Autumn Travels: Copenhagen Part 2

On our third day we decided to venture out of Copenhagen and took the train to Denmark's ancient capital, Roskilde. It was only a 25 minute train journey, and was covered by our Copenhagen Cards. 

The Roskilde Cathedral, or Domkirke, is where many of the kings and queens of Denmark are buried. Unusually the current Queen's tomb has already been constructed, but is covered with a wooden case and will not be unveiled until after her death - at her request it includes a bench around it for people to sit on! The cathedral was built in the 12th and 13th centuries on the site of at least two older churches and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

Only in Denmark would your find a tricycle parked inside a church, being used as a mobility scooter by an elderly gentleman!

After visiting the Domkirke we walked through a park down the the fjord, where there is a Viking Museum. By this time we were getting hungry, and had assumed we would be able to find lunch somewhere near the sea. However the museum restaurant was rather more upmarket than we were looking for, and other places were shut because it was out of season, so we turned round and walked back into the city centre where we found a cafe and had a slightly larger lunch than we intended! 

By mid-afternoon we were back in Copenhagen so we went for a walk around the picturesque Nyhavn, the canals of Christianshavn, and Freetown Christiania - an abandoned military base which was taken over by squatters in the early 1970s and put in place its own rules and regulations (including 'legalising' cannabis, which was sold there openly on the aptly names Pusher Street). These days it is part commune and part flea market. In the evening we went back to the Tivoli Food Hall for something to it. None of us were very hungry after our large lunch!

On our final day our flight home was not until late afternoon, so we had a few hours to explore some more of the city. We caught a train out to the eastern side of the city and went to see the famous Little Mermaid statue. 

To get to the statue we walked through the grounds of the Citadel. Built in the 17th century, it is an odd mix of military base and public park. 

On the way back we went through the barracks and did a complete circuit of the five sided park, which for some odd reason includes a windmill. 

We then walked to the Rosenborg Castle and through the King's Gardens. By that time we only had about 40 minutes left before we needed to head back for lunch at Tivoli and to pick up our bags from our hotel, so we decided on a quick visit to the Botanic Gardens which are on the opposite side of the road to the Castle. 

The park part of the Botanic Gardens is free to enter and was beautifully autumnal. The Copenhagen Cards gave us access to the greenhouses and the palm house, and we just had time for a quick tour before hopping onto a train back to the Central station before our 72 hour cards expired. Even though we packed a lot into our four days, there was still plenty more we could have seen and done. This lovely, friendly, relaxed city is definitely one we hope to return to someday. 

Autumn Travels: Copenhagen Part 1

Last week was TG's half term holiday from school and, inspired by our success in making it to France and back in September, we booked a trip to Copenhagen for 4 days. We had been once before - in fact, it was our first short city break thanks to picking up ridiculously cheap flights, and gave us the taste for more travel. We only went for two days and one night the first time, in February 2016, and didn't have the chance to see much of the city. Also, it was bitterly cold, with wet, icy stuff coming out of the sky much of the time - snow we could have handled, but this was just nasty!

This time we had much better luck with the weather and had a wonderful time. We travelled light, with just small backpacks, as we decided we could manage with minimal luggage rather than pay to take more. After an early flight we arrived in Denmark at about 11.30am - everything went smoothly, and the only thing different to a pre-pandemic trip was that we needed to show our vaccination certificates. At the airport we bought Copenhagen Cards, which cover all public transport around Copenhagen and the area around the city, and entrance fees to a wide range of sites. We had done some calculations in advance and reckoned it would be worth buying, if only for convenience - in fact it did end up saving us money as well as making everything much easier. We then got the train into the city, dropped our bags at our hotel and spent the afternoon exploring the city centre and taking a canal tour. 

In the evening we went to the Round Tower, Europes oldest working observatory. Rather than stairs, it has a spiral ramp up to the top. That evening the telescope was manned and open for the public to view. We had hoped to be able to see Saturn and Jupiter, but unfortunately it was too cloudy and the telescope was trained on the City Hall clock instead! We had booked dinner at a restaurant we saw recommended on Trip Advisor, which was superb (not surprisingly as it was rated number 3 out of nearly 2000 restaurants in Copenhagen) - it was expensive by UK standards, but moderately priced for Denmark, and was a real treat. As an added bonus it was less than five minutes walk from our hotel. More by luck than judgement the hotel turned out to be in a great location, just a few minutes walk from the main railway station and the Tivoli Gardens. Everything about it was good, especially the buffet breakfast we enjoyed each morning. 

Our second day was pure fun. TG suggested that we should go to the zoo. We had been before on our first visit to Copenhagen, but it was well worth a second trip. Highlights included lion cubs, a polar bear cub, and giant pandas. One of the wonderful things about the city is how easy it is to get around. For the zoo we just hopped on a bus from the end of our street and were there in ten minutes. By early afternoon we had seen everything we wanted to see, so went back to the hotel for a rest before heading out to Tivoli Gardens for the evening. 

Tivoli is the second oldest theme park in the world - the oldest is just outside Copenhagen - and is an utter joy, with a mix of rides and gardens, all decorated spectacularly for Halloween. We timed it to get the best of both worlds, seeing it both in daylight and illuminated in the dark. 

At one side of the park is the Tivoli Food Hall, accessible both from the park and from the street, which has a collection of small food outlets with a wide choice of cuisines. As it was so close to where we were staying we ate there a few times, either for lunch or in the evening, as it was both reasonably priced (by Danish standards!) and it allowed us to cater to varying tastes. TG and I are rather more adventurous eaters than M. That evening the two of us chose bao buns, while M had chicken and chips (fries). M does not do rides, but TG and I went on a couple; we also had drinks and snacks in the park and I tested out gløgg, a Danish version of mulled wine. It was a magical evening. 

Visiting Copenhagen was like entering a time warp. Denmark has handled the pandemic exceptionally well and the vaccination rates are very high, so much so that in September the government announced that Covid was no longer considered a significant threat in Denmark and all restrictions were lifted. Cases there are rising now. but from a very low level, and the high vaccination level means hospitalisations and deaths are extremely low. Apart from a few left over signs and hand sanitiser stations it was like going back to before the pandemic. Not a face mask in sight, everything totally normal, bustling and busy, but we still felt very safe. We would have loved Copenhagen anyway, but stepping outside the pandemic and, I hope, getting a taste of a post-covid world, was a huge bonus. Respite as well as relaxation.