Frederiksborg Palace is just one of many Insta-worthy spots in the Danish capital. Photo / Getty Images
From palaces to Viking ships, Bob Wallace ticks off the key attractions in one of Europe’s most popular cities.
Our arrival in Copenhagen was not ideal. Having decided to see some of the Swedish countryside by travelling south to Copenhagen from Stockholm on one of the regular express trains between the two capitals, we originally envisaged comfortably easing into the Danish city’s central station after an interesting five-hour trip.
But before our departure, Swedish Rail advised that the train would not go beyond the most southern Swedish city of Malmo. From there, travellers to Copenhagen Airport (Kastrup) or Copenhagen Central (Kobenhavn H) for still unexplained reasons would have to change to a local train operated by Oresundstag.
This led to the expected rail station melee at Malmo, exacerbated as we scurried with our luggage to the designated platform by an announcement that our local train had switched platforms.
It was an unpredictably hectic start to our Danish experience.
But we soon began to familiarise ourselves more comfortably with this Scandinavian destination, albeit after negotiating two significant events that we happened to coincide with – a major LGBT festival that turned the centre of the city into an alcohol-fuelled crowd-crusher; and the following day, an international Ironman triathlon event that resulted in bus-route and walking diversions.
Together they signalled that there is certainly plenty of life about in “Wonderful Copenhagen” and it is not just resting on its many traditional attractions to draw visitors.
But those established drawcards are still relevant. And the key to opening this box of Danish goodies, particularly as a single traveller, is the Copenhagen Card. Available either at Copenhagen Airport arrival hall or the city’s tourism office in the centre of town and provides entry to a wide range of attractions along with transport perks to cover between one and five days.
Otherwise, through Get Your Guide you can, with a maximum of 15 other tourists, embark on “the grand inner city tour” or better still “the grand day trip” which for around NZ$225 takes in a full-day guided excursion outside the central city to some of the islands of Zealand’s most famous sights – the cathedral of Roskilde, the palace of Frederiksborg, the Viking Ship Museum and Kronborg Castle at Elsinore.
Best known of course is the latter, the Renaissance castle that has been identified for centuries as Hamlet’s home in William Shakespeare’s play about the troubled fictional prince of Denmark.
If you’re not on a tour, get to the castle using your Copenhagen Card and hop on a train from Copenhagen Central station departing every 15 minutes. Just 45 minutes later you will be in Shakespeare territory in the historic port city of Elsinore, or Helsingor as it is called in Danish.
Kronborg Castle, a Unesco world heritage site since 2020, dates back to the 1420s as a fortification that guarded the entrance to the Baltic Sea, but it was around 1599-1601 that it was immortalised by the English playwright and poet. It is believed that his play was inspired by the Scandinavian legend of Amleth, printed in 1514 in Historia Danica.
The fictional prince is omnipresent in Elsinore, from festivals and tours inside Kronborg Castle to statues and even a grave. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or simply Hamlet, as it has become better known, was Shakespeare’s longest play, with 29,551 words.
Ironically, the playwright himself may never have been to Kronborg Castle itself or Elsinore. But that shouldn’t stop anyone from visiting this old city that today also features new architecture, design and gastronomic experiences.
The grand day-trip tour – which very conveniently provides hotel pick-ups and drop-offs - of course provides somewhat more worthy sights than just the attractions of Elsinore. The impressive double-spired cathedral at the former Danish capital, Roskilde, has one particular boast – no other church in the world has as many kings and queens as are buried there _ 39, in fact.
Then there is Frederiksborg Palace, regarded by many as the most beautiful Renaissance castle in Scandinavia. It is certainly the largest and, fittingly, has housed Denmark’s Museum of National History since 1878.
You can say “cheers” to this as the museum was founded by brewer J.C. Jacobsen as a separate department of the Carlsberg Foundation.
Naturally, a grand tour would not be complete without a Viking element. And close to Roskilde Cathedral is the Viking Ship Museum. On display are modern, rebuilt models as well as excavated original vessels from the time when the Vikings conquered much of Western Europe and effectively ruled the North Atlantic.
Back in Copenhagen’s inner city, another noteworthy spot is Nyhavyn (or New Harbour), a 17th-century waterfront, canal and entertainment district lined by brightly coloured 17th and early 18th-century townhouses and bars, cafes and restaurants. The canal also harbours many historical wooden ships.
From here you can also embark on a canal tour that, among other places, will take you by the sculpture known worldwide as The Little Mermaid, as well as through the canals of Christianshavn. The mermaid can also be accessed from the land side with the assistance of Hop-On Hop-Off buses and a decent walk.
Finally, a traveller warning: the inner city is simply stacked with other must-see Copenhagen classics, so do not plan a quick visit.
Further cautions: Perhaps avoid arriving by train – and check the city’s events calendar in advance to avoid blockades.
GETTING AROUND
Buy a Copenhagen Card at the airport or from the city visitor centre. Priced from NZ$100, it is available as a day pass or multi-day pass and provides free one-time access to a number of attractions as well as unlimited travel on local trains, buses, and Metro, including travel to and from the airport, which is handy to the city centre. Each adult buying the card can be accompanied free by two children aged 3-11.
GETTING THERE
Emirates flies daily from Auckland to Copenhagen via Dubai. emirates.com
DETAILS
For more things to see and do, go to visitcopenhagen.com
'We can make three days feel like a week,' one expert said.