A Weekend in Copenhagen at Christmas
A few years ago my parents moved to Northern Ireland just outside Belfast, my mother’s side of the family lives there and they’ve made it their retirement home. For the past couple of Christmases my parents have very kindly organized a long weekend as a fun trip for us to do together when I come visit at Christmas. It’s a longer flight to Europe so we try to make the most of it. For Christmas 2019 we decided spend a few days in Copenhagen. The conversation went something like this over dinner one night:
Dad: “We should go someplace for a weekend trip when you come at Christmas”
Me: ”I agree that sounds fun, where should we go?”
Mom: “I’ve never been to Copenhagen and I heard the Christmas markets are great!”
Dad: “Done, we’re going to Copenhagen”
Me: :)
It had to be the easiest and fastest family vacation planning meeting ever. We bought plane tickets sometime in the Fall, I was flying in from Chicago and my folks from Belfast, for me it was about a 8.5 hour flight but at least it was direct on SAS airlines. I landed in Denmark airport (CPH) around midday.
Day 1: Once I arrived at the Copenhagen airport, I took a train directly from the airport to the city center, it took about 20 minutes. I was greeted with rainy overcast weather, it’s cold in Denmark! We stayed at the Absalon Hotel in the city center. We chose it for its location, it’s downtown and close to not only the train station, but also within walking distance of the markets, shopping and canals. It’s a nice, simple and clean hotel with a very helpful staff.
After relaxing for a bit, we hit the first Christmas market, all the canals are lit up with Christmas decorations at night and there sidewalks are spotted with reindeer, sleighs and other holiday themes. If you want to be surrounded by the holiday spirit, this is the place to be! We stopped for dinner at the Heering restaurant, highly recommended it was really good! We had the set dinner menu and I had some delicious steak. After dinner it was back to the hotel for long overdue sleep.
Day 2: After a nice continental breakfast at the hotel we headed to one of the most famous tourist spots in the city, the little mermaid statue, or Den lille Havfrue in Danish. Created as an homage to the famous fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. This is on most tourists must do lists when visiting the city! It’s located along the Langelinie promenade which is also a pier. A short taxi ride from the hotel, we got out at a seemingly random roundabout along the water, suddenly out of nowhere about fifty tourists appeared and we knew we were at the right spot! I will say the statue is somewhat small and unimposing but still a special part of the history of the city.
After the little mermaid, we walked along the pier for a while, it’s a straight shot towards the downtown area with all the Christmas markets along the river. With it just being a few days before Christmas, it was busy. We stopped for lunch and a drink at a Starbucks like cafe as all the other places had a wait. One of the things we quickly learned was that Copenhagen is expensive! Literally everything seemed pricey. Lunch cost $65 for a couple sandwiches and some coffees!
After our late lunch we went and visited another Christmas market and stopped by a few ornament shops for Mom. Then it was back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at KoD, a nice steakhouse within walking distance from the hotel.
Day 3: After breakfast at the hotel we are on our way to the Rosenborg Castle, I really wanted to go see a castle and this one is located in the city while most others are located a few kilometres outside the city center. The castle from the outside is beautiful, it was built in the early 17th century and is one of the most famous castles in the area. You are able to walk through all parts of the castle, some of the rooms are roped off but you can still see them. It’s well preserved, though very dark and poorly lit so sometimes its hard to see. The crown jewel room in the basement is the best part, there are some beautiful pieces on display. I recommend walking the grounds if the weather allows, really impressive.
Next was the Glyptoteket Museum, a lovely and big museum in the city. It houses a beautiful collection of over 10,000 works of art from so many different cultures. I especially liked the Monet collection and the Road to Palmyra exhibitions. The cafe in the museum is gorgeous and great for a photo opp! We had a sandwich and soup that was really tasty.
Our last night’s dinner was at a restaurant called Apropos Vesterbro, we really did not have a bad meal in Copenhagen! we turn in early since we have a morning flight.
I thought I would do a round-up of the pros and cons of Copenhagen! I was only in the city for three days but we had a great experience.
Ups:
Clean and well maintained: It’s one of the cleanest cities I have ever been to, granted we were in the nicer more touristy areas, but even so it seemed like everything was in perfect condition.
Easy transportation: It’s easy to drive, take the metro or bus. As a tourist everything is quite close in distance.
Rich with culture: There is a lot of history in Copenhagen, so for a tourist who wants to see museums, castles, historical landmarks that are very old and more this is the city for you.
Downs:
Expensive
Expensive: The biggest drawback to Copenhagen was that everything seemed to be expensive, to the point it was overpriced. The quality of life is high in Denmark and it’s obvious. I think our average meal for three people was over $100! Because of this I don’t recommend it as a quick weekend trip, but rather the type of place you save up for and stay for a while to get the most out of it.
Christmas time: This is really both a plus and a minus! Christmas meant that the markets were open, if you are wanting a place that feels festive and full of holiday spirit then it’s perfect. On the flip side it also meant that lots of things were closed or had reduced hours, like castles, museums and other tourist attractions. It was also cold, the weather at Christmas time is not great, coming from Chicago I was used to it, but next year I’m going to suggest a warm spot.
I was lucky enough to visit this beautiful European city, leave a comment if you have any questions!
