Sightseeing
Overview
The heart of Copenhagen is ringed by lakes to the northwest and
by the inner harbour to the southeast. It is characterised by narrow
and predominantly pedestrian streets lined with gabled houses, cafés
and enticing shops. The huge Rådhuspladsen
(City Hall Square) lies at the western end of the central area.
From here, a series of pedestrianised streets (Strøget) extend
to Kongens Nytorv (King’s New Square).
The castles of Rosenborg and Amalienborg
and the seaman’s district of Nyboder are to be found in the
area to the north and east of Kongens Nytorv. Slotsholmen
Island, the site of Absalon’s original bastion, lies
to the southwest. The inner harbour separates the main part of the
city from Christianshavn. This island was first
developed in the 17th century, when Christian IV offered tax incentives
to encourage merchants, tradesmen and shipbuilders to settle there.
During the 20th century, Denmark has achieved international renown
for its contemporary design. Arne Jakobsen’s furniture graces
cool bars and cafés worldwide. In the city, the architectural
heritage of Christian IV is supplemented by daring 20th-century
buildings, including the glittering waterfront extension to the
Royal Library, known as the ‘Black Diamond’.
Tourist Information
Wonderful Copenhagen Tourist Information
Bernstorffsgade 1 (at the entrance to Tivoli)
Telephone number: 7022 2442. Fax number: 7022 2452.
E-mail: touristinfo@woco.dk
Website: www.visitcopenhagen.dk
Opening hours: Monday-Saturday 0900-1800 hrs
(May-June), Monday-Saturday 0900-2000 hrs, Sunday 0900-1800 hrs
(July-August), Monday-Saturday 0900-1600 hrs (September-April).
Use It (Youth Information Centre)
Rådhusstræde 13
Telephone number: 3373 0620. Fax number: 3373 0649.
E-mail: useit@ui.dk
Website: www.useit.dk
Opening hours: Monday-Wednesday 1100-1600
hrs, Thursday 1100-1800 hrs, Friday 1100-1400 hrs (16th September-14th
June), daily 0900-1900 hrs (15th June-15th September).
Use It (Youth Information
Centre) is a separate tourist information office for young,
budget travellers, although a good deal of information useful to
all ages and budgets is contained on their website.
Passes
The Copenhagen Card is valid for either 24 or 72
hours (Dkk 199 and Dkk399 respectively for adults, Dkk 129 and Dkk229
for children up to 15 years) and provides free admission to over
seventy attractions, as well as free travel on all the buses and
trains and a comprehensive guide that includes maps and detailed
information on more than 100 museums, sights and other services.
Both of these cards are available from travel agencies, hotels,
railway stations and at the main tourist information office.
Key Attractions
Rundetårn (The Round Tower)
In the streets to the north of Strøget is the Rundetårn,
the oldest observatory located in Europe. Built by Christian IV
in 1642, the building forms part of a scholastic complex that also
includes a university library and student church. A 209m-long (686ft)
spiral ramp leads to the top of the tower 35m (115ft) above the
street, from where there is a good view over the old parts of Copenhagen
Købmagergade 52A
Telephone number: 3373 0373. Fax number: 3373 0377.
E-mail: post@rundetaarn.dk
Website: www.rundetaarn.dk
Transport: Bus 5A, 7, 14, 16, 17, 24, 43, 84,S-train or Metro to
Nørreport.
Opening hours: Monday-Saturday
1000-2000 hrs, Sunday 1200-2000 hrs (June-August), Monday-Saturday
1000-1700 hrs, Sunday 1200-1700 hrs (September-May).
Admission:
Dkk20.
Tivoli
One of the most famous European amusement parks, Tivoli is a charmingly
bizarre mixture of the natural and artificial. Designed by Georg
Carstensen as a pleasure ground for the masses, Christian
VIII, the then King of Denmark, gave his royal permission for the
amusement park in the heart of Copenhagen. ‘When the populace
are enjoying themselves they forget about politicking,’ the
widely travelled Georg Carstensen reasoned. The park opened in 1843,
visitors had a choice of 2 amusements, a horse-drawn carrousel and
a rollercoaster. Today, there are 25 rides, as well as games and
arcades, two theatres, an open-air stage and a museum. Of the 4
rollercoasters, the ‘Bjergrutschebanen’
(the Mountain Roller Coaster) is the oldest (dates from 1914) and
still the most popular. The Tivoli Boys Guard Band
parade through the gardens at 1730 and 1930 on weekends and public
holidays, with a full orchestra, stagecoach and horses. Crowded,
pricey and unbelievably kitsch, Tivoli remains strangely appealing,
particularly at night when the trees are illuminated with lanterns.
Numerous concerts and special events are held here during the summer,
as well as a Christmas market in December.
Vesterbrogade 3
Telephone number: 3315 1001 or 1012 (ticket centre). Fax number:
3375 0381.
