Wakeup Copenhagen (Carsten Niebuhrs Gade 11; Tel: 4480 0000; 510 rooms) is a new-style hotel offering reasonable quality at moderate cost. It is a cool, modern, hotel designed in a stylishly functional way by Kim Utzon. Reception is open 24-hours but checking in and out…Read More

Wakeup Copenhagen (Carsten Niebuhrs Gade 11; Tel: 4480 0000; 510 rooms) is a new-style hotel offering reasonable quality at moderate cost. It is a cool, modern, hotel designed in a stylishly functional way by Kim Utzon. Reception is open 24-hours but checking in and out at the self-service terminals, a bit like those at airports, is an uncomplicated procedure as you have already paid for your room when making your reservation. Do this by internet and you save 100 Kr compared with doing it by telephone.

Rooms are comfortable and modern, en-suite, air conditioned and come with multi-channel, flat screen TV, a good-sized desk and a free wireless internet connection as standard. Drinks, sandwiches, cakes and snacks are on sale twenty-four hours a day in the trendy lobby and there is a high-tech business center which can be used free of charge. Breakfast is served from 7.00 to 10.00 in the breakfast restaurant which faces out onto the green strip and the open arena encircling the hotel.

Tivoli Hotel (Kalvebod Brygge; Tel: 4487 0000; 402 rooms) opened mid-2010 so it was very new when we visited. Initially I thought this was adjacent to the Tivoli Gardens but we discovered it was about a kilometre away. The compensation was that there is a free shuttle bus between the hotel and gardens and all hotel guests receive free admission to the gardens.

The hotel’s architecture and many luxurious facilities set it apart from other city hotels but it has yet to receive a star rating. My guess would be four-stars. There is a fitness centre, sauna and pool, playground, brasserie, Stick’N’Sushi restaurant and sky bar and a VIP lounge and breakfast restaurant on the 12th floor. The standard rooms are a reasonable size and most have full height windows to give a feeling of additional space.

Nimb Hotel (Bernstorffsgade 5; Tel: 4588 7000; 13 rooms). This building, bordering on the famed Tivoli Gardens, has been owned by the same family for generations. While its present incarnation as a hotel is brand-new, the look is timeless. There are classic furnishings and top-quality materials arranged with a keen modern eye, The rooms are excellent and very stylish indeed, individually decorated with antique furniture, and they all contain a fireplace and a four poster bed. You don’t necessarily get a room choice; it is just the luck of the draw. The bathrooms, complete with double sinks, have both showers and free-standing bathtubs, excellent Molton Brown amenities and enough counter space for your own cosmetic case.

The Nimb Hotel’s facilities include a 1star Michelin gourmet restaurant, a brasserie with open kitchen, a vinotheque, an exclusive lounge with an open fireplace and a gourmet deli. The deli includes a chocolaterie. The boutique hotel deliberately aims at the top of the market and many people will love its mix of ambience, uniqueness and service.
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Copenhagen has a very active café life. Cafés to the Danes often double as bars and restaurants. There is a huge selection and the good thing is you don’t need to go far to find one. There are few café chains in Copenhagen and no…Read More

Copenhagen has a very active café life. Cafés to the Danes often double as bars and restaurants. There is a huge selection and the good thing is you don’t need to go far to find one. There are few café chains in Copenhagen and no international ones. As a result every café is unique and most have distinctively different coffee. There are cafés all over the city but particularly in the centre.

Copenhagen's cafés and bars, many of them half submerged in cellars or located in picturesque historical buildings, range from traditional to trendy and serve everything from gourmet food to Danish staples such as 'frikadeller' (meat balls) and smørrebrød (open sandwiches). Virtually all cafés and bars serve alcohol and food (brunch is especially popular here), and most stay open until very late, while some even transform into clubs with DJs playing on Friday and Saturday nights.

Of the hundreds available, two stand out in my mind, partly because they are both ancient and traditional.

Cafe Sorgenfri, Brolæggerstræde 8. Tel: 3311 5880

One of the best places to eat good café food in Copenhagen, Café Sorgenfri is ideal for quick lunches and inexpensive meals. For over 150 years, it has been tempting its patrons with good food and the classic Danish smørrebrød (open-faced sandwiches). The restaurant is popular in the true sense of the word with people from all walks of life coming for a meal, a couple of beers and the company. They have a variety of beers, and although not plentiful, the food was good. Local specialities should definitely be considered.

The only negative was that the waiters were all business, with no conversation at all. This was a surprise because we had been lead to believe that this was a place for chilling out. They were efficient, but did not add to the dining experience. The cafe opens Monday to Saturday from 11am to midnight but the kitchen closes at 9pm. Sunday it opens from noon until 5pm.

