Spending 48 Hours In Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, is the city of fairytales, the happiest city in the world, home of Hans Cristian Andersen. Visiting Copenhagen is something I have long wanted to achieve. I promised myself at the end of 2018 that I’d have a good go at knocking a few countries off my 40 before 40 list that year. I knew spending 48 hours in Copenhagen had to happen, but I didn’t expect it to be in February.

Honestly only I am silly enough to visit cold countries in the winter, but YOLO, right? This post shows just a fraction of how lovely this city is so if you’ve never been, you really should.

I had 48 hours in the city, spread over three days, and I saved a fortune by swapping two sets of flights on my Hamburg to Copenhagen to Stockholm trip for two coach tickets. I highly recommend doing this to save money on a trip across Europe.

Where to start when spending 48 hours in Copenhagen

As soon as I arrived in the city I dropped my bags at Copenhagen Station, paying less than £5 for a locker for 24 hours. Travelling with Fibromyalgia means getting rid of bags as soon as possible is a must. The station is really central, so this worked well.

The first place I’d recommend you visit is Nyhavn, home of the colourful houses most people think of when they hear the city’s name. Nyhavn was originally an area full of pirates and prostitutes. I found out all about the area’s history on a boat tour around the harbour and some of the many canals.

The tour cost less than £10 for an hour and a half with commentary in English, Danish, German and another language which changes daily (ours was Spanish).

I’d recommend doing a tour like this. It’s the chance for a much needed rest (for me after a long coach journey from Hamburg) whilst seeing a few bits of the city in a short space of time, from a different angle. You usually find out so much information on these sorts of tours too.

There were a few different companies providing a tour. Think about booking online beforehand if you’re visiting the city during a busier period, so you don’t miss out.

Visiting Copenhagen: Is The Little Mermaid worth the walk?

I first spotted The Little Mermaid from the boat during my canal cruise from Nyhavn. She was a gift to the city from Danish brewer Carl Jacobsen and is, obviously, inspired by the Hans Cristian Anderson story.

The poor mermaid has been vandalised a few times, but she’s always been restored back to her original form, ready to welcome visitors to the city. Our tour guide told us she wasn’t that impressive close up.

Anyway, I decided I wouldn’t be happy if I didn’t get the famous shot, so set off anyway. The walk along the harbour to get to her, taking photos as the sun set over the city, took me about an hour and I definitely walked slowly.

I will say that it’s basically a walk along a pretty river to see a not very impressive statue. Most cities have pretty rivers, so if you’re not desperate to see her, there may be better things to do when you spend 48 hours in Copenhagen.

She’s a fairly well known attraction though, so chances are you’re going to want to go and see her anyway. Just lower your expectations a tad before you do.

Wander the canals of Christianshavn while visiting Copenhagen

My next recommendation would be the Christianshavn area. This is still part of the city centre but feels a bit less busy. The many canals gave me a real Amsterdam vibe, as you can see from this photo.

Christianshavn is known for great food. I could have probably found somewhere really amazing while visiting Copenhagen but midweek in February when you’re really hungry isn’t going to be the best time to go hunting for food. I chose a cute looking cafe and went for egg and toast with a cup of tea, to start my day off right.

Decent food, friendly people, not particularly photogenic but filled my stomach with fuel for the day. If you’re a bit more of a foodie, Visit Copenhagen has some great recommendations for food in the Christianshavn area.

Spending 48 hours in Copenhagen: Walk around to Christiania

Now to my favourite part of Copenhagen, the quirkiest area by far. Freetown Christiania is a commune known for a relaxed take on drugs and plentiful street art. I loved the area so much I wrote an entire post on it. Do head over and read that if you want to know more.

It’s worth a visit for the photos to be honest. I’d been a bit worried about heading here alone as I’d read people could be weird about you taking photos where they live. I had no issues, and as with everywhere else, if you’re being respectful you’ll be fine.

Definitely visit Christiania if you’re spending 48 hours in Copenhagen, as it’s a special little place.

When visiting Copenhagen, spend time hunting for colour

Anyone who knows me, has seen my social channels or has seen this blog before will not be surprised to hear that one thing I did during my 48 hours in Copenhagen was hunt down some street art.

Clearly, I’d not seen enough in Christiania! So I enjoyed a couple of hours just walking, not knowing what direction I was headed and seeing what I could spot. Quite a few pieces, as it turned out.

Copenhagen’s street art is plentiful, with lots in Vesterbro and Nørrebro, so it won’t be difficult to find some. The post I’ve linked to above has a handy map too. Next time I’m visiting Copenhagen I’ll be more strategic with my hunting. You can definitely see a lot in an hour or so if you follow the map.

Spending 48 hours in Copenhagen: Head into the centre

Heading into the centre of the city when visiting Copenhagen means you’ve got plenty of shopping, food and attractions. I didn’t manage to get to the Botanical Garden, the Marble Church or Torvehallerne but they’d all be places I’d want to see when visiting Copenhagen again.

City Hall was my next stop, as I wanted to take a photograph and have a look at the building. City Halls in any city tends to be spectacular, and this was no exception, just look at all that gold!

I fancied some nice Copenhagen-themed souvenirs to take home so I also went shopping for an hour before heading along to Rosenborg Slot, the Castle.

I didn’t have the time to explore inside so I took some photos and had a rest in the gardens for a while, before heading back towards central Copenhagen for my final stop of the day.

Find some fun at Tivoli Gardens

Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen’s small but jam-packed theme park, is just opposite the Central Station, so is a really handy location. I had no intention of going in. I’m not a big fan of rides, and theme parks aren’t that fun solo.

But everyone told me I should and I realised the ticket wasn’t that expensive. There’s a just wandering around ticket that costs a third of the price of the one with rides included, for those of us not into rides. So I changed my mind.

I wandered around for a couple of hours taking photos because everything was so pretty lit up at night. There was with fake snow everywhere, fairy lights and an ice rink. I wished I’d planned to spend more time at Tivoli while visiting Copenhagen.

I now know there’s some smaller rides and you can buy single ride tickets on the Tivoli App. This is an option if you fancy trying a couple but don’t want to spend your Kroner on the pricier entrance ticket.

Tivoli Gardens also has plenty of food options and even a couple of ballets. Something for everyone!

Climb the Round Tower for aerial Copenhagen views

The Round Tower was on my list. I wanted to walk the spiral path right to the top for the city views. Anywhere with a sloped path rather than stairs is good with me! It turned out the very top did have stairs, but I still made it up there for gorgeous views of the city.

The tower is on one of Copenhagen’s busiest shopping streets. This means you can grab your souvenirs at the same time. Entrance was 40 Kroner, around £5. For a city meant to be really expensive, that’s comparable to aerial views in every other city I’ve been. Honestly, the views make it worth it for me.

I really enjoyed my time visiting Copenhagen. It’ll definitely make it onto my list of cities I’d visit again. If a travel buddy wanted to go, or if I ended up with a layover where a few hours in the city worked, I’d definitely return.

I didn’t find the city as expensive as I’d been told either. That may be because I didn’t eat out at fancy places, drink alcohol or do much shopping. If you enjoy a good meal and a bottle of wine your experience visiting Copenhagen may be different. Make sure you’ve got plenty of spending money budgeted just in case.

Have you been to Copenhagen before? If you have, what are your thoughts on the city?