Copenhagen

For my Christmas present in 2018 my partner Neil got me a weekend away in Copenhagen with tickets to a show by one of my absolute all time favourite performers – Andrea Bocelli 😍 I had been to Copenhagen before so had a rough idea what to do

When: March 2019

Travel: Edinburgh to Copenhagen direct (out with RyanAir, back with EasyJet). SAS also fly direct from Edinburgh so shop around to avoid the torture of RyanAir!

Hotel: CitizenM £300 for 3 nights in double room. Love CitizenM for city breaks!

Airport Lounge: No.1 lounge at Edinburgh airport – our flight was later on in the day so started the holiday early 👌🏽 unlimited Red wine should be banned

Transport: got a taxi from airport to city centre – a very costly mistake but it was a bit later on at night 😬. I’m pretty sure it was like £60. We walked everywhere else and got the train back to the airport.

Things to do:

Walking tour: when travelling in Europe we always like to do the Sandemans walking tour (https://www.neweuropetours.eu) they are hosted by local people and you pay on a tips basis – it’s a great way to get pointers on things to do and helps you get your bearings. On all the tours I’ve done, I’ve noticed people always give good tips too so that’s nice and an indication of the quality across the board!

(Fun fact – the man on the Edinburgh tour told me that for every person he has on his tour, he has to give Sandemans £2.50 and he keeps the rest (I didn’t ask, this info was volunteered but I am a nosey cow so I was glad to have that question answered and that Sandemans don’t seem too scammy to their guides!))

The walking tour last about 2hours with a coffee stop in the middle. The guide took us around the main sights of Copenhagen and to the palace where the royal family live. He also gave an insight to the culture of living in Copenhagen especially for young people and students.

Note – The tour doesn’t take you to the little mermaid because she is quite a walk from town centre so you can wander up there after the tour or take a separate mermaid tour.

Food Market: Torvehallerne

This popular food market is split into two glass buildings with a seating area in between. There was a plethora of eating and drinking options inside both along with some flowers and crafty bits. The food was amazing. I love all the Scandinavian open sandwiches piled with prawns and salad. There were also a good few Spanish stalls and pastry / empanada stalls. We spent a few hours drinking, eating and soaking up the atmosphere before heading on.

Tivoli Gardens:

Probably one of the most famous parts of Copenhagen, Tivoli gardens is an outdoor theme park / concert area / food and drink zone in the city centre. There is a rollercoaster and a few other smaller rides, a stage area, lots of bars / restaurants and themed displays dotted around – it’s very magical!

Warning – Tivoli garden is not open all year round. When we went in March it was closed, you could access the food market bit round the side and view the park but not access the actual park 😬

However, I have been to Copenhagen before (a few years ago at the end of April) when I came to the city with my friends. We saw a performance by a Danish hip hop group, had a few glasses of Carlsberg and went to German/Oktoberfest themed bar. If you go during summer, you could easily spend most of a day there. From the sign posts outside they regularly have activities or performances on when it’s in full swing so definitely worth checking out.

Andrea Bocelli:

The concert was at the Royal Arena venue on our final night. Saving the best until last!

The venue is a good size – holds around 13,000 people and was a sell out the night I was there. Andrea was joined on stage with a female opera singer for most of the performances. The concert was absolutely fabulous – even if you’re not a massive opera fan (which I’m not really I just love Andrea) you would still enjoy it because he did mostly classic songs that everyone would know from films and his latest album has crossover songs with Dua Lipa and Ed Sheehan. But, I still get goosebumps from hearing his renditions of Nessun Dorma and Con are Partiro. Both very moving performances and I am so grateful I’ve had the chance to be at one of his shows.

Food / Drink / Nightlife

Copenhagen has a number of options for the evenings with a mix of local and international restaurants, and a good mix of pubs and bars

Food:

For breakfasts we mostly just went to the 7/11 near our hotel which had a really cool coffee shop / bakery bit. I would be in my element if we had a 7/11 in Edinburgh! Best shop ever. Daily oat milk lattes and pastries where the dream on this trip.

For lunches: we did the food market on one of the days and then we went to an Italian restaurant in centre of town for some wine and pasta.

For dinner: we went to a steak house on our 2nd night – https://herefordvillage.dk which was like 2-3 restaurants in one. We were taken through to the restaurant towards the back. We ordered steak and a few sides and of course red wine. The restaurant had a massive wine selection which was lovely to see! There was also a salad bar to choose from as well.

On the night we went to see Andrea , we went to a Sticks n Sushi https://sticksnsushi.com/da.

where we had a number of delightful dishes including scallops bite/dumplings and beef tetaki 😍 another highlight was some Cremant which is probably my favourite sparkling wine. We ended up quite merry and definitely over ordered on the food but was totally worth it for the experience. A definite highlight of the trip!

Nightlife

Sam’s Karaoke bar: a definite visit for karaoke lovers! We were here pretty much every night. There were good groups of people who were game for a laugh and all up singing a mix of classics and chart. The bar is quite small and smokey but a great way to mix with the locals!

The Old Irish Pub: this place is literally open 24hours – the later it goes on, the more it turns into a sort of bar-club with a DJ – was in my element the whole time, love a good dance!

Nyhavn: one of the most photographed iconic streets in the city. Nyhavn is probably more of a during the day type place but it was lovely sitting outside with a beer watching the world going by! The street features in the walking tour so you definitely won’t miss it!

Overall: Copenhagen is a great city to visit – it’s quite compact and easy to get around. It’s maybe a wee bit on the pricey side for some things but it’s not so bad! If I was to go back I would take a trip across the bridge and visit Malmo in Sweden!