Café Petersborg, Bredgade 76. Tel: 3312 5016

No, there's not much Russian about Café Petersborg, except that it is located in what used to be the Russian consulate building and therefore attracted Russian sailors. It is one of Copenhagen's oldest restaurants with roots going back to the 1700's. Here they take great pride in serving typical Danish food at reasonable prices.


For lunch you can choose from an overwhelming selection of Danish open-faced sandwiches. The evening menu offers a choice of Danish classics from biksemad, a meat and potato hash, to 'English' minced meat beef. There are also daily specials. On Tuesdays it's roast pork in parsley sauce.


The cosy if somewhat peculiar interior bears witness to the restaurant's long history and is the ideal setting for a solid and traditional meal. The restaurant has been patronised by some notable people including Hilary Clinton.
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We had been told that Tivoli restaurants were 20% more expensive than anywhere else in town for the equivalent product so we went here to eat rather reluctantly. We found several places, however, that we thought were good value and several certainly have a great…Read More

We had been told that Tivoli restaurants were 20% more expensive than anywhere else in town for the equivalent product so we went here to eat rather reluctantly. We found several places, however, that we thought were good value and several certainly have a great atmosphere.

The two oldest restaurants in Tivoli are Café Ketchup (formerly Divan 1) and Divan 2. Divan is a Turkish word meaning 'reception room', and both restaurants were originally tea rooms that served liqueurs, coffee, tea or chocolate while you chatted. Today, both 'Divans' house exclusive restaurants.

Divan 2 is situated at the bank of the Tivoli Lake between the Glass Hall Theatre and the Concert Hall. The interior is classic and elegant with a timeless appeal. The rooms and the large outdoor terrace are the perfect setting for any type of meal. Main courses are between 125-200 DKK.

Ketchup Tivoli is beautifully decorated and it has a genuine international atmosphere. Ketchup Tivoli is a true representative of the new global cuisine with a mix of exotic and traditional Danish/French cuisine. They now serve traditional Danish open sandwiches as served by the world famous caterer Ida Davidsen.

In 2003, Tivoli Gardens added another top-class restaurant, The Paul, to its portfolio. With master chef Paul Cunningham at the helm, The Paul quickly won over both guests and critics with its modern European cuisine. The Paul is situated in the Glass Hall Theatre. In 2004 The Paul was awarded a star in the food lovers bible; Guide Michelin. The Paul continues to hold its status as a Michelin restaurant in 2010. Home-made, delicious snacks are served in the lounge bar while the guests browse over the extensive menu. With food of superior quality and craftsmanship along with an exclusive wine cellar and a staff of the highest reputation, The Paul is the place for extravagant luxury! Main course prices are above 200 DKK

Pafuglen is another favourite although we suggest you go for the atmosphere as much as the food. It has specials of a two-course dinner for 235 Kr or 3-courses for 269 Kr. This includes a choice of Smoked salmon or rump of veal. An a-la-carte menu is also available with the pepper steak at 159 Kr. one of the best dishes.

Groften (Tel: 3375 0675) is one of the older restaurants at Tivoli Gardens. It is situated close to the main entrance to Tivoli not far from the Pantomime Theatre. This place is as popular among celebrities as it is among locals. In the old days, this was just a little café where Tivoli's musicians and workers enjoyed their packed lunches. Today, it is much more serving classic, traditional cuisine. A selection of open sandwiches, shrimp and lobscouse are the ideal specialties of the house. I like the atmosphere and the fact that they have been there since 1874. My favourite dish is Skipperlabskovs which costs 135kr.
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Copenhagen with its booming bistro scene and great restaurants has earned the title of Scandinavia’s gourmet capital. Not only are there a growing number of Michelin-starred restaurants but there are plenty of other options right down to budget outlets.While breakfast and dinner are eaten at…Read More

Copenhagen with its booming bistro scene and great restaurants has earned the title of Scandinavia’s gourmet capital. Not only are there a growing number of Michelin-starred restaurants but there are plenty of other options right down to budget outlets.



While breakfast and dinner are eaten at home, most Danes eat lunch elsewhere. Generally lunch is a cold meal consisting of slices of rye bread buttered and covered with various kinds of sausage, sliced boiled egg or liver paste. Festive versions of the standard lunch have also developed.

Elaborate smørrebrød (open sandwiches) have been known since the 1880s. The classics include buttered rye bread with pickled herring salad, smoked herring, smoked salmon, smoked eel with scrambled egg, corned beef with pickles and horseradish, tongue with vegetable mayonnaise, roast pork with apples and prunes and over-matured cheese with meat-jelly and rum.

