One day in Copenhagen

So, you have one day in Copenhagen? Copenhagen, the city everyone talks so well about. The city with cute colorful houses you see pictures of on Instagram, the red sausage called ”Pölse” and the city everyone wants to visit. But is Copenhagen that good even?

YES, it is. It is that good. It’s so good that we think that even if you only have one day to spare for Copenhagen, you should go for a visit. Explore the city and stay in one of the hostels or hotels. Go for brunch, buy yourself a vegan ice cream and just stroll around, or even better bike around

Where to stay?

If you’re staying in Copenhagen for a night or two. Why don’t you check in at “Steelhouse Copenhagen“? It’s luxurious, New York inspired hostel in the heart of Copenhagen. You have everything you need within walking distance, such as the central station, stores, restaurants and “Tivoli”. This hostel offers everything from 6-bed dorms to single rooms, all of them luxuriously appointed in a New Yorker-inspired setting. They also have a cinema room, a launch area, a modern kitchen, a pool, and a gym. What more can you wish for? If you want to explore the city, you can rent one of the bikes that the hostel offers.

We stayed here and we enjoyed our stay in “Steelhouse” and if everything goes according to plan, we hope to be back here for World Pride 2021. Hope to see you there!

How to get around?

Copenhagen is a very bike-friendly city and you can bike everywhere. But be aware of your surroundings and follow the rules when it comes to biking.
There are also a few hand signs that might be handy to know:

STOPPING | Extend either arm upwards.
TURNING RIGHT | Extend the right arm perpendicularly to the body.
TURNING LEFT | Extend the left arm perpendicularly to the body.

Our one day in Copenhagen itinerary

We had the opportunity to spend one day in Copenhagen on our travels from Australia to Sweden. We have here collected all the places we had the time to visit and we think you should visit them too.

So let’s start. You ultimate one-day itinerary for Copenhagen comes here:

Early morning in Nyhavn

One of the most popular attractions in Copenhagen is probably Nyhavn. This cozy little harbor in the heart of Copenhagen offers small colorful houses and cozy restaurants. During summer most of Copenhagen sightseeing boats leave from here. It was also home to the Danish writer H.C. Andersen, who wrote his first fairy tale down in house 20 in 1835. Nyhavn is a must on your one-day itinerary. It is a popular place, especially during summer when you can enjoy the relaxed atmosphere, great food and jazz music. We recommend you to be in Nyhavn early so you don’t have to fight with the crowds, so why not start your day here? Catch the first rays of sunshine (if the sun is out), snap some photos of the picturesque houses, take a morning stroll along the river and just enjoy being in Copenhagen.

Time for Brunch

After strolling around in Nyhavn you will more than likely be pretty hungry (if you didn’t grab a bite of food before heading off to Nyhavn of course). However, we think it’s time to take you for a brunch. A place that we tried and can recommend is “Mad & Kaffe”. There are three different locations of this restaurant and the closest one to Nyhavn is “Mad & Kaffe” in Armagerbo. It is 15 minutes with the bike or 20 minutes with public transport from Kongens Nytorg to Armagerbo.

“Mad & Kaffe” stood out from any restaurant we ever been to before with their concept. Not only did it have a very retro and hipster inspired interior, but you also ordered your food through a breakfast card and you put together your very own breakfast table. And did it taste good? Oh, heck YES it did.

See The Little Mermaid

We moving on from that amazing brunch, next stop: The Little Mermaid, a character created by the famous fairy tale author H.C Andersen. Another very popular and famous tourist hotspot that we don’t think you should miss out on. When you go here expect it to be a bit crowded, as we said, it’s a tourist hotspot. Everyone is trying to get that perfect instagrammable photo with the statue.

Even if you’re not a big fan of crowds we think this place should be on your list over places to visit, even if you just have a quick look at the statue because visiting Copenhagen and not to see her would feel like you’re missing out. If you wouldn’t like the statue, the view from the harbor was stunning and worth a visit.

Visit Kastellet

Right next to The Little Mermaid is Kastellet, so it makes a lot of sense to have that as our next stop during this day itinerary. So that’s how it’s going to be. Next stop: Kastellet.

This is the perfect place to just stroll around, look at the old military building that used to be home to soldiers and commanders. It was also where they used to house prisoners. Strolling around in the area you can also see a beautiful red windmill, that was built in 1847.

Back in the days, Kastellet was used as a city defense system. It is still an active military area but today they consider as a public park and you are free to stroll around as you please.

It’s always a good time for vegan icecream

Now it’s time for you to grab your bike (if you have one), we’re going for vegan ice cream. We’re going to a place called Nicecream. Nicecream has amazing ice cream, the flavors and the creaminess is on point and we can warmly recommend this place, or should we say coldly in this case?

Keep in mind that this nicecream shop is closed Monday and Tuesday and doesn’t open until 2 pm Wednesday to Friday and noon on Saturday and Sunday. You can find more information HERE.

Luckily there’s is other places you can find vegan ice cream at in Copenhagen, for example, “Istid” which opens at noon EVERY SINGLE DAY. Sadly we didn’t have time to try this place out but they are selling organic nitrogen ice cream, how cool doesn’t that sound.

The Botanical Garden

So, you’re enjoying your delicious ice cream now or you’ve already eaten it? However, it doesn’t matter we are leaving anyways. The next stop is the Botanical Garden, which is located in the center of Copenhagen. The Botanical Garden has existed in its current place since 1870. The garden contains more than 13.000 species and is arranged into different sections.

In June 2018 they also opened the doors for the Butterfly House which will be open during the summer season where you can explore the butterflies’ fascinating and transformation at close hand. They also have a Palm House, worth to be noted though is that it cost money to enter the Butterfly House and Palm House and since we are very cheap we didn’t pay to enter these two places. But if you have the money we think it might be worth it. If not, the Botanical Garden is such a beautiful place to just stroll, sit down and just explore.

Freetown Christiania

Tired of flowers yet?
Yeah, we too. Let’s move on.

Next place and the last stop for the day is the Freetown Christiana which is like a society within the society. Prepare for a surprise, walking into Christiania is like being transported to a different place. This small alternative society offers skate parks, music venues, art galleries and countless places to eat. The area is also filled with colourfull graffiti

Everywhere you go you can feel the smell of weed and you can see signs reminding you that they don’t allow you to take any photos in here. This is to protect the people who are selling the weed.

We happened to go to Christiania right during a police search and probably didn’t get the best impression but we do think it’s worth a visit. But remember to follow the rules in Christiania and respect their request about not taking any photos, even how tempting it might be to have snapshots of all the art.

Dinner time

It’s been a long day, a lot of impressions. We’re starving, are you?
We think it’s time for some delicious vegan dinner at “Organic Boho”. It’s close to Christiana and the perfect place to end the day. The “Organic Boho” offers 100% organic and vegan food and gave us the most delicious vegan burger we’ve ever eaten. So this is a restaurant you have to visit during your time in Copenhagen.