Our three-day Copenhagen self-drive
This is what our weekend in Copenhagen without a travel guide looked like from Friday to Sunday. In three days, we discovered secret places, had a slight heart attack from the heights and finally made it to another country as a bonus. Get your comfortable shoes ready, because this is Copenhagen at a good pace!
🗺️ A practical tip to get you started: All the place names in the article are linked directly to Google Maps. Just click and you can save them to your phone for your own trip.
Friday: Green oasis, brutal downpour and changing of the guard
We hit the streets right after arriving. It was easy to get from the airport. We took the metro and in about 20 minutes we were in the center of Copenhagen.
🗺️ To travel by metro, download the rejsekort app (Google Play, AppStore). When you get on the subway or a boat, you simply start the ride here and end it as soon as you get off. You then pay for all your trips at the end of the day.
We chose to warm up Botanical garden. It is a short walk from the Nørreport St. stop, where the metro goes directly from the airport. The Botanical Garden is a great oasis of peace right in the middle of the city. Over 13,000 species of plants grow here in the open air, especially giant century-old trees from all over the world. The giant greenhouses from the 19th century are also popular (but you have to pay an entrance fee).
It stands just a short distance away. Rosenborg Palace – a beautiful Renaissance castle, where the Danish guard still guards the crown jewels. If you want to go inside, you need to buy a ticket online in advance and wait in line to enter. We only had to look outside. In addition, there are beautiful gardens around, where you can walk around and sit on a bench and just enjoy it.
Because traveling is exhausting, our next steps led to a cozy café for coffee and a luxurious dessert. With our batteries charged, we headed to Round Tower. There was a small queue for the entrance fee in front of the tower. You don't have to buy anything in advance, you pay the entrance fee and go up. This tower is unique in that there are no stairs. You climb up a wide, winding ramp, which the Danish king once rode in a carriage to the top. The view of the city from here is worth it.
We took it from the tower via the famous Nyhavn. An iconic canal with colorful houses, where rough sailors once lived and where Hans Christian Andersen wrote his fairy tales. If you walk along the right side of the canal, you will come to a bridge, beyond which is Broens street food. You can stop here for a meal or a drink. Prices are typically Danish – I paid 500 CZK for a gyro with fries.
But the pleasant weather was quickly replaced by the Danish weather. On the way along the embankment past the historic stock exchange Borsen We were caught in such a downpour that we were glad to take shelter in the passage by the palace. Christiansborg. And we weren't alone. After about 20 minutes the rain stopped, so we jumped on the metro and went to check into the hotel. We had booked a classic hotel through booking.com. CPH Studio Hotel, which I can recommend without hesitation. It is a short walk from the center and the airport, 5 minutes from the metro and with breakfast. And it is also a short walk to the beach.
Evening atmosphere and The Little Mermaid
To the square Kongens Nytorv we bought a drink for the trip in a liquor store (it was cheaper than elsewhere on the way) and we reached the modern pier through Nyhavn Ofelia Beach. From here it is just a short walk to the Royal Palace. Amalienborg.
As soon as you enter this magnificent octagonal square, you will immediately feel a majestic atmosphere.
It will surround you all around four identical palaces, which form a perfectly symmetrical whole. The whole thing has a great historical story – the royal family moved here in the 18th century out of necessity after their original castle unexpectedly burned down. But the temporary refuge became the permanent residence of the Danish monarchy, admired by travelers from all over the world.
We were extremely lucky with perfect timing. We managed to get here evening changing of the guard, which has an incredible atmosphere. Watching the Royal Guard in their typical uniforms marching precisely along the historic pavement amidst the monumental palace walls was another experience of the entire Friday marathon. If you visit Copenhagen, definitely don't miss this place in the early evening.
When you're standing in the middle of the octagonal square at Amalienborg, all you have to do is turn your head to the west and the giant, monumental dome will immediately catch your eye. It belongs to the church Marble Church (officially Frederik's Church), which stands just a few steps away and is in a perfect symmetrical line with the palace.
The church has the largest church dome in all of Scandinavia, which was inspired by the famous St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The funny thing is that the church is called "Marble", but due to brutal budget cuts, its construction took an incredible 150 years. Eventually, marble ran out, so it had to be built from much cheaper limestone. But the sight of this giant greenish dome towering over the royal palaces is absolutely iconic and perfectly complements the whole royal atmosphere.
We symbolically ended Friday's marathon at the biggest – and for some, paradoxically the smallest – Copenhagen icon. We set off for Little Mermaids (The Little Mermaid). When you approach her along the Langelinie waterfront, the first thing that comes to mind is: „Oh, she’s really tiny!“ The bronze beauty measures only 125 centimeters and sits calmly on his rock in the sea already since 1913.
Despite its modest dimensions, this statue has a fascinating story. Its creation was completely financed by Carl Jacobsen, the son of the founder of the famous Carlsberg brewery. He was so enamored by a ballet performance based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale that he decided to build a monument to the main character. The model for the head of the statue was the then Danish prima ballerina Ellen Price. However, she reportedly refused to pose nude, so the sculptor ended up having to model the body after his own wife.
