Copenhagen

Holidays by Destination Europe Denmark Copenhagen Places to Go and Things to Do 

Out and About

The Little Mermaid The bronze sculpture of the Hans Christian Andersen character though the industrial backdrop is not the best.

Stroget reputed the world's longest pedestrianised shopping street, street entertainment mainly near Gammeltorv and Nytorv squares.

Vor Frelsers Kirke with elaborate pipe organ and ornate baroque altar and marble cherubs, plus climbable tower of 400 vertiginous steps winding helter skelter style around the outside.

Canal Tours half hourly from Nyhavn taking 50 minutes past the Little Mermaid.

Changing of the Guard at noon when the monarch at home, outside Amalienborg palace.

Tivoli Gardens Opened in 1843 combining small gardens, open air stage shows and a funfair in the closest modern equivalent to 18th/19th century pleasure gardens. Despite the gaudiness, rather charming. Weekend lunchtimes, popular with lunching OAPs, may be a good time for really little children. The shows and children's playground is free but rides cost from DK9 each, usually more. Only open late April to mid September.

Museums

Nationalmuseet Showing Denmark's history with changing exhibitions (one currently on toys, including numerous dolls houses and a treehouse and Lego to play with). Fixed exhibitions include a section on Vikings (jewellery, sacrificial gifts and bodies from Danish peat bogs) and an ethnic section, particularly good on eskimos, including touch and feel galleries. A children's wing includes old style clothes to try on, a Viking boat to climb into, milkmaid churns to carry etc.
Rosenborg Slot Dutch Renaissance style moated palace. Lots of crowns, jewelled swords etc in the treasury.

Exparimentarium . A way out in old Tuborg bottling hall (bus 6 or 650S from the centre) but well worth the trip. Around 300 hands-on exhibits consider sciences and technology with full instructions in English. Fun examples include pulling a giant bubble up around you, using a ship's radar system, testing the efficiency of sun cream (take your own if you like), a DC9 aeroplane gyro, chroma key TV techniques and more.

Kobenhavns U-bads Museum A 20-year-old Soviet Russian Submarine.

The Workers Museum shows working class life in Copenhagen from the ‘30s to ‘50s.

Tojnusmuseet Arms Museum Rifles, suits of armour etc.

Dansk Skole Museum Three floors on traditional Danish schooling.

The Rundetaarm Central, 17th century observatory tower with wide spiral walk to the top. Can still be used by the public in winter.

Parks

Kongenshave Rosenborg Castle and statue of Hans Christian Andersen.

Frederiksberg Have lake with boats for hire.

Kastellet around a castle closed to the public near to the Little Mermaid.

Recommended beaches are north of Copenhagen at Charlottenlund.

Performances

Royal Danish Ballet Famous traditional company, performs a winter season annually but may be touring in summer.

Priors Dukketeater (dolls' theatre) along with an exhibition has performances Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 11am-5pm.

Mainly For Parents

Christiania military camp taken over by squatters in 1971 who run small cafes and ethnic stalls, host live entertainments, and sell specialist bicycles.

Ny Carlsberg Gly The city's best art gallery with Greek, Etruscan, Roman and Egyptian items, modernist and post modernist art including one of the well known Degas dancer sculpture.

Jen Olsen's World Clock in the town hall with 570,000-year calendar showing eclipses solar time, local time and more.

Statens Museum for Kunst (art gallery) With children's section eg with drawing opportunities. Garden tree stumps have been sculpted into animals.

Royal Copenhagen Factory An hour's tour looking at the hand-painting of the porcelain.

Animals

Zoologisk Have (the zoo) including a new tropical house and a children's zoo.

Day Trips

Bakken The world's oldest amusement park and cheaper and less showy than Tivoli, in the Royal Deer Park. Easily reached by train from the centre. Horse and carriage rides from the station.
Denmark's Aquarium with fish from all over the world, north of Copenhagen.

Vikingskibshalten (Viking Ship Museum) at Roskilde, 20m west of Copenhagen where ships have been unearthed in the old port and you can sail in a reproduction long boat.

The castle of Kronborg Slot at Helsingor (mythically Hamlet's Elsinore) with views of Sweden. Nearby the Tekniske Museum has Europe's first successful plane and world's first tape recorder.

The rather more impressive rococo Fredriksborg Slot (castle) at Hillerod.