Copenhagen, Denmark (Norway/Baltic B2B Cruise)

[bksaffle]

We leave on June 29th for our B2B cruises. We will be staying in Copenhagen, Denmark for 2 1/2 days prior to getting on the Magic. We really want to know what are the "Absolute Must Do's" that we should plan for.

Below is what I have been thinking:
1) Tivoli Gardens - is this an all day type of place?
2) Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour: This is a combination Bus/Boat Tour where you get 2 days for the price of 1.
3) Take the train up to Kronborg Castle (Hamlet's Castle).

Anything else, or something better to do? We are doing so many excursions on the cruise, that I don't want to spend a lot of money, but want to take advantage of what is there, because we may never make it back there.

 

[LC30]

I was just recently in Copenhagen for work. Tivoli Gardens in a fun amusement park. I think it's quite pretty at night. Must do if you are a foodie is to get some great food there. Some of the top restaurants in the world are in Copenhagen. Book reservations early for the Michelin star places. It was also fun to see the Little Mermaid and walking around Nyhavn by Kongens Nytorf and the city center area. PM me if you want some restaurant suggestions.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Prepare to do a lot of walking. Copenhagen is a very walkable city. We enjoyed the canal cruise, Ameliaborg Palace, Rosenborg Castle, Tivoli Gardens and the Carlsberg Brewery.

 

[Pens Fan]

I agree that Tivoli is best at night. I wouldn't think it's an all day kind of place, at least not for us. We went for an early dinner and stayed for a few hours after that. It's just lovely, though. Nyhavn is a must do - we fell in love with it. We also loved Rosenborg Palace, Christianborg Palace (ride the elevator up to the tower for an amazing view of the city), strolling the Stroget, and taking a canal cruise. One thing we absolutely loved and wished we could have spent more time on was the National Museum. Absolutely fascinating. It isn't just a museum of Denmark, but of the whole world.

We saw the HOHO buses, but never used them. Copenhagen is very walkable. I don't know the ages of your children, but if they can handle it, walking is the way to go. Get out and explore. Almost everyone speaks English, and a lot of the menus and signage have an English translation. It's just a wonderful city and everyone we met was so helpful and friendly. Have fun!

 

[princesserin1350]

I studied abroad in Copenhagen last spring, you will love it! Late June is a wonderful time to go, the weather should be fantastic. I highly recommend Tivoli Gardens, I would suggest going before sunset and staying late because the lighting they have is truly magical. As much as I love Disney World, Tivoli knocks it out of the park on aesthetic beauty!

Some of my other favorite places in the city included the Round Tower (Rundetaarn), Christiansborg Palace, I always loved getting food from either Copenhagen Street Food or the Glass Market (Torvehallerne), both indoor food markets with lots of different stalls. Please feel free to PM me if you'd like any more information, I always love talking about Copenhagen!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

We leave on June 29th for our B2B cruises. We will be staying in Copenhagen, Denmark for 2 1/2 days prior to getting on the Magic. We really want to know what are the "Absolute Must Do's" that we should plan for.

Below is what I have been thinking:
1) Tivoli Gardens - is this an all day type of place?
2) Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour: This is a combination Bus/Boat Tour where you get 2 days for the price of 1.
3) Take the train up to Kronborg Castle (Hamlet's Castle).

Anything else, or something better to do? We are doing so many excursions on the cruise, that I don't want to spend a lot of money, but want to take advantage of what is there, because we may never make it back there.

We have done all of these last summer in the Magic, loads of photos here.

http://torussiawithmickeybars.blogspot.co.uk/

Tivoli is as long as you want it, I think half a day, but can be a full day. HOHO is good but everything is walkable. Kronburg, is a nice castle, loads of photos on the trip report, train station is the end terminus, but then a ten minute Walk to the castle around the docks, you can see it.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Another cruiser and fellow traveller throwing in my/our love for Copenhagen! We also arrived 2 1/2 days prior to our sailing from Copenhagen last June and although I had been there before when I lived in Europe it was the first visit for DH and DS and it was in their top 3 of favorites places we visited during the whole vacation that was almost three weeks. As others have mentioned, we also walked everywhere and so much that we did up to 10-15 miles a day but loved doing that as we got to see so much and the weather was great.

