Copenhagen & surroundings - with trip summary

Will be in Copenhagen for 3 nights in late May, and planning to spend 2 nights in the surrounding countryside.

I would appreciate suggestions on anything (food, hotels, attractions, places to go outside Copenhagen)!

PS - in Copenhagen, Noma and Geranium are booked when we are there (and the 1500 DKK menu pricing is something of a turn off).

thanks much!

If you have a chance, you might want to take a canal boat tour early in your stay to orient yourself.

We like, in no particular order:

1. Spend part of an evening at the Tivoli Gardens, particularly if you are there during a weekend. Between the music, rides, etc., it’s a blast.

2. Walk around Christianshavn (including a climb up the spire of the Curch of our Savior if you are into such things (the stairs are on the outside of the spire)

3. Walk around Nyhaven (picture postcardy and touristy, but grab a beer at a cafe and watch the world go by)

4. Tour Rosenborg Castle and the surrounding park (if you are interested, the David Collection nearby has a nice selection of Islamic art)

5. Go see the Little Mermaid Statute on the waterfront (kidding - my kids love H.C. Andersen)

We have never had a bad meal in Copenhagen - ever. Even the smørrebrød places seem to take real care with their preparations.

You can visit Kronborg castle (of Hamlet fame) in Helsingør. From there a ferry ride will take you to Helsingborg, Sweden. I really enjoyed touring the Sofiero castle (former royal summer home) and gardens. Just one idea if you decide to venture outside Copenhagen. Copenhagen is such a beautiful city, you’re really lucky to be going.

Big fan of the Lousiana MoMA, a short train ride and then bus/10 min walk from the station. You can get a combo train+admission ticket at Copenhagen Central Station. Their permanent collection is just okay but they always have an interesting temporary exhibition or two, and the location is beautiful, on the water with nice grounds and outdoor sculptures. The cafe is also good with upscale Danish-style food and good desserts.

Seconds on both Rosenborg and Kronborg Slots/Castles. Rosenborg is a little gem. The Danish National Museum in Copenhagen has nice collection of Viking stuff. Just outside the city is the Open Air or Frilands Museum which has a bunch of historic Danish dwellings that have been moved and reconstructed, fun to walk around if the weather is nice (I’d do Kronborg over this with limited time). A bit father afield is the Viking ship museum in Roskilde, dramatic building that overlooks the harbor and contains several Viking ships that were pulled from the harbor and reconstructed. There’s also a famous church.

Tivoli is especially nice in the evenings when they light it up. Compared to US amusement parks the rides are pretty low-key but it’s a fun place to have a few beers and walk around.

I’ll have to check with my Danish colleagues to see what restaurants they recommend these days, but Ketchup is a pretty reliable standby and I think there might be one in Tivoli.

thanks for the suggestions, guys - they’re great. My wife loves old castles!

Steve,
If you can get any recs from your Danish colleagues on restaurants, please post them. I’ve tentatively made one reseravation at a spot called Relae (http://restaurant-relae.dk/en)

My wife and I were married in Copenhagen. We spent a week there “establishing residency” and then were married. This was in 1992. I can also recommend Louisiana MoMA and Helsingor. As well as a walk through the Christiana district. A day trip or half-day trip to Malmo, Sweden, is also very convenient.

Okay, here’s input from one of our Danish corporate VPs:

Her characterization of Relae is “good in a very downplayed atmosphere…” She recommended Kokkeriet, and also Il Grappolo Blu for Italian. I’ve eaten at IGB several times altho it’s been a few years and remember it being very good, with a nice wine list that’s strong on Italian selections. She sent me this link for Copenhagen restaurant ratings - in Danish of course but you can at least see the star ratings: http://tinyurl.com/cxd9ysg

I’m waiting to hear back from a couple other folks.

Thanks again, Steve. I’m going to keep the Relae reservation based on your colleague’s review! Unfortunately, Kokkeriet is booked for our open night (a Saturday). Probably will pick from Formel B or Gronbech & Churchill, which seemed to have positive star ratings on AOK.

