today.

Image # 2 is the King's Gate entrance to the Kastellet Fortress, and is the property of Casey Goodlett via Wikipedia and the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Gefion Fountain

A large fountain on the harbour front in Copenhagen, Denmark. It features a large-scale group of oxen being driven by the Norse goddess Gefjon. It is located in Nordre Toldbod area next to Kastellet and immediately south of Langelinie, close to the Little Mermaid Statue.

St. Alban's Church

Opened in September of 1887, it is located just south of the historic Kastellet Fortress in central Copenhagen and just immediately west of the Gefion Fountain.

Vore Faldne Statue

In english "Our fallen" is a six-metre bronze & travertine monument, by Sven Linhart - which was paid for by nationwide public subscription and erected in memory of those Danes who gave their lives as volunteers in the service of the Allies of World War II.

The monument depicts an ordinary soldier, in British Army battle dress and the characteristic British Tommy helmet with his head bowed, in silent remembrance of his fallen comrades, as he faces the nearby St. Alban's English church. Located in Copenhagen's Churchill Park, just outside the Citadel's Royal Gate.

Celebrity Eclipse

In Copenhagen Harbor. We found out later (in Norway) that some of the cruise ships we had seen in this harbor had travelled next to Norway. There are a number of cruise lines that sail up the fjord to Flam and elsewhere.

When you look at a map and realize that Flam Norway is several hundred kilometers from the North Atlantic, yet via the Sognefjorden, Nærøyfjorden, and Aurlandsfjorden fjords it is capable of ocean-going vessels visiting there - it will amaze you.

See our Flam Norway Page by clicking here note that this page is primarily about our train trip from Oslo to Bergen via Flam, but there are good images and narrative about Flam that you may enjoy.

Langelinie Lystbådehavns Bådelav Marina

Just a block north of the Little Mermaid location, is this marina. A sharp contrast to the large cruise ships in the harbor immediately to the east of the marina!

Oslo, Norway is Next

We caught a Norwegian Air Shuttle to fly to Oslo, Norway. Our flight arrived at 10:40AM and we took the Flytoget Train from the airport into the city. As usual, the train station was beneath the airport, so all we had to do is wheel our luggage down the escalator and hop onto the train.

Note to the seasoned traveler: the Flytoget Train Service is very fast, frequent, and less expensive than a taxi into Oslo.

• Just Traveling Thru European Travel Tips
• Just Traveling Thru Travel Planning Tips
• Google Search Results list for "Restaurants in Copenhagen"
• Google Search Results list for "Accommodations in Copenhagen"
• Copenhagen History on the "Visit Denmark" site
• Copenhagen Article on the "Britannica" site
• Things to do and see in Copenhagen on "The Crazy Tourist" site

• Things to do and see in Copenhagen on the "Visit Copenhagen" site
• Six Reasons to visit Copenhagen on the 'CNN Travel' Site
• Copenhagen best tours on the "Get Your Guide" Site
• Amazon Search Results list for "Copenhagen Denmark"
• Youtube Search Results list for "Copenhagen Denmark"
• Visit our Youtube Channel
• The best things to do in Copenhagen, from history to hipster hangouts on the "Lonely Planet" site

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Note: All images on this page are the property of Just Traveling Thru, LLC unless otherwise noted.

Note: If you are interested in our European Travel Tips & Warnings, Click here. Or to take a look at our methods for Trip Planning click here.

To view our entire set of images from our Copenhagen Image Gallery, click here