We reached Copenhagen via an overnight cruise from Oslo. The first view one gets of the city is the windmills on the harbour.
The sight is beguiling and sets the tone for tourists waiting impatiently to disembark the ship.
First view of Copenhagen Harbour from inside our cabin
Copenhagen is a beautiful city with its vast open vistas, canals and roads running alongside, its beautiful palaces, bicycle lanes and gardens.
As you walk around the city, you can't help but notice some very old buildings with tall spires on their rooftops.
Don't miss the impressive spire on top...
Copenhagen is called the City of Spires!
Day One
Nyhavn, the harbourfront and Ferry Point
We start our trip with a visit to Nyhavn, the harbour front lined with houses with colourful outer facades. This place is every bit touristy and bustling with people from across the globe.
This is the place where all the water ferries start, they run very frequently so waiting time is negligible.
This is the best way to see all of Copenhagen in about an hour, the Christiansborg Palace, Amalienborg Palace, Black Diamond Library, Opera House and the Little Mermaid.
It's a good way to start your vacation in Copenhagen.
Christiansborg Palace
Just about a 10-12 minute walk away from Nyhavn harbour is the Christiansborg Palace. But before setting out for the palace, we decided to gorge on some Danish ice cream.
The street next to the canal where the ferry drops you off is lined with eateries and ice cream parlours, and you will find people sitting on the roadside licking ice creams as they watch ferries come and go.
We take an easy stroll to the palace. Tickets are easily available at the reception counter.
The palace has many wings, the most popular being the Royal Reception rooms and the chapel.
The palace houses the Danish Parliament, the PM's office and the Supreme Court of Denmark. We were happy to discover that a lot of information was written in English on placards next to most attractions inside the palace.
The palace reception rooms are a historical heritage of Denmark and are a treat to watch.
Fun fact - The term 'green room' originated in this palace.
The kings' performers in the palace used a room with all green tapestries as a changing room, so the name stuck.
My Tip -
One can easily spend about two to three hours wandering in the palace and absorbing the interesting bits of information about the royal household.
You can spend the rest of the evening loitering around Nyhavn or walking along Strøget, the longest pedestrian street in Europe.
The street has everything, premium brand outlets like Gucci and Louis Vuitton and everyday shopping brands like Zara and H&M. There are also some old buildings and attractions that you can see as you shop.
I had read a lot about the expression 'Hygge' in Danish, in English it would roughly translate to an overall feeling of well-being.
I think what we experienced in that street on that day was hygge!
Day Two
Amalienborg Palace
We start this day with a visit to Amalienborg Palace. We had seen the stunning palace from our canal boat trip and a closer look sounds like a good idea.
En route to the palace, we came across this bakery.
Sadly, the name eludes me, but one billion flies were certainly not wrong!
We ate a sandwich made of local rye bread, that was to die for and a Danish pastry.
Interestingly, the Danes don't call their pastry Danish.
My Tip -
Amalienborg is the official residence of the Danish royal family. The Amalienborg Palace Square has four palaces. All of them are not open to the public.
Christian VIII Palace houses the Amalienborg Museum where you can take a guided tour through the journey of monarchy in the past 150 years. The private chambers of the king and queen can also be seen on this tour. The tour takes about an hour but has to be booked well in advance. Please check the tour dates and timings beforehand. The official website of the palace is https://www.kongernessamling.dk/en/amalienborg/.
There are four quarters in the castle square and in its centre is a great photo opportunity in front of the impressive statue of King Fredrik the Fifth, who had this part of the city built and named after him.
Also, there is a change of Danish Royal Lifeguards every day at noon.
Exactly opposite to Amalineborg is the impressive modern structure of the Royal Danish Opera.
There is a nice walking path alongside the water body as you step out of the Amanlienborg palace.
The entire area is adorned with stunning artwork including the iconic Little Mermaid.
En route to the mermaid is the magnificent sculpture of 'Gefionspringvandet', a fountain that depicts the story of the Norse Goddess Gefion and her oxen pulling a plough.
The sculpture suddenly appears on the path leaving the pedestrians awe-struck by its sheer size and intricately carved stonework.
We clicked many pictures around the fountain but none of them does justice to this beautiful piece of craftsmanship.
And finally, we reach the Little Mermaid.... for the uninitiated, this little mermaid is the central character of a fairytale written by Danish Author Hans Christian Andersen. The petite statue has been made by Edward Eriksen.
My Tip -
We spent a whole hour around the area trying to figure out why this small statue was so famous. But then that holds for so many tourist attractions.... as a tourist, we wouldn't leave Copenhagen without seeing the Little Mermaid, so there you go!
We took a picture for keepsake and bid goodbye to the little nymph!
We had done our fair share of walking for the day, so in the evening we decided to dine at a local bistro to try out some local delicacies. Some rye bread again and a Danish! Day Three
We head to the Round Tower.
The tower is open all days of the week and can be a fun outing. It dates back to the 17th century and is still a functional observatory. There are so many steps inside the tower, just a wide spiral ramp to walk on. One can see the entire city of Copenhagen from the top.
The climb sounded quite tough in the beginning but the slope is gradual and an easy climb.
There were massive crowds at the entrance.
Although, once inside, one should set aside at least an hour to look around.
Day three also happened to be our last evening in Copenhagen. A trip to this beautiful had to end on a high.
And what better high than a trip to the iconic Tivoli Gardens?
Tivoli Gardens, I learnt, is the second oldest amusement park in the world, preceded by the oldest, Bakken, which also happens to be in Denmark.
We have been to many amusement parks, Disneyland in Hong Kong, La Aventura in Barcelona, and Canada's Wonderland to name a few.
But Tivoli has an unmistakable old-world charm.
We stayed for a better part of the evening in the park to see it all light up as night fell.
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