Baltic Cruise: Copenhagen

JUNE 2016

Nyhavn

Copenhagen was a fairy tale… seriously! It was home to Hans Christen Andersen, and it’s easy to see how his spirit influenced this city.

Honestly, we were a bit nervous about Copenhagen. According to the guidebook we were using (since we didn’t book any excursions), the port was quite far from the city, and we were at risk of spending either too much time walking or too much money on a taxi. Luckily, our cruise FINALLY arranged a shuttle the night before we arrived, so we paid a small fee (~$18 round trip per person) and had transportation to and from the port for the day. Phew!

Nyhavn

The shuttle dropped us off about a block from picturesque Nyhavn, which was perfect!! Our original plan was to visit Nyhavn last, but decided to visit it first, which ended up working out perfectly. We quickly boarded a canal boat cruise with Netto Badene, a canal cruise company recommended by good ol' Rick Steves. It was about six times cheaper than the larger canal cruise company, and we got to see everything in Copenhagen! We saw old homes and churches with lots of Scandinavian character, as well as lots of super modern buildings. It truly was a mix of historical and contemporary styles, and no two sights were the same.

Heads up! It's a tight squeeze!

Amalienborg Palace and Square

From the water, one of my favorite sights was the beautiful Amalienborg Palace and Square. I really liked this palace because it is the home of the current royal family of Denmark, and its plaza is open to the public. The palace/square is actually made up of four palaces- one for each of the royal family members (Queen Margarethe and her husband, Crown Prince Frederik and his family, a guesthouse, and the fourth has been converted into a museum). Each of the palaces is equipped with a flagpole, and if the flag is raised, that means there is someone staying in that palace. While we were visiting, Prince Frederik was home! I mean, if I was a princess and I had to live with my family for my whole life, I would want my own palace too!!

I was excited for our final stop on the boat tour, which was the Little Mermaid statue. The Little Mermaid is significant to Copenhagen because her story is one of many from Hans Christian Andersen, Copenhagen's most famous resident from the 1800's.  The statue was quite far from the city, so it was nice to see her from the water. Holy moly, there were a lot of people there. Ariel is on the outskirts of the city because she has been vandalized one too many times. She’s been decapitated, painted, and decorated, so the city decided to move her further out to put her at a lower risk of being altered.

As we ended the tour, the sun decided to come out in full force. It was still quite windy, so it stayed around 60 degrees, but it was perfect for the rest of our itinerary for the day. We had lunch on Nyhavn at Fyrtojet, and we paired our food with a few Carlsberg beers, Copenhagen's famous beer.

After lunch, we continued to explore Copenhagen via our Rick Steves guidebook. It’s a great way to see any city at your own pace, and it is always perfect when it’s just the two of us. The streets of Copenhagen are beautiful. It’s a lot like Amsterdam, its just less “tight” and has fewer canals. One of our favorite stops on our walk was the Church of Our Lady.

This cathedral was built when Denmark separated from the Roman Catholic Church, and embraced the Lutheran Church. As you can see, this doesn't look like a typical Christian church. It feels like more of a Pagan or Greek temple based on the detail, but its definitely not that old! The Danish reformation took place in the early 16th century, but the original church burned down in 1807 and was rebuilt a few years later. The twelve apostles line the walls in this big open space, and even though they're massive in person, thanks to the giant Greek-like columns, they look tiny!

We continued our walk though the city, people watching and taking way too many photos of all of the pretty buildings. Copenhagen's Old Town just has a really cool vibe, especially in the summertime!

At the end of our walk, we stopped by Roseburg Castle and Gardens. The castle is perfectly Danish, complete with a moat! There were tons of locals lounging and enjoying the shade provided by the trees, and plenty of tourists snapping photos. It is possible to do a tour of the castle and treasury, but I’m happy we didn’t go inside for a tour, since it was such a pretty day! The castle and gardens were a great finale to a beautiful day in Copenhagen, and I think we definitely conquered the city. We headed back to our shuttle, and luckily Nyhavn was on the way back, so snapped one final sun-drenched picture, and headed back to the boat.

Rosenborg Castle

Ciao for now, Nyhavn!

Final Thoughts. Copenhagen could have definitely been its own weekend trip! There are plenty of museums, plays, and concerts to enjoy in the summertime, and lots of beer to taste test. One of the excursions on the boat was for Tivoli Gardens, a theme park that supposedly inspired Walt Disney. If I liked roller coasters, we definitely would have considered visiting... but I'm very anti-adrenaline! I would classify Copenhagen as a playful and fun city, as well as very laid back and safe. This is the size city B and I prefer- no one is trying to sell you light up toys and key chains on every corner, and just about all of the restaurants are owned by local families. It was a great pit stop on our cruise, and if we went back one day, I wouldn't be mad about it :)

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