Although crowds of tourists crowd the fairy during the day, we caught an absolutely brilliant atmosphere here in the early evening with the sunset.
On the way back to the hotel, we passed a beautifully illuminated fountain. Gefion Fountain and tired, but full of experiences, we fell for our homeland.
Saturday: Secret room, pure adrenaline and burnt out flashlights
We started Saturday practically. Breakfast at the hotel and buying snacks at Lidl. With supplies in our backpacks, we walked along the picturesque canal Christianshavn and headed to the church Our Savior's Church. Here we found out that we had to buy a ticket online for a time slot. So we bought it and since we had an hour and a half to spare, we went to the famous mall Magasin du Nord.
Why? Because he's hiding here. „Hans Christian Andersen's "secret" room! The famous writer actually lived in the attic of this building for 10 years, when the old hotel was still operating. There is a small museum with his furniture, which most tourists don't even know about.
How do you get here? All you have to do is go up to the third floor and find a vacant salesperson. Tell him you want to see the room. He'll take you here, open it for you, and leave you here.
After exploring the room, we returned to the church. Our Savior's Church, where the biggest experience of the whole weekend came for me. Climbing the church tower.
There are 400 steps in total, but the last 150 are on a spiral staircase, which is wrapped completely around the top of the tower from the outside. The whole thing narrows, you only have a low railing next to you and the people around me were regularly getting sick from the open depth. But I really enjoyed it, the view from the giant golden ball at the top is unbeatable.
Right next to the church, we took a few steps and found ourselves in the famous free district. Christiania (Fristaden Christiania), where completely different rules apply than in the rest of Denmark. It is essentially an autonomous state within a state, which was created in 1971, when a group of squatters and hippies occupied an abandoned military barracks. Today, around a thousand people live here, they have their own flag, their own rules (absolute ban on cars, weapons and hard drugs) and, most importantly, a peculiar self-government.
For many years, Christiania was known worldwide mainly for its alley Pusher Street, where marijuana was sold legally and illegally from wooden stalls in an open market. But if you're expecting a drug den, you're in for a surprise. The locals recently decided to crack down on organized crime, literally dredging up the entire Pusher Street, tearing out the cobblestones, and the neighborhood is quickly transforming back into its purely artistic and peaceful form.
Walking through Christiania is an incredible experience. Just walk through the famous wooden gate and you will find yourself in a colorful oasis full of fantastic street art, absolutely crazy hand-built houses, alternative galleries and bistros where the smell of great food wafts. Then, when you walk further along the old moat hidden in the greenery, you will completely forget that you are in a modern Nordic metropolis. You will feel like you have traveled to Jamaica or the alternative neighborhoods of Berlin in a second.
But in the afternoon I was completely tired. We bought ice cream in Nyhavn, I collapsed on the pier and refused to move. Markéta still had energy to give, so she went for a walk by herself to Kastellet fortress, while I just lay there, catching bronze and just watching the water.
We then ended the day in style by completely switching off and relaxing on the beach. Amager Beach Park overlooking the open sea.
Sunday: Airport escape to Sweden
On Sunday morning, after breakfast, we headed to the airport. Our flight was scheduled for the afternoon and we had already seen everything in Copenhagen, so we took advantage of our free time.
Right at the airport we bought a ticket for the train that runs through the famous Öresund Bridge, and they jumped into the Swedish for two hours Malmo.
The quick taste of Sweden was worth it, but I'll write about what you can do in Malmö in just two hours before flying back to Prague next time!
Summary: Is Copenhagen worth it on its own?
If you're still hesitating whether to visit the Danish capital without a travel guide, here's my brief summary from my notebook:
You can do everything from your mobile phone: Copenhagen is a digital paradise. With the Rejsekort app you can solve metro and boat problems, you can find accommodation in no time on Booking and you can buy tickets for the towers online directly on site in just a few clicks. No stress, no paperwork.
Danish prices are survivable: Yes, it's expensive here and five hundred for a gyro at a street food place can take your breath away.. But if you combine hotel breakfast with a quick snack at Lidl and food at the markets, your wallet will handle it without a problem.
The best experiences are free: A walk through free Christiania, relax in the Botanical Garden, evening changing of the guards at the palace or a total switch-off on Amager Beach It doesn't cost you a penny. You only pay for the views, which are really worth the views..
Two countries for the price of one: The location of Copenhagen Airport is brilliant. You can just hop on a train and be off in Sweden in no time., makes a Copenhagen weekend an absolutely unbeatable travel experience.
🗺️ Complete Copenhagen itinerary on your mobile
I didn't want you to have to manually search for all the places in the article on the map. I saved all 21 points of interest (from the airport to the secret room to the beach) in one easy-to-understand list.
For more travel tips and itineraries follow me on Instagram @flori_prg and YouTube channel @flori_prg, where I share videos and stories in real time. You can find more of my experiences, adventures and tips on how to travel without a travel guide, for example to Mauritius or Barbados, in my blog.