The cold buffet is another Danish phenomenon from the late 19th century. It is a buffet with several stages. First guests are served fish, for instance pickled herring, fried herring in vinegar, smoked salmon, warm fish fillets with remoulade, shrimps and other shellfish.

Then follow cold cuts such as sausage, smoked pork fillet, ham, roast beef and liver paste and a section with warm dishes such as rissoles, medallions of pork loin and at Christmas-time roast duck and roast pork with red cabbage. Then come cheeses and finally a section with puddings and fruit. Everything is accompanied by rye bread, white bread and butter.

Nordic food has been making something of a comeback in recent years. One of the driving forces behind the rising popularity of Nordic cuisine is the success of a small restaurant on the Christianshavn waterfront. Noma – a contraction of Nordic Mad (‘mad’ is food in Danish). The exclusive Michelin-starred restaurant was founded by Claus Meyer in partnership with head chef Rene Redzepi with the intention of reinventing Nordic cuisine – something he is now widely credited as having done.


Eating out in Copenhagen's restaurants is a costly affair, with the average price about 50% higher than in southern Europe. This is due in part to the country's high taxes, which are included in the cost of restaurant meals, and also to the comparatively high wages that the staff are paid. Because of the latter, tipping is neither required nor expected unless service is exceptionally noteworthy.
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Most visitors find Denmark an expensive place to eat. This is partly because of the high tax but also because of high wages. One way to minimize costs in Copenhagen is to eat at one of the buffet restaurants that are common in the inner…Read More

Most visitors find Denmark an expensive place to eat. This is partly because of the high tax but also because of high wages. One way to minimize costs in Copenhagen is to eat at one of the buffet restaurants that are common in the inner city. These are very economic when it comes to the food but you need to be careful about drinks. We heard stories about exorbitant charges for water and soft drinks although we didn’t experience this ourselves.

There are many buffet restaurants along or near Stroget. Some have large advertising boards while others use people as mobile advertisements. The going rate appears to be around 69 Kr for lunch and perhaps 99 Kr for dinner. These prices are cheap for Copenhagen restaurants. Here are two that we tried.

Sultan Palace
Valkendorfsgade 34
Tel: 3313 1513
This is just off Stroget near Helligands Church. The staff was friendly and helpful. The food was Turkish-influenced but just about everyone would find things to eat. The quality was pretty good for buffet fare with a selection of couscous, chicken, lamb along with salad, pasta and rice. We ordered Cola and were brought huge glasses which cost about half the price of the food but we didn’t mind as we were really thirsty after many hours walking around the city.

Hollywood.
Mikkel Bryggers Gade 2
Tel: 3333 9294

We looked down a little side street from Stroget and saw a couple of cafes. Hollywood had a lunch buffet and a menu and we decided to try the buffet. The restaurant is decorated with lots of American Hollywood posters and photos of old classic stars with a red-white-black colour scheme. There are tables outside if it's a nice day but we chose to eat inside.
The food here was a little more main-stream than Sultan Palace but the standard was similar. Perhaps there was more choice here. You would not call it gourmet food but we ate plenty and thoroughly enjoyed it. At around 100Kr each, including drinks, it was good value.
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While central Copenhagen is relatively small and quite walkable, most visitors will find that there is need to use some public transport. Over a four-day period, my wife and I used the train, Metro, bus and harbour buses. The great news is that with Copenhagen…Read More

While central Copenhagen is relatively small and quite walkable, most visitors will find that there is need to use some public transport. Over a four-day period, my wife and I used the train, Metro, bus and harbour buses. The great news is that with Copenhagen Cards, we travelled free each time. That not only saved cost but also time. There was no queuing for tickets and no deciding about how to pronounce the required destination. We discovered that the card covered an area way outside the city so we could visit regional attractions such as Elsinore, Hillerod and Rockilde. We had 72-hour cards and would thoroughly recommend them even at the cost of around $85.

The card has several other attractions however. More than 60 museums and attractions that normally charge an entry fee are free with the card. It also offers discounts on many other attractions, activities, restaurants, car rental and on Scandlines’ crossing between Demark and Sweden. It even provided free travel to and from Copenhagen airport.

Obviously, the value of the card to you depends on how many attractions you visit and how many transport tickets you avoid. On a rough count, we would have needed to buy about 12 transport tickets each at a cost of around $4-5 each. We also visited something like 10 museums and other attractions which normally charge up to $12 each. Then add about 4 discounted purchases and you see we got good value. But even if we had only broken even, the convenience was wonderful and was probably worth at least $25 to us.

