Welcome to my latest and also very late blog post. It’s been a long yet really short Christmas, by that I mean the past few weeks flew by and I haven’t made time to blog whatsoever, and my only excuse is that I was either too busy doing nothing or busy actually traveling and finding things to blog about (such a paradox). Anyway, here I am! Maybe one of my many New Year resolutions will be to try blog more.

I was very lucky to spend 5 nights in the beautiful authentic city of Copenhagen at the start of January in the midst of my Christmas break; I literally landed home yesterday. As per usual, I took way too many pictures and ate way too much food. But I also walked so far that my health app on the iPhone is probably on the verge of having a breakdown from abnormal steps.

Copenhagen is such an environmentally friendly city, it was lovely to see people cycling and not be surrounded by the sound of noisy traffic. I didn’t rent a bike because I wouldn’t attempt to keep up with the pace of locals and disturb the constant system in the cyclists lane, but I enjoyed walking instead. My danish friend told me that tourists usually stand out most when they are cycling as they get in the way of locals, but at least they are trying.

***Be weary of the cyclists lane which isn’t always obvious, I was the annoying tourist who nearly got run over by a bike one too many times***

One of the most beautiful parts of the city is Nyhavn, a vibrant area full of colorful buildings along the water. We visited here on our first day and walked along the water towards the little mermaid statue and then discovered the park, Kastellet, which were all close in walking distance. On the walk, we came across cute crafty shops and lovely statues and memorials. We even wandered upon famous landmarks which wasn’t planned.

I found the walk to the little mermaid more enjoyable and scenic than the work of art itself. I love Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytales so was excited to see the monument inspired by his story, but it was too crowded and overwhelming with tourists and buses that ruined the impact. I think walking around Copenhagen by the water and the lovely parks is a better attempt to understand what inspired Anderson than looking at the beautiful statue. Nevertheless, there were two swans gliding which were getting a lot more attention than the statue itself.

Kastellet is such a beautiful fortress by the little mermaid statue with breathtaking views as you can walk high up around the beautiful green area, overlooking the surrounding water and buildings in the area. The windmill, castle, and red buildings are so picturesque and add a homely feel to the place. It is amazing on a sunny day, and walking around here was one of my favorite parts of the trip. It’s free and also an amazing experience. There were some Christmas lights and a tree which made it feel really Christmasy and magical.

There are so many parks, castles, and churches in Copenhagen, where you can walk around and admire the scenery and architecture. Frederiks church has the largest dome in Scandinavia and the inside paintings & architecture are really beautiful. We discovered it accidentally, then strolled into it and sat in quietness. I don’t like taking photographs inside churches as I find it disrespectful, but it’s something you have to experience through your own eyes anyway.

Rosenberg Castle has the most beautiful garden with different shades of red and pink. Parts of the large garden are maze- like and surrounded with ducks and birds. It’s such a tranquil area for a walk or to merely sit down and embrace the beauty. We didn’t venture inside of the castle so never had to pay to enter the garden. For a city that’s known to be expensive, there are so many free attractions to go to and things to do. My favorite part of the trip was walking around beautiful gardens and scenic surroundings.

We stayed in Nørreport which is also known as being a very central area of Copenhagen. Everything was walking distance for us and we were right beside Rosenborg Castle and the botanical gardens. There was the most amazing food market across the road from our Air bnb apartment. Walking around the different food stalls and tasting different food was amazing ❤️

We visited Malmo one of the days which was such a good decision (especially if you have time and are in Copenhagen for 4 or 5 days like us). If you book online a few days in advance, return tickets are roughly 25 euro. The train took 40 minutes and was somewhat scenic as you could look out at the ocean for a part of the way as we passed from Denmark to Sweden. Malmo was so cute and quiet, especially early in the morning, possibly because it was a Sunday at 10am. It was decorated with Christmas lights and Christmas trees with cute yellow buildings.

We visited Malmo castle which had a museum, art gallery and an aquarium. Outside was a large green park surrounded by a lake. Time went so fast here and we easily spent 3 hours in this area. It was a cold winter day so the water was frozen over but inside the castle was nice and warm.

Deciding to walk towards the turning torso tower at first seemed near, as we could see the tallest tower in Scandinavia from nearby. After walking a long distance, we realized it was quite further away than we originally thought. But this walk is worthwhile if you’ve time as the skyscraper is right beside the sea and you can look out at the bridge crossing over to Denmark from the pier. It was refreshing walking by the sea and on our walk back to the city we saw lighthouses, a beautiful sunset and a park lit up.

The food in Denmark was pretty similar to food you’d get in Ireland or anywhere really as you were surrounded with different options. I experimented with different types of fish and some danish bread which was different from anything I’d tried before and very tasty. But my favorite was the pizza over there which is probably my favorite food anywhere but we tried an organic thin based pizza in a restaurant nearby which was delicious. Eating out is rather expensive over there so we made our own breakfast in the morning and ate our dinner out in the evenings which makes it a lot more affordable.

The free town Christiana is such a cool hippy dippy area which is colorful and a separate part of Copenhagen completely, even though it’s right around the corner from the center. Once you walk past the entrance, it’s like a different liberating area full of vibrant life. You have to visit this place! pictures aren’t advised in many parts of it due to the association it has with drugs so be aware of that when visiting and respect the locals wishes.

Copenhagen was an amazing city to walk around and embrace the surroundings. On our last day we went to the Carlsberg Glyptotek art museum which was free on tuesdays. The layout of the museum itself was beautiful and the sculptures were amazing.

There are lots of places you can visit for free in Copenhagen and it’s all walking distance. It’s a beautiful city to just walk around and sip coffee embracing the surroundings. The pubs were very small and crowded, smoking indoors was allowed in some of them so be prepared for the possibility of stinking of fags (not unusual on a night out in Ireland but some people might not be used to it).

Anyway, Copenhagen is an amazing city and I highly recommend visiting it. Even though Tivoli Gardens was closed in the winter, there are still so many other wonderful things to do.

Over and out,

Saoirse