Jun 12

Jun 12 Copenhagen, Denmark

A Biker’s Paradise 🚲

Last on our Grad Euro trip was this beautiful Scandinavian city. I had been dying to visit this city for years and we decided to end our trip on this wonderful note.

Day One: We woke up in our bunk beds in our trendy hostel (Steel House) ready to meet Copenhagen. Per the concierge’s suggestion, we rented bikes for the day to see the city. In a surprisingly civil biking environment, we headed for our morning coffee. We arrived at a market in town, Torvehallerne, that had food stands from restaurants of all different cuisines from Mexican to freshly-caught Danish seafood. We had some delicious coffee from Coffee Collective that we would frequent often over the weekend ~ Here is where we experienced the glaring exchange difference from the Danish Krone (Denmark does not use the Euro) to the US Dollar. Our usual coffee turned out to be $15 US….. ouch ~ We biked to brunch at Sonny, where we enjoyed a meal outside in the perfect weather. With our hunger satisfied, we were ready to see all of Copenhagen’s sites. We started our bike tour to the Rosenborg Castle Gardens where we walked through the charming gardens and saw the changing of the guard at the barracks of the Royal Guards. Then we headed to the iconic symbol of Copenhagen, the Little Mermaid Statue, on the other side of the city. After a picturesque bike ride by the water, we arrived at the severely over-crowded statue surrounded by tourists snapping pictures. We biked through the Langelinie Park on our way back to the city to visit the famous colored harbor of Nyhavn. Here we jumped off our bikes and marveled at the instafamous canal- which most definitely lived up to the hype. Like out of a fairytale, this seemingly too dreamy to be real canal was filled with quaint antique jewelry shops and cafes on every corner. We decided to stop by for a negroni and a gin-a-tonic at Apollo Bar which had the most perfect outdoor seating for the warm day. After our drinks, we decided it was time for our caffeine fix so we stopped by the also instafamous Union Kitchen for a latte- known for their coffees with sometimes vulgar writing on it. After a very full day of biking around Copenhagen, we went back to the hostel to get ready for dinner that night. In what we imagined was typical for a Danish it girl, we biked to our Italian dinner at Neighbourhood in our summer dresses and wedges while the sun was going down…

Day Two: After a full day of activity after having done nothing for days but lay on the beach, it was safe to say we were hurting the next day. But with only one day left to see the city, we jumped on our bikes and went off to see the rest of Copenhagen with the little time we had left. We had heard of a new area in the city that was hip and cool amongst the younger Danish crowd. We made our way over to this area and quickly realized we were in quite a different part of town. We had arrived at Christiania or Freetown Christiania, a separate international community & commune totally separate to the country of Denmark. If visiting, it is good to be aware beforehand that this part of town is governed by its own very laid-back rules. On our way back from Freetown Christiania we headed to the glistening Copenhagen Lakes. We biked on the path along the 3 huge lakes and enjoyed the perfect summer day. After, we unwinded with a glass of wine and fries (the standard snack of the trip) on a floating bar on the lake watching the swans swim past. We finished the day and the most perfect trip with dinner at Cantina and got caught on our bikes in the middle of a rainstorm. Copenhagen was sad to see us go and we were sad to leave her!

Recommendations:

Restaurants/ Bars: Torvehallerne, Sonny, Union Kitchen, Neighbourhood, Cantina, & Apollo Bar

Tourist Sites: Rosenborg Castle Gardens, Little Mermaid Statue, Langelinie Park, Nyhavn, Christiania, Copenhagen Lakes