Copenhagen is a very walkable city, and I spent a lot of time walking around various areas of the city. I also purchased a one week transit pass that allowed unlimited travel on all of the city buses, trams, metro, and trains throughout the northern part of Denmark. These are some of the major sights in Copenhagen. The City Hall marks the center of Copenhagen and the beginning of the Stroget, a pedestrianized walking street filled with stores and restaurants.
Amalienborg Palace is the official residence of the Danish Royal Family. When the flag is flying on top of the palace, that indicates that the Royal Family is in residence. While I was there, the changing of the guard took place. Quite different than at Buckingham Palace!
Rosenborg Castle was built as a summer residence for the Danish Royal Family in the early 1600's, and now serves as the Royal Treasury, where the crown jewels are kept. It is located in a large park in Copenhagen, and was in a very beautiful setting in the midst of the large city.
Nyhavn is a recently gentrified former sailor's hangout along a canal adjacent to the harbor. Former flophouses and warehouses are now restaurants and shops, and definitely one of the places in Copenhagen to hang out and be seen. Hans Christian Andersen lived here at #20 along the canal, where he wrote his earliest stories.
And, of course, no visit to Copenhagen would be complete without a visit to the Little Mermaid, a statue which commemorates the story written by Hans Christian Andersen. The mermaids story goes like this: One day, a young mermaid spies a passing ship and falls in love with a handsome, human prince. The ship is wrecked in a storm, and she saves the prince's life. To be with the prince, the mermaid asks a sea witch to give her human legs. In exchange, she agrees to give up her voice and the chance of ever returning to the sea. And, the witch tells her, if the prince doesn't marry her, she will immediately die heartbroken and without an immortal soul. The mermaid agrees, and her fish tail becomes a pair of beautiful, but painful legs. She woos the prince - who loves her in return - but he eventually marries another. Heartbroken, the mermaid prepares to die. She's given one last chance to save herself: She must kill the prince on his wedding night. She sneaks into the bedchamber with a knife...but can't bear to kill the man she loves. The mermaid throws herself into the sea to die. Suddenly she's miraculously carried up by the mermaids of the air, who give her an immortal soul as a reward for her long-suffering love.
On my first day trip outside the city I traveled by train to Roskilde which is located a short 30 minute train ride, 18 miles from Copenhagen. Eight hundred years ago Roskild was the seat of Denmark's royalty. After arriving at the quaint train station, a short walk brought you to the Roskilde Cathedral, built in the 12th century, which houses the tombs of all of the Danish kings and queens.
I continued to walk from the cathedral through a beautiful park to the Roskilde fjord. It was a beautiful day, and I loved the fresh smell of the ocean blowing in over the beautiful town of Roskild.
My second day trip out of the city was to Frederiksborg Castle, a 40 minute train ride from Copenhagen to the town of Hillerod. The castle was a 20 minute walk from the train station, down the walking street through the center of this small town. Frederiksborg castle is often referred to as the "Danish Versailles". The castle was built from 1602 to 1620, and sits on an island in the middle of a lake. It is surrounded by beautiful gardens, and was a very pleasant way to spend the day.
The third day trip that I took was a 50 minute train ride to Kronberg Castle, located in the quaint city of Helsingor, located on the coast north of Copenhagen. Kronberg Castle is also known as Elsinore, the Anglicized version of Helsingor, and claims a Shakespearean connection due to the productions of Hamlet which have been performed at the castle since the time of Shakespeare himself.After arriving at the small train station, a walk along the harbor brought you to the castle itself. Located on the coast, two miles across the ocean inlet from Sweden, the castle served as a fortified post to tariff merchant ships traveling south to Europe from Scandinavia. Failure to pay the tariff resulted in the ships being fired upon from the castle's cannon. It was another beautiful day when I travelled to this castle, and I enjoyed it very much.
I really enjoyed the one week that I spent visiting Denmark. It is a very beautiful country, with very friendly people, and it is easy to see why Denmark has been named the "World's Happiest Country."
