Copenhagen, Denmark (Pop. 480,000)

When one thinks of Denmark, often ice cream, cookies and Danish pastries coming into mind, as do Hans Christian Anderson fairytales and perhaps Carlsberg beer. More recently, Princess Mary’s marriage to Prince Federeik can induce women all over Australia into dream-like states where she wishes she were the one who had met him at Slipp Inn during the Sydney Olympic games and became a real life princess.

The Danish are famed for their architects and the city’s main buildings are a showcase to the understandings of form and aesthetics. Without the Danes, the Sydney opera house would perhaps not be as famous as it is today. The city’s buildings are a mix of new and old (more old than new) but they work well against one another and make Copenhagen a beautiful city. It's the little things that make Copenhagen so special. Situated on the Eastern part of Zealand, the waterfront of Copenhagen contains the most famous statue in the city. Far and wide, people come to Copenhagen to see this small statue that lies on the rocks of the harbour.

Elsewhere around the city, palaces and royal residences of the world’s oldest surviving monarchy. Jewels and other valuable items are well preserved and organised in museums located all over the city, but perhaps the most highly recommended of those is the Amelienborg Palace located in the King’s Garden.

It is quite easy to find one’s bearings in Copenhagen and being quite flat, walking around is fairly easy. If however, you would prefer to bike, hire places concentrate around the central train station and there are some bike stations around the city that have public bikes that require a 20kr coin as a deposit, returned to you when you re-lock a bike at any one of the stations dotted around the city.

At night, the city’s Tivoli Gardens light up and the part amusement park, part open museum is a great way to spend an evening. Tickets sold can either be bough as an entry only ticket or an unlimited ride ticket. Entry for individual rides however, can also be purchased once inside if you did decide you wanted to go on a ride or two once you are inside. Once inside, restaurants and entertainment is in abundance.

Finally, the best view of Copenhagen can be seen from atop the city hall’s clock tower.

Useful Hint:

Get to the city bike racks early if you are planning to get one of the free bikes available in the city, as they do go fast and are limited in numbers.

Getting here:

• Copenhagen is well connected to Europe by air, served mainly by Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). Some budget airlines do fly to limited cities such as London and other parts of Scandinavia (easyJet and Norwegian come to mind). Copenhagen airport is well connected by a train running into the central railway station.
• DSB is the national train operator and connects Copenhagen to other parts of Denmark, Germany and Sweden.