Ideally, a trip is planned only in outlines and general strokes, the details to be filled in organically, spontaneously, as things go.
This weekend was exactly that. So smooth and seemless we couldn’t stop voicing our disbelief.
I met up in Copenhagen with an old friend, whom I’ve known since I was a teenager. We went on our first trip abroad together at eighteen, and these few, ahem, years later are still entirely consonant travellers. Before leaving we decided on only three things — the hotel, a couple of hours booked in a spa (her precondition of the trip!), and the plan to go to the Louisiana Museum a short trainride North of the city. Everything in between developed, effortlessly, as things went. She bought a guidebook on the way to the airport. I read a few articles online and jotted down a list of things that caught my interest. I received some recommendations from friends.
We met at the hotel on Thursday evening. The congenial lady at the front desk suggested walking a couple of blocks South to the Meatpacking District, where we were sure to find a large range of choices. Sitting in the last rays of sunshine with a beer at Warpigs brewery, it soon dawned on us that we were both starving. Looking around a bit at the multitude of options, we set our minds on a good looking fish restaurant, and, despite the hunger pangs, thought it worth a half-hour wait with a bottle of wine. Later, we discovered that Kødbyens Fiskebar is considered one of the best fish restaurants in Copenhagen.
Cake-like sourdough with whipped seaweed butter; white asparagus with lemon verbena, hazelnuts, and kelp; whole turbot with asparagus, pine and cucumber, and new potatoes with roasted onion butter — It was indeed excellent. It was also accordingly priced, and we instinctually adjusted our food budget from then on…
It was a pretty perfect first evening.
High on our list was the Design Museum, which we discovered was closed for renovations, so, even though Friday was forecast to be the worst day weather-wise, we decided to take the chance and walk North toward Assistens Kirkegård and coffee on Jæggersborggade. (We didn’t stop to queue at Meyers Bageri, so focused were we on a good cup of coffee… And so patchy my preparatory research!) The rain started just as we sat down under the awning.
We bought an umbrella and walked back toward the cemetery, where we wandered between showers among the trees, the flowers, the tombs, overtaken by joggers and cyclists, eventually finding our way to Hans Christian Andersen’s and Søren Kirkegaard’s graves, as well as one marked ‘Andreas Morgenrødt - Time traveller - 1996-2064’.
May is a great time to visit Copenhagen, the city is in full bloom. Flowers bursting everywhere; plants — clematis, roses, lilacs — snaking up building facades from seemingly nowhere, through cracks between the stones, straight out of the pavement.
We intended to stop for lunch under shelter of Restaurant Schønnemann, again recommended by the hotel, but when we arrived it was fully booked. We realised only the next day that Friday was Store bededag (Great Prayer Day), a public holiday, which retrospectively explained the somewhat empty streets and the many closed shops. So we retraced our steps to Torvehallerne food market and queued for the unmissable open faced sandwiches at Hallernes Smørrebrød. I was so hungry (again!) that I quickly bought a wedge of Danish cheese from the stall next door while we waited. It was exceptionally good and of course I didn’t make a note of the name.
We had a coffee in the sun on Hauser Plads during a brief clearing, then walked back through the Latin Quarter, under the rain, stepping into every crooked courtyard on the way, and to the hotel to dry off before heading out again for the evening.
Our intention when we left the room around seven thirty was to have dinner at Morgenstedet (identified thanks to the guidebook), a vegetarian restaurant in the heart of Christiania about 45 minutes away. We knew it closed at 9pm, we had time for a leisurely walk along the Københavns Havn. But just a few steps from the hotel we fell upon an inviting courtyard. And stopped for a drink.
Cafés, bars, terraces are everywhere in Copenhagen, and everywhere people are out drinking. Streets are fully alive.
As we left, we stumbled upon more throngs with flights of tiny plastic beer glasses, partying within a beautiful complex of warehouses — the Mikkeller fest. The event was closing and we didn’t have an armband for access, but we found a back way… Just for a peek inside.
These meanderings in the back alleys of the Meatpacking District started to put some time pressure on our plans. We walked briskly, across the Havn, along new developments and magnificent old storehouses, over Olafur Eliasson’s Circle Bridge, fortuitously (had been on my list), across from the ‘Black Diamond’ library.
It was just past nine when we reached Christiania, calm, deserted, the restaurant had closed. We decided to continue. We walked and walked, alongside the last gardens, on Refshalevej, by idyllically located Noma — we took a distant peek, held at arms lengths by the cerberus manning the rope at the entrance — to the former shipyard industrial district Refshaleøen, our steps by then precariously powered by the sole purpose of finding some food.
Miraculously, one stand in the Reffen street food market was still open, with the promise of plantain and domodar. There were a few people queuing in front of us and we both kept a fretful eye on the levels of food left on the hob… was there going to be enough?! We were very very hungry, and the Gambian peanut stew was genuinely delicious — lighter and even tastier than its better-known-to-us cousin mafé. We hailed a taxi home.