A real bonus is the Guide that you get with the card. It is in Danish, English and German and it contains maps pinpointing where all the participants in the scheme are located, rail and bus route maps, and tour suggestions depending on your interests. Then there is a complete listing of all attractions, restaurant, shop, etc. that offers value to the card. Each has a detailed description so you can see if it is of interest to you. If you only visited things mentioned in this book, you would probably see and do every worthwhile thing in the Copenhagen region. If you wanted to check out everything it would take you much longer than 72 hours, however. The way the information is presented is excellent. There are many similar cards in cities around the world but the booklet with this card is probably the best and most comprehensive I have ever seen. Full marks to Wonderful Copenhagen for this.

There is also a 24-hour card available at 229 Dk or around $45 but you would really need to be very organised to make full use of that
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The city has recently introduced a new CityCirkel bus, specially geared towards tourists. It runs a circle around the inner city stopping at many of the main attractions. The small eco-friendly electric buses runs every seven minutes (M-F 9AM-8PM, Sa 10AM-4PM, Su 11AM-3PM) and can…Read More

The city has recently introduced a new CityCirkel bus, specially geared towards tourists. It runs a circle around the inner city stopping at many of the main attractions. The small eco-friendly electric buses runs every seven minutes (M-F 9AM-8PM, Sa 10AM-4PM, Su 11AM-3PM) and can be hailed whenever one passes by if there are green dots on the curb. On streets with heavy traffic they also use regular bus stops. You use the same tickets as all other public buses and trains.

The electric driven CityCirkel buses take you to some of Copenhagen's top attractions such as City Hall Square, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum, the Tivoli, The National Museum, Christianborg Palace, Nyhavn and The Round Tower. The buses are shorter and narrower than ordinary buses, therefore, they can run in the narrow streets of the medieval city where the ordinary buses cannot. However, the CityCirkel buses still connect with other means of public transport at City Hall Square, Kongens Nytory, Copenhagen central train station, Nørreport and Vesterport stations as well as with the water buses.


The buses stop at the normal bus stops, wherever it is possible. But the CityCirkel buses also have their own bus stops, and in some places they can be hailed with a wave. A ticket costs 23 Kr. With time, the plan is to make the buses completely free of charge, but for now tickets can be purchased on board the bus. Remember to have coins ready. The CityCirkel runs on a circular trip which takes about an hour if you stay on board. Some visitors do the whole trip then decide where to alight on the second time around.

The small buses can hold 20 passengers, and have been specially designed to cruise the city centre streets of Copenhagen that are not serviced by the regular bus service. There are currently 11 of the yellow buses that run on electric batteries and produce virtually no noise. They are charged each night.

One further option is the CitySightseeing bus that runs three hop-on hop-off tours around the city in open-top double-decker buses. The main line leaves every 30 minutes, while the two other lines depart every hour in high season (Jun-Aug). Outside the peak season, services are halved. The price is 150 Kr for a one day ticket or 220 Kr for a two day ticket which also includes the DFDS canal tour boats.
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Some say the fastest and most flexible way of seeing Copenhagen is on a bike. Forty percent of Copenhageners use their bike everyday and the city has been designed to cater for cyclists with separate bicycle lanes on most larger roads. Cyclists are often allowed…Read More

Some say the fastest and most flexible way of seeing Copenhagen is on a bike. Forty percent of Copenhageners use their bike everyday and the city has been designed to cater for cyclists with separate bicycle lanes on most larger roads. Cyclists are often allowed to ride both ways in one-way streets. If you are not used to biking in a busy city, be very careful in Copenhagen particularly in peak period as the locals ride fast and leave little room for leeway. Don't expect to get a warning when someone wants to overtake you. Always keep to the right and look behind you before you overtake someone — otherwise you could cause some nasty accidents.

In the center of the city, you can get around by the free public city-bikes. These are specially painted by various sponsors and are very simple bikes that you can find on special stands near major places like the main train station, Tivoli Park, the port and numerous other racks throughout the central city. After you insert a 20 Kr coin, akin to the system used for some shopping or airport trolleys, you can take the bike anywhere you want as long as you stay in the inner part of the city marked on the map on the bike. If you are caught outside these borders, you could be faced with a fine (around 1,000 Kr). When you return the bike to some stand again (not necessarily the same one), you will get your money back.

A word of warning though! Don't take away city-bikes that you see somewhere that are not on a stand. There are high chances that somebody will soon return for it and by taking it away you not only deprive them of their transport, but also their money. You will be very unpopular if the user arise while you are getting ready to leave. During the winter you will not find (m)any bikes, as they are being repaired in the local prisons as part of community service.

