How to Spend a weekend in Copenhagen

How to spend a weekend in Copenhagen? Well for starters, quite easily. Various districts make up this diverse city, leaving you with plenty to do, and making Copenhagen the perfect weekend getaway.

Our Friday morning started with a 4 am wake-up call, as we headed to the train station, direction Geneva.  The rest of the morning was smooth sailing from Geneva, and we landed in Copenhagen in the late morning.

We had been quite skeptical of our hotel choice the few days leading up to our weekend (Copenhagen is very expensive so naturally we went with the cheapest hotel), but upon arrival were presently surprised, and all was good on the accommodation front.

Copenhagen central...covered in bikes! 

The city of bikes!

The Shopping District

Our hotel was located right behind the main train station, in the Copenhagen V area, making it really easy to head into town on foot, and stumble right into the shopping district of Strøget. One of Europe's largest pedestrian streets, with budget chains shops (shout out to Zara) to some of the most expensive brands (irrelevant to my shopping needs- no shout out here) and everything in between. Among the shops to your left and right, you'll

Freetown Christiania

Beyond Strøget was the area of Christiania, home to Freetown Christiania, a self-proclaimed free state that operates independently from the rest of Copenhagen, where the area is governed by its own set of laws (and doesn't pay taxes)!

The Statue of the Little Mermaid

Located down by the sea front, the Little Mermaid statue, inspired by Hans Christian Anderson's classic fairytale, is one of the most photographed spots in Copenhagen (probably after the canals of Nyhavn).

Tip: the sea front is about a 45 minute walk from the city center, or you can hop on the 1A bus from Copenhagen Central station and be there in under 10 minutes (we bused there and walked back into the city center.

Spot the Dome of the Marble Church

Officially known as Frederik's Church, the dome of the church is the largest in all of Scandinavia. It is located between the Amalienborg Palace and the Opera, in the middle of the elegant area of Frederiksstaden.

The Changing of the Guards at the Amalienborg Palace

As previously mentioned, the Marble Church is right between the palace and the opera, so upon exiting the church we just happened to stumble upon the changing of the guards at the Amalienborg Palace, home to the Dutch royal family. The changing of the guards ceremony (accompanied by the Royal Guards music band) starts at 11:30 am daily.  we just happened to find the palace at the exact time!

The Canals of Nyhavn

Nyhavn is the picture perfect part of Copenhagen, with the canals and colourful buildings that everyone imagines when they think of Copenhagen- and that is exactly what it is like.

Although we didn't spend a lot of time in the Nyhavn area (it was chilly and we needed to be on the move), this is supposedly the spot to be during the summer time months, especially for catching the sunset.

The Carlsberg Brewery

The brewery was the perfect adventure for a rainy last day in Copenhagen.  What makes this brewery in particular so important is that Copenhagen is the city of the first official Carlsberg brewery. Although it started as a small run brewery in the mid 1800s, it has become very well known all over the world, including, North America and Asia.

For only ten euros, you can take a tour through the history of the company, including their famous bottle collection,

old brewing mills,

and horse stable,

Meet Gustav!

And you can't forget the furry four-legged Carlsberg ambassadors who roam around freely...

The tour also comes with two free beers or ciders (Carlsberg owns Somersby!) and there is a restaurant located on the grounds as well. A day well spent!

~ 

A weekend can very easy be spent in Copenhagen, in fact, you'll probably even want more than that if you can manage the time. Copenhagen is a large city with tons to do..and if visited during the spring and summer peak months, you'll also be able to pay a visit to the famous Tivoli Gardens, and amusement park located right in the center of the city!