Copenhagen

December 2012 | Words Anna Norman

Find cheap flights to Copenhagen

Culture

Tivoli Gardens

A stone’s throw from the main Rådhuspladsen square is Copenhagen’s famous amusement park, Tivoli Gardens. Warm your cockles with some hot glögg (mulled wine) as you browse the stalls of its delightful Christmas Market, or take a turn on the rollercoaster.

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

For more highbrow offerings, head to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek for an impressive collection of sculptures and paintings. Works by Danish abstract painter Kirkeby Epiphany are on display here until 30 December.

Copenhagen Opera House

The Lars Henningdesigned Copenhagen Opera House opened in the dockside area of Holmen in 2005. Since then, it has become one of the city’s most emblematic buildings. An opera for children, The Cunning Little Vixen, is showing until 3 February 2013.
Eat

Torvehallen

The central covered food market, Torvehallen opened in autumn 2011, and has become an upmarket spot for daytime dining.

Mother

Kødbyen, the former meatpacking district, has transformed Vesterbro’s eating and nightlife scene since its gentrification in the mid-Noughties. Good bets here are pizza parlour Mother .

Kødbyens Fiskebar

Kødbyens Fiskebar, a swish seafood restaurant popular with the area’s media set.

Falernum

For more laidback nibbles, try cosy wine bar Falernum, on a street known as ‘Little Paris’ due to its cute independent shops and cafés.

Dyrehaven

Friendly Dyrehaven, a retro-style barrestaurant with a wood-panelled bar and intimate booths, is the place to try smørrebrod – Denmark’s famous open sandwich – and other homely dishes.

Café Wilder

Café Wilder is an arty space offering dishes as diverse as blueberry pancakes and braised pork with pomegranate and kale.

Morgenstedet

For a more laidback affair, head to Morgenstedet, a tiny vegetarian restaurant in the Christiania commune.
Sleep

Radisson Blu (SAS) Royal Hotel

In the 1960s, Arne Jacobsen, Denmark’s famous architect and designer, masterminded every aspect of the Radisson Blu (SAS) Royal Hotel (rooms from €187/DKK1,392), from the modernist building to the cutlery in its restaurant. The rooms may have been revamped, but the hotel still retains some of its original design accents.

Bertrams Hotel Guldsmeden

Mix comfort with sustainability at the Bertrams Hotel Guldsmeden (rooms from €205/DKK1,526), where rooms feature four-poster beds and minibars along with organic toiletries. Located on Vesterbro’s main drag, it’s surrounded by cool boutiques and atmospheric cafés, restaurants and bars.
Shop

Christianias Julemarked

If you find the main markets too traditional then head to the Christianias Julemarked. Here you’ll find homemade jewellery, incense sticks and knitted sweaters à la The Killing’s Sarah Lund.
Later

Bakken

Bakken is one of the liveliest clubs in Kødbyen, set in a former butcher’s shop. Its DJs provides revellers with electronic beats and live music until 5am on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.