We often find ourselves quoting Richard Ayoade’s Travel Man when we get parked and start exploring somewhere new:
“Well, we’re here – but should we have come?”
We remembered he’d been to Copenhagen and thought we’d compare our 48 hour stint with his. Bearing in mind that Denmark has the 7th highest cost of living and this is the capital city, we knew it might be a challenge to do it justice on a budget…
Getting there
The Storebælt bridge links west and east Denmark – it is impressive, but quite expensive – £44.58 for a one-way crossing in the motorhome. Nearly as much as Travel Man’s £56 flight from the UK!
Accommodation
Richard ‘spaffed’ (his words) £75 a night at the Alexandra hotel. On the park4night app, I found an alternative option close to the Little Mermaid and a short walk from the city centre attractions. Free parking for the weekend – from 5pm Saturdays to 8am Mondays – and big, wide spaces for motorhomes. We got there a little before 5pm (in case it was busy) so had to stump up for a couple of hours parking – the princely sum of £6.34 for 2 nights in the city centre!
Day 1
As we were so close, we started with the Kastellet. This is a perfectly preserved 17th century pentagon-shaped fortress, which still houses various military activities today. Lovely walks, a beautiful windmill and some impressive cannons.
From there, the famous Edvard Eriksen statue of the Little Mermaid was a short walk away. She was completely surrounded by tourists, but still a lovely sight to behold.
On past the Gefion (Norse goddess) Fountain and back home to spruce up for an evening out on the town. We’d heard that as beer is so expensive, Scandinavians have a drink at home before they go out – so we tried that, with some pretzels and beer sausages.
I had a craving for fish – something we’d just not fancied in landlocked countries like Slovakia and the Czech Republic. An ‘all you can eat’ sushi restaurant called Nozomi caught my eye, nearby, good reviews. I didn’t know what to expect and How wasn’t entirely convinced but we wandered along to check it out. Very nice inside, very modern, very Scandinavian. All the sushi made fresh to order. You pay extra for what you order and don’t eat, so you’re encouraged to order a few bits at a time. We were lucky to get a table, as most were reserved. The price was pretty reasonable for Copenhagen and of course we stuffed ourselves, washing it down with a couple of not so cheap Sapporo. We noticed almost every other table just had water to drink!
Copenhagen Jazz festival was on so, our bellies full, we wandered to the Nyhavn area and caught the end of a lively set by piano player and singer Christian Brundgaard. After that, we wandered down Nyhavn and found some music – singer songwriter Thannos entertaining a crowd in the Fisken pub. We set a new record for the cost of 2 beers – £15.67!! How sang a few songs in the intervals, earning himself an IPA off Thannos.
Day 2
Up late (too much Sapporo??), we decided to visit the Christiania area and see some sights. We set Marra up in his rover and wandered via the Frederiks Kirke and the Amalienborg Palace. We just missed the changing of the guard ceremony, but took in the surroundings anyway.
Christiania was originally a hippy commune, created in a former barracks in the 1970s, with the intention to create a self-governing society. Now it’s an alternative community with eco-restaurants, art galleries and music venues. Sounds great, but the bits we saw just didn’t have a nice vibe. The dope sellers on Pusher Street seemed more like tough street gangs than laid back dudes in tie-dyed clothes and Jesus sandals! We didn’t see all of it, so maybe there is another side. We enjoyed chips and a (relatively cheap) beer at Nemoland. They were starting to set up for one of their free Sunday concerts, but we had more sights to see so wandered on.
We wandered back past the parliament buildings – which we’d seen on TV in ‘Borgen’ – and the Bibliotekshaven, the garden of the Royal Library.
As we’d covered a fair distance on our walking tour, we called it a day for sightseeing. I baked a loaf, made some cookies and cooked a 2 course meal at home in the van!
Conclusions:
It’s a nice city, very stylish, very green – cyclists and scooterists everywhere. Friendly people, speaking excellent English. But, as we were warned, booze is expensive!
Cost breakdown:
- Bridge toll: £44.58
- Accomodation: £6.34
- Food & drink: £100.97
- Entertainment: £0
- Attractions: £0
Travel Van costs: £75.95 per person
Travel Man costs (2016): £456 per person
Of course, they did various organised tours (Carlsberg brewery and cycling) that we can’t easily do with the dogs. We didn’t try to do everything, for example, tasting Smørrebrød (Danish open sandwiches), or seeing the botanic gardens and palm house. Something for the ‘maybe next time’ list.