E-mail: info@tivoli.dk
Website: www.tivoli.dk
Transport: Bus 1, 2A, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 28, 29, 30 or
39. S-train to Central Station.
Opening hours:
Sunday-Wednesday 1100-2300 hrs, Thursday and Saturday 1100-2400
hrs, Friday 1100-0100 hrs (mid-April to mid June and mid-August
to mid September), Sunday-Thursday 1100-2400 hrs, Friday and Saturday
1100-0100 hrs (mid-June to mid August).
Admission:
Dkk55/60. Rides cost 1, 2 or 3 Tour Tickets (Dkk10 each).
Waterfront
Nyhavn
(New Harbour) is an inlet off the Inderhavnen, towards Kongens Nytorv
(King’s New Square). Until recently, brothels and bars serving
the visiting sailors dominated this seedy area, now the multicoloured,
17th-century, gabled buildings accommodate bustling restaurants
and pavement cafés serving traditional Danish food beside
a pedestrian thoroughfare and the masts of traditional yachts. Hans
Christian Andersen lived at 3 different houses here and
on his birthday (2nd April) may still be encountered here, in the
form of a person in costume wandering the streets.
A very pleasant walk from Nyhavn along Bredgade to Churchill Park
or along the waterfront beyond the Admiral Hotel (both routes passing
Amalienborg Castle), to the spot in the northeast of the city where
Den Lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid) stares wistfully
out to sea. Erected in 1913, the statue commemorates the Hans
Christian Andersen heroine and has become a global symbol
of Copenhagen.
Nyhavn Inderhavnen
Telephone number: 3312 3233.
Transport: New harbour bus service (telephone number: 3613 1415),
or bus 1, 6, 7, 9, 10, 28, 29, 31 or 41.
Den Lille
Havfrue
Promenade, Langelinie
Transport: Bus 1, 6, S-train to Østerport.
Opening
hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission:
Free.
Rosenborg Slot (Rosenborg
Castle)
Built between 1606 and 1634, Rosenborg was the chief residence of
Christian IV and the main royal palace until the
end of the last century. This redbrick, Dutch Renaissance-style
palace displays the Crown jewels and other royal treasures, dating
from the 16th to the 19th centuries, on the ground floor. In 1999,
the Rosenborg Tapestries, woven especially for
the banquet room of Rosenborg in the late 1600s, were returned to
their original location after some years at Christiansborg Castle.
The gardens (Kongens Have) surrounding the palace were laid out
in 1606 and are some of the most attractive Copenhagen.
Øster Voldgade 4A
Telephone number: 3315 3286. Fax number: 3315 2046.
E-mail: museum@dkks.dk
Website: www.rosenborg-slot.dk
Transport: Bus 5A, 10, 14, 16, 42, 43, 184, 185, 150S, 173E or 350S,
S-train and Metro to Nørreport.
Opening
hours: Daily 1000-1600 hrs (May and September), daily 1000-1700
hrs (June-August), Tuesday-Sunday 1100-1400 hrs (November-April).
Admission: Dkk60.
Amalienborg
Slot (Amalienborg Castle)
Amalia’s Castle has been the winter home of the Danish royal
family since 1794. The 4 identical Rococo palaces face each other
across the octagonal Amalienborg Slot, where the changing of the
guard takes place each day at noon when the family is in residence.
A museum, featuring some of the private chambers and royal treasures
dating from 1863-1947, is open to the public.
Amalienborg
Telephone number: 3312 2186. Fax number: 3393 3203.
E-mail: amalienborgmuseet@c.dk
Website: www.rosenborg-slot.dk
Transport: Bus 1, 6 or 10, S-train to Østerport.
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1600 hrs (May-October),
Tuesday-Sunday 1100-1600 hrs (November-April).
Admission:
Dkk45.
Nationalmuseet (National
Museum)
Located in a 17th-century royal mansion, the National Museum is
the country’s premier historical and cultural institution.
Permanent collections include the history of Denmark from the Ice
Age to 2000, Egyptian, Greek and Italian antiquities and a survey
of indigenous populations. There is also an interactive children’s
museum on site.
Ny Vestergade 10
Telephone number: 3313 4411. Fax number: 3347 3300.
Website: www.natmus.dk
Transport: Bus 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 550S or 650S.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 1000-1700
hrs.
Admission: Dkk50, free on Wednesday.
Statens Museum for Kunst (Royal Museum
of Fine Art)
The Royal Museum of Fine Art houses Denmark’s largest art
collection, including paintings by Rembrandt, Brueghel
and Rubens, works by Titian, Mantegna
and Picasso, and an excellent Matisse collection.
The museum reopened during 1999, after renovation and expansion.
Sølvegade 48-50
Telephone number: 3374 8494. Fax number: 3374 8404.
E-mail: smk@smk.dk
Website: www.smk.dk
Transport: Bus 10, 14, 40, 42, 43, 72E, 79E, 173E, 184 or 185. S-train
to Østerport or Nørreport /Metro to Nørreport.