As an alternative to the city bikes you can rent a bike and these are far more comfortable. You can find a little bike rental shop called CPH bike rental on a side-street to Nansensgade on Turesensgade 10, five minutes from Norreport station. They rent bikes on a daily basis and use the proceeds to finance the shipment of used bikes to Africa. They also arrange city tours and sell picnic baskets. Their prices start at 60 Kr for six hours bike rent. Another bicycle shop is at the Central Railroad Station, where prices start at 75 Kr a day/340 a week.
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While many locals opt for bikes, Copenhagen does have a fairly extensive and efficient bus network. It can be troublesome, though, for visitors to figure out what line to take to their destination as there is little in the way of network maps available at…Read More

While many locals opt for bikes, Copenhagen does have a fairly extensive and efficient bus network. It can be troublesome, though, for visitors to figure out what line to take to their destination as there is little in the way of network maps available at bus stops and schedules rarely include the entire route. This is where our Copenhagen Cards came to the fore because we could just jump on and see if the bus was going in the general direction we wanted. If it turned, we jumped off and tried another bus.

There are several types of bus available: regular buses are simply denoted by their number (eg. 10). A buses (eg. A2) are the backbone of the city's bus network which consists of six different lines with frequent departures and stops. During the day time there are no schedules as buses depart every two to six minutes. Many stops do have a small electronic display showing how many minutes are left until the next bus arrives. S buses (eg. 300S) are long express services with few stops and extend far into the suburbs, usually across the radial suburban train network or along corridors with no rail service. They can also be useful between points in the centre as they are faster than other lines.

E buses (eg. 173E) are express rush-hour services of little use to visitors as they mainly service commuters. One exception is line 20E which runs between the central square Kongens Nytorv and the DFDS (Oslo/Szczecin ferries) and cruise terminals. N buses are a network of ten bus lines operating at night between 1AM-5AM daily, when normal traffic is halted, and they are much more frequent at weekends.

The only bus map that we saw in Copenhagen was the one in the Copenhagen Card booklet. This was a good map and showed how bus routes connected with the rail network but frankly if your stay in the city is only for a few days it is probably not worth your while to try to understand the system.

There is a variety of bus serving each route. Some are normal single buses, others are long articulated vehicles and there are also some double-decker units
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The S-train network is basically a suburban rail network. It connects the city center with the suburbs of Copenhagen, and has close to half of the stations within the urban city. The first line was opened in 1934. Today the network forms the heart of…Read More

The S-train network is basically a suburban rail network. It connects the city center with the suburbs of Copenhagen, and has close to half of the stations within the urban city. The first line was opened in 1934. Today the network forms the heart of the public transportation infrastructure in the city, serving around 360,000 passengers a day. It is entirely owned and run by DSB S-tog A?S. We found it an extremely efficient system and were impressed by the size, cleanliness and comfort of the trains.

The system is complemented by the Copenhagen Metro and an extensive bus network. Although owned by different companies, the systems use interchangeable tickets. There is around 170 km of dual track and 85 S-train stations. At most of the end stations other types of trains are at hand for travel to the most remote areas of greater Copenhagen - or for travel across the Oresund to Malmo, Sweden.

In the city center, the trains run below ground level with one underground station. Outside the inner city it runs in the open, often on embankments. The S-train rail network consists of a central section that splits into three radial lines at each end, as the lines reach the outer regions of Copenhagen. The S-trains run on standard gauge railway tracks and are powered by overhead wires. The trains are 8-car articulated units.

The red S-trains will take you to, from and around Copenhagen and most of North Sealand from approximately 05:00 - 00:30 during weekdays. The trains begin to operate a little later in the morning during weekends. On Friday and Saturday the trains run once an hour during the night. In the city centre they run once every half hour. Every first Sunday of the month in 2010 you can ride the S-trains for free.

All public transport in Copenhagen, as well as the rest of the country, operates on a zone system. The smallest ticket is the two-zone ticket which costs 23 Kr for adults (11.50 Kr for children under the age of sixteen), and can be purchased from ticket offices, vending machines and bus drivers. Two children under the age of eleven can travel for free with one paying adult. It allows you to travel around Copenhagen in two zones (the zone where you stamped or purchased the ticket plus one adjacent zone) for one hour. You can switch freely between all trains, Metro, and buses within this hour, as long as your last trip starts before the time is up (your ticket will be time-stamped in fifteen minute intervals).

A three-zone ticket from the airport to the central city costs 34.5 Kr. The two big railway hubs are Central Station (Hovedbanegården/København H) with S-trains, intercity trains and buses, and Nørreport Station with S-trains, metro, regional trains and buses.
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