Copenhagen is a very small city (88.25 km²) - at least for me that was born and raised in São Paulo. It has a population of 557,920 (2012). Well to be fair, if you consider the metropolitan area, it goes up to 1,947,944.
I've always read that Copenhagen (or Denmark itself) has one of the highest HDI in the world. Actually they are always shifting top positions with the other Nordic countries in any 'best cities/countries to live in' list you see. Being a tourist, you can't really experience all the things related to that (such as the health system, fortunately).
But you can do experience mobility for instance. They have bike lanes virtually everywhere! And it is not a small lane shared with cars. Pedestrians have their sidewalk, bikers have their lane, and cars have the road. Because of that it is no surprise 36% of all citizens commute to work by bicycle. They also have 2 underground lines and trains. If you get the underground, try to sit on the first seat as they are driverless and you feel like you are on a ride in an amusement park! With all the bikes, bus, underground and trains, I guess they don't know what traffic jam means (at least I didn't see it!)
Also they have plenty of parks! It was ice cold but you could see people running all the time. I bet during the summer it must be crazy. One of these nice parks is the Kastellet. It is one of the best preserved star fortresses in Northern Europe and it was built in 1662. It was my first time in one of those and I found it very interesting. Also close to it, is the statue of the Little Mermaid. The statue was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg (you can also found a smaller version of the statue at the Carlsberg brewery). The Little Mermaid is a fairy tale written by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. There is also a statue of him just beside the City Hall. If you are crazy about him, you can visit his grave somewhere in Copenhagen (I am not sure where).
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| The Little Mermaid |
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| The Coronation chair, the Queen throne and the three lions. Image from the internet. |
In the basement they have also have the crown jewels. Make sure you visit it!
Another nice building you can visit, is the Amalienborg Palace. It is the winter residence of the Danish royal family. It consists of 4 buildings facing each other. Visitors are only allowed to visit one of them. Outside of them, on the square, it is possible to watch the change of the guard. They walk all over the square so wherever you are you get to view them.
There is another palace called Christianborg. It is where the Parliament sits and it is quite big. It looked quite nice from the outside but apparently it was closed so I didn't get to get in unfortunately.
To the south of the city, it is possible to visit the Carlsberg brewery. It was the first brewery so it is a small place. You get to see some old machinery, old carriages used to deliver the beer; they still have a few horses that are used at fairs and special events. They also have a Bottle Museum in there featuring bottles from all over the world. It is a nice collection. The only problem is that they are in a very small place so you don't get to seem half of them! According the Guinness World Records, it is the largest collection of beer bottles in the world.
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| You can't really go in there as there is a glass wall! |
During the summer, the Tivoli Gardens is open. Apparently it is the second oldest (1843) amusement park still working (the first one is also in Denmark). I guess it is worth a second visit to Copenhagen to go there. It looked nice from the outside.
In the city centre there is a tower called Rundetårn (Round Tower), where it is possible to go upstairs to take a look of the city from the above. It was built in the 17th century ordered by Christian IV. It is quite nice and freezing up there!
Of course there are much more to see and visit in Copenhagen but these are the main ones I visited and enjoyed :)