I did get a + on Formel B from another (American) colleague - she’s also supposed to send me a list of her Copenhagen faves but is traveling at the moment.

Okay, a couple more:

1th http://www.1th.dk - very good but might be tough to get a reservation
Famo http://www.famo.dk - in the fashionable Vesterbro neighborhood, slow Italian with good wines (not super high-end but very good)
This one got a great review in the local press recently: Anmeldelse: Alberto K (on top of the Royal SAS Hotel)

Also, was told that Den Rode Cottage, which is one of the Michelin 1-stars, was good but not great on a recent visit.

thanks much, Steve.

I’ll post some notes when I’m back. Looking forward to seeing Denmark, trying their cuisine…but not paying their wine prices!

Copenhagen and Denmark were great. The weather in late May was beautiful, the people incredibly friendly, the culture laid back. The only downside is how cash flows through your hands like water…(and do use cash as nearly everywhere seemed to charge from 2.5% to 5% if you wanted to pay by credit card).

Restaurants we ended up eating at in Copenhagen were Formel B (French-influenced technique with butter-heavy saucing with Danish ingredients like local beef, ramsons, and various local fish), Relae (less of a technical kitchen but some really good and creative ingredient combinations such as steamed maitake mushrooms served with burnt green onions pureed with wine into a sauce), and Restaurant Melee (styled after a French bistro…I had tartare and a spring lamb stewed in its own stock with milk, dill, little sweet shrimp, and young potatoes…simple but excellent). And as a respite from multi-course meals some good Turkish kebabs at Konya Kebab in the Vesterbro area.

Our first full day there we took the train to Helsingor and toured Kronborg Castle, a very impressive building and military fortification on the Oresund. On the way back to Copenhagen we stopped in Humlebaek and the Louisiana Museum. The museum was stunningly beautiful and had interesting exhibits. It was open until 10PM and the restaurant seemed to have a pretty nice buffet, so hanging out there eating and drinking could make a pretty cool night.

Copenhagen is a city made for walking or biking. We walked a ton through many of the neighborhoods, enjoying the sights, popping into cool bars for a beer - my favorite areas were Vesterbro and Norrebro. Rosenborg Palace, housing the Danish Crown Jewels, was a cool sight, and it’s nearby to a relatively impressive botanical garden which featured the best collection of rhododendrons I’ve seen. Christiana didn’t quite live up to my expectations and it seemed pretty sleazy and crowded with the hash/pot vendors and patrons. Hitting up the design store Illum Bolighus (wish I could take everything home!) on the Strøget was fun. The Round Tower, also on the Strøget, was also worth the time and money for a great view over the city from the top.

Our last full day in Denmark we rented a car and drove a couple hours south to Moens Klint, which are chalk cliffs on the Baltic. Sheer natural beauty. The cliffs are at the eastern end of the island of Moen, a rural and peaceful place. We stopped in Stege and had way too many smørrebrød and a couple good beers at their local micro-brewery Bryghuset Møn. Also hiked a short nature trail over private grazing land to see some wild orchids and get a view over the island to the Baltic.

Heading back north to get closer to Kastrup we spent the night in Køge, a small, pretty, well-preserved market town with many buildings from the fifteen- and sixteen-hundreds. I even found the one store with good prices in Denmark, a clothing store liquidating their inventory in order to change their concept…picked up a couple Bruuns Bazaar items at half-off!

Anyway, had a great time in Denmark and appreciate everyone’s input!

Hello all!

Just to quickly revive a dormant thread: does anyone have any advice on BYO policy in restaurants in Copenhagen (does it even exist?) and also some good wine shops there?

Thanks!
Sam

Sam,

Is it still relevant? When will you go to CPH?

At the better restaurants you normally can BYO but it is quite expensive. I would say normally around 300-400 kr pr bottles ($45-60).

Andreas