When we did Tivoli we went at dinner time so it was still sunny outside so we could see all the beautiful flowers (which I do highly recommend) and then ate dinner there and when we were leaving it was starting to get darker and the lights were on so we feel we got the best of both worlds.

The canal tours are so much fun, the Little Mermaid is special, Nyhavn has awesome cafes and ice cream places to sit down and take it all in, Rosenborg gardens are beautiful, the free tower at Christiansborg castle is awesome, gosh so many more things we did while we were there ~ you are in for a real treat!

Have fun!

Heather

 

[mmouse37]

We spent a few days in Copenhagen after our Transatlantic Cruise. We loved it. We stayed at a hotel about 2 blocks from Tivoli and walked all over. We also did the hop on hop off bus and enjoyed that. We took it to see the mermaid statue. We did a canal boat tour, walked the open air mall where the Disney Store was (not really a mall but a street with tons of shopping...forget the name). Had lunch along the water in Nyhavn.

 

[bksaffle]

After some research last night, I found the "Copenhagen Card" for the 4 (Me, DH, DS13, DD13) of us it is $222 for 2 days which includes traveling on all transportation. It also gives us free admission into all sorts of Castles/Museums/Tivoli/Canal Tours/Discounts at Restaurants/etc... I thought this could be a good deal. We have used the London Pass (which is very similar) in the past and it was easy.

 

[SleepyV]

Nyhavn is very pretty and would recommend soaking up the atmosphere here, even if for a coffee and a cake. The cafes provide blankets and heaters on colder days. You can pick the boat tours up from there too. If you choose to walk to the Little Mermaid ( about 15-20 minutes stroll including stops for photos along the way) from there you can walk through a fort dating back to the siege of 1809. Very few people walked through it when we docked with the Magic last year but it is star shaped, the roads are cobbled and was a surprising find for our family. There is a wonderful fountain too just to one side of it.
Depending upon your family interests the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek was a great place on a wet and cold day. It is a sculpture gallery that was donated by the Carlsberg family ( famous for beer brewing). There are Egyptian, Roman, Greek and modern art including Degas's ballerina. We are not an arty family but the day we visited was very cold and wet and we were surprised by how much we enjoyed this.
Copenhagen impressed us so much last year that we have decided to visit it again for 2 ½ days this year before our cruise.

 

[NancyIL]

After some research last night, I found the "Copenhagen Card" for the 4 (Me, DH, DS13, DD13) of us it is $222 for 2 days which includes traveling on all transportation. It also gives us free admission into all sorts of Castles/Museums/Tivoli/Canal Tours/Discounts at Restaurants/etc... I thought this could be a good deal. We have used the London Pass (which is very similar) in the past and it was easy.

I was just going to suggest the Copenhagen Card! Note that it will get you into Tivoli Gardens, but the rides are not included.

In Copenhagen, Rosenborg Castle is a must-see. I haven't been to Kronberg Castle, but I really enjoyed the Frederiksborg Palace: http://www.visitdenmark.com/denmark/frederiksborg-castle-gdk424103

 

[lolainkent]

Another cruiser and fellow traveller throwing in my/our love for Copenhagen! We also arrived 2 1/2 days prior to our sailing from Copenhagen last June and although I had been there before when I lived in Europe it was the first visit for DH and DS and it was in their top 3 of favorites places we visited during the whole vacation that was almost three weeks. As others have mentioned, we also walked everywhere and so much that we did up to 10-15 miles a day but loved doing that as we got to see so much and the weather was great.

When we did Tivoli we went at dinner time so it was still sunny outside so we could see all the beautiful flowers (which I do highly recommend) and then ate dinner there and when we were leaving it was starting to get darker and the lights were on so we feel we got the best of both worlds.