Opening hours: Tuesday and Thursday-Sunday
1000-1700 hrs, Wednesday 1000-2000 hrs.
Admission:
Dkk50, free on Wednesday.
Ny
Carlsberg Glyptotek
The Carlsberg Glyptotek was built by the Carlsberg
brewer, Carl Jacobsen, between 1897 and 1906. Today, it houses a
superb collection of Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities, Impressionist
masterpieces and Danish and French art by Monet, Gauguin,
Renoir, Degas and Cézanne.
Dantes Plads 7
Telephone number: 3341 8141. Fax number: 3391 2058.
Transport: Bus 1, 2A, 5A, 10, 33, 550S or 650S. S-train to Kobenhavn
H.
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 1000-1600
hrs.
Admission: Dkk40, free Wednesday and
Sunday.
Christiania Free Commune
On the eastern edge of Christianshavn, situated on the derelict
site of a former military barracks, Christiania, the ‘Free
City of Copenhagen’, is a working experiment in alternative
lifestyles and communal living. First occupied during 1970, it is
now home to about 1,000 people and several hundred dogs. Once away
from the drug vendors, clothes stalls and eco-cafés, the
area is seductively rural, with picturesque farmhouses and wooden
cabins overlooking the calm waterways of the Stadsgraven.
Guided tours can be arranged
Prinsessegade/Badsmandsstræde
Telephone number: 3257 9670. Fax number: 3257 6005 (tours).
Website: www.christiania.org
Transport: Bus 8 to Prinsessegade.
Opening hours:
Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.
Further Distractions
Royal
Copenhagen Porcelain Factory
The craftsmanship behind Royal Copenhagen porcelain and an opportunity
to see how Flora Danica tableware is made is provided
by a tour of the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory in Frederiksberg.
It is housed in one of the oldest and most beautiful buildings in
Copenhagen, a Renaissance house dating from 1616.
Smallegade 47
Telephone number: 3814 9297. Fax number: 3814 9915.
E-mail: tourism&events@royalskandinavia.dk
Website: www.royalcopenhagen.com
Transport: Bus 1, 14 or 39.
Opening hours:
Monday-Friday 1000, 1100, 1300 and 1400 hrs
Admission: Dkk40.
Experimentarium
Experimentarium is Denmark’s only science centre, which opened
during 1991 in the old bottling hall of the Tuborg Brewery.
Visitors of all ages can interact with over 300 entertaining and
informative sound and water exhibits and experiments. The centre
also stages science demonstrations, workshop activities and special
exhibitions.
Tuborg Havnevej 7, Hellerup
Telephone number: 3927 3333. Fax number: 3927 3395.
E-mail: info@experimentarium.dk
Website: www.experimentarium.dk
Transport: Bus 6, 21 or 650S. S-train to Hellerup (then bus 21 or
650S) or Svanemøllen.
Opening hours:
Monday and Wednesday-Friday 0900-1700 hrs, Tuesday 0900-2100 hrs,
Saturday and Sunday 1100-1700 hrs.
Admission: Dkk95.
Guinness World
Records Museum
Visitors can experience over 500 outstanding world records, from
the tallest man to the most poisonous frog, and try what it feels
like to drive at 500kph (311mph) or take on the world’s best
boxer. You might even bump into Harry Potter, the
latest addition to the museum because of his phenomenal success.
Østergade 16
Telephone number: 3332 3131.
E-mail: museum@guinness.dk
Website: www.guinness.dk
Transport: Bus 1, 6, 10, 31, 7E, 15E, 17E or 29. S-train or Metro
to Kongens Nytorv.
Opening hours: Sunday-Thursday
1000-1800 hrs, Friday-Saturday 1000-2000 hrs (September-May), daily
1000-2200 hrs (June-August).
Admission: Dkk74.
Carlsberg
Visitors Centre and Carlsberg Museum
Carlsberg is, according to its own long-running marketing campaign,
‘probably the best lager in the world’.
Whether or not visitors agree with that claim, the Visitors Centre
is an intoxicating experience. The tour details the history of the
brewery, as well as the modern processes of the brewery, with a
route through the production plant. At the end, there’s a
chance to sample the finished product. There is also a Carlsberg
Museum, in a beautiful house dating back to 1882, where
extensive exhibits relate more to the cultural and historical relevance
of the family and the brewery.
Carlsberg Visitors
Centre
Gamle Carlsbergvej 11
Telephone number: 3327 1314. Fax number: 3327 4709.
Carlsberg
Museum
Valby Langgade 1
Telephone number: 3327 1273.
E-mail: visitors@carlsberg.com
Website: www.carlsberg.com
Transport: Bus 6 or 18. S-train to Valby.
Opening
hours: Tuesday-Sunday 1000-1600 hrs (Visitors Centre),
Monday-Friday 1000-1500 hrs (Museum).
Admission:
Free. |