According to the pedometer on our phone, we walked 20 kilometers that first day.
Saturday held a very different pace. We rented bikes and cycled a short way to Mad & Kaffe — identified via the very sophisticated method of searching for ‘closest breakfast spots’ on Google maps — where we were early enough to snag a table in the sun. A really lovely breakfast where you can choose a variety of items from the menu to curate the ideal breakfast plate.
Going to a spa is not something I particularly seek out — it may sound a bit disingenuous but it’s true. It’s not a thing I’ve done often, except perhaps that memorable once in Istanbul, long long ago. But my travel companion insisted, who was I to refuse? We went to an astonishing place in the entrails of the old Carlsberg factory. There were pools of different temperatures — hot, warm, cold, very cold — salt water, jacuzzi, a hammam. And a massage. It was, of course, incredibly nice.
Entirely scrubbed and sweated and relaxed, we cycled back to Christiania for lunch at Morgenstedet, which we had missed the night before. We sat in the garden in the sun. Brown rice with crisp steamed vegetables and a creamy vegan Jerusalem artichoke sauce — it was delicious.
Since we were so close (everything is so close by bike!), we cycled further to CopenHill, the green waste power plant enveloped within a ski slope and the tallest climbing wall in the world, for a coffee with extraordinary views of the city and the harbour. We walked the long way up, to get a closer look at the skiers, but were glad to take the glass elevator down with a peek inside the recycling plant.
The rest of the day was spent meandering to picture perfect and sunny and heaving Nyhavn, empty Amalienborg, Frederiks Kirke, the fountain of the goddess Gefion, a glimpse of the Little Mermaid through layers of onlookers, and to striking Nyboder — A housing development planned and first built by King Christian IV in the 17th-century for the sailors of the Royal Navy. Most of the remaining houses date from the 18th century.
Dinner was disappointing. We went back to the hotel and watched the Eurovision song contest. Yes. We. Did!
On Sunday we found another sunny breakfast spot, with the surprise bonus of being along the marathon route (kilometer 19). Copenhagen is the best place to run a marathon, my travelling friend — who used her running shoes every morning while we were there — commented, as the city is entirely flat!
It was our day reserved for the Louisiana Museum, a 35-minute train ride from Copenhagen Central Station. A very beautiful day, we had extended time. All afternoon to sit on the lawn, discover the buildings and every nook of the garden, the pond, the hidden slide (!). Visit the exhibitions, have a panini on the grass for lunch and a glass of wine in the café at the end of the day. What a spectacular place.
Later, great burgers back in the Meatpacking for dinner and on-tap negronis in the living room evening vibes at Bang & Jensen.
Monday is the day to avoid in Copenhagen, we were told. Most museums and sites are closed. But shops were open, so, after closer looks at Christiansborg Palace (Borgen), the seat of the Danish Government, and the 17th-century Børsen building next door, we visited the imposing townhouse showrooms of silver jeweler Georg Jensen and historic porcelain manufacturer Royal Copenhagen, then lost track of time in the Danish design and homewares store Illums Bolighus.
After four flawlessly harmonious days, the last few hours were ridiculously hectic. From the credit card breakdown just as I was about to splurge a bit in Illums Bolighus (I managed to get two small things with some remaining pounds), then a complete standstill at the train station due to an accident (no trains departing) and a rerouting via the metro (much slower trip, though neither is very long), and more credit card breakdown at the airport at the only shop left open past the passport checks. I boarded the plane without food or water (and beginning to remember that I hadn’t had lunch), and two out of four gifts for the family. I bought bars of Kvikk Lunsj for the children on board and airplane snacks for dinner (lunch).
What a spectacular trip.
Ideas for a trip to Copenhagen
Where to stay
Hotel Savoy was really nice, with lovely staff, generous rooms, and very well located. The breakfast is to be avoided, but there are plenty of great breakfast places around, which is always better anyway.
Where to eat
Breakfast and coffee at Mad & Kaffe, Bang and Jensen, and The Coffee Collective
Meyers Bageri, had I known…
Lunch at Restaurant Schønnemann (though we missed it — best to book!), Hallernes Smørrebrød, and Morgenstedet (cash only)
Dinner at Kødbyens Fiskebar and Tommi’s Burger Joint in the Meatpacking District, and Baobab food stand in Refshaleøen
A beer in the last rays of sunshine at Warpigs Brew Pub, a drink at cool laid back Bang & Jensen
Favourite things
Assistens Cemetery and Nørrebro neighborhood
Courtyards of the Latin Quarter
Long walk along the Købenshavn Havn
Christiania at dusk
Refshaleøen and CopenHill’s incredible views of the city
And a special mention for the Design Museum which was closed for renovations when we went but reopens in June 2022.