The canal tours are so much fun, the Little Mermaid is special, Nyhavn has awesome cafes and ice cream places to sit down and take it all in, Rosenborg gardens are beautiful, the free tower at Christiansborg castle is awesome, gosh so many more things we did while we were there ~ you are in for a real treat!

Have fun!

Heather

You forgot Copenhagen Street Food, Heather!

Just to chime in - Malmo, Sweden is right across the water. A 30min train ride (I can't remember the cost, but it was cheap and I think Heather's DS was free). We spent a half day over there doing the castle (Malmo Haus) and lunch).

 

[linetbo]

I studied abroad in Copenhagen last spring, you will love it! Late June is a wonderful time to go, the weather should be fantastic. I highly recommend Tivoli Gardens, I would suggest going before sunset and staying late because the lighting they have is truly magical. As much as I love Disney World, Tivoli knocks it out of the park on aesthetic beauty!

Some of my other favorite places in the city included the Round Tower (Rundetaarn), Christiansborg Palace, I always loved getting food from either Copenhagen Street Food or the Glass Market (Torvehallerne), both indoor food markets with lots of different stalls. Please feel free to PM me if you'd like any more information, I always love talking about Copenhagen!

Can I ask you how safe is walking on the red light district at night. Our hotel is there and now I am having second thoughts about it.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

You forgot Copenhagen Street Food, Heather!

Just to chime in - Malmo, Sweden is right across the water. A 30min train ride (I can't remember the cost, but it was cheap and I think Heather's DS was free). We spent a half day over there doing the castle (Malmo Haus) and lunch).

How did I forget Copenhagen Street Food?! That was so much fun and love the concept .

Malmo was also very cool and so glad we did it and Copenhagen was so much fun with you guys!

Heather

 

[Flossbolna]

Can I ask you how safe is walking on the red light district at night. Our hotel is there and now I am having second thoughts about it.

Where exactly is your hotel? We were kind of in the red light district, but found it rather subdued. My sister and I as two women never felt unsafe in any way and did not really notice much. My brother in law walked to the hotel on his own late one evening and he noticed more, but never in an unsafe way at all. Compared to other European cities this was all very understated.

 

[linetbo]

Where exactly is your hotel? We were kind of in the red light district, but found it rather subdued. My sister and I as two women never felt unsafe in any way and did not really notice much. My brother in law walked to the hotel on his own late one evening and he noticed more, but never in an unsafe way at all. Compared to other European cities this was all very understated.

http://www.absalon-hotel.dk/en/

 

[Flossbolna]

http://www.absalon-hotel.dk/en/

You will be fine. We were on Helgolandsgade, but closer to Vesterbrogade. We went out for drinks in the later evenings after dinner on two nights and there were plenty of people in the area just going out for dinner or drinks and not because of any red light. You will see some establishments, but it really did not feel unsafe or anything like that. Also remember that in the summer it is light outside until very late, so that helps with feeling more secure, too. During the day nothing interesting happens at all. There are plenty of nice hotels in the area and they would not stay in business if their customers were often in trouble.

 

[linetbo]

You will be fine. We were on Helgolandsgade, but closer to Vesterbrogade. We went out for drinks in the later evenings after dinner on two nights and there were plenty of people in the area just going out for dinner or drinks and not because of any red light. You will see some establishments, but it really did not feel unsafe or anything like that. Also remember that in the summer it is light outside until very late, so that helps with feeling more secure, too. During the day nothing interesting happens at all. There are plenty of nice hotels in the area and they would not stay in business if their customers were often in trouble.

Thanks!!

 

[princesserin1350]

Can I ask you how safe is walking on the red light district at night. Our hotel is there and now I am having second thoughts about it.

As other posters mentioned, you should not have any problems, especially with the summer nights staying bright so late. As college students, my friends and I were often out quite late (walking in the area 3-4 am!) and never had any issues!

 

[linetbo]

As other posters mentioned, you should not have any problems, especially with the summer nights staying bright so late. As college students, my friends and I were often out quite late (walking in the area 3-4 am!) and never had any issues!

Thanks! I have a teen daughter and I was a little afraid.