Copenhagen is one of my new favorite cities in Europe! It feels so unique and charming and I loved how easy it was to get around. I'm already planning a future Copenhagen trip with my husband so I will add more to this list in the future!
museums
Glyptoteket - having an art lover dad I’ve been to A LOT of art museums in my life and this may just be my new favorite. The galleries are beautiful and it has one of the most incredible collections of marble sculptures I’ve ever seen. But personally my favorite thing about this museum was the gorgeous building with the absolutely stunning indoor garden. I highly recommend setting some time to visit, sit in the garden and enjoy one of the cafe’s delicious pastries!
Designmuseum - the perfect example of why I love the serendipity of travel. We stumbled into this museum as a way to get out of the rain and it ended up being one of our favorites! There were exhibits ranging from furniture to fashion all capturing Danish minimalism and modern design. My favorite was the chair exhibit!
Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK) - this is a much larger art museum. Their collection has everything from the 14th century to modern day. It is also a beautiful spacious building with a nice little sculpture garden and seating area facing the outdoors.
MACA Museum - Very small museum but it is worth going if you're a big fan of modern art and Bansky. They have a couple of his pieces on display as well as some others by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and KAWS.
National Museum of Denmark - large museum of cultural history. While it focuses mainly on Danish history, there is a pretty large collection of Egyptian and Greek artifacts among other things.
palaces + castles
Rosenborg Castle - this was my favorite castle! There were so many interesting and unique rooms and I absolutely loved the fun facts about each room on the map. The gardens around it are also really beautiful and free to walk around to enjoy some time outside the bustling city.
Christiansborg Palace - this used to be the home of the kings and queens of Denmark but now plays host to functions and events for the royal family and houses the supreme court, parliament, and ministry of state. You can get the combination ticket which includes entrance to the royal reception rooms (the main palace), the kitchens, the ruins under the castle and the stables. If you're on a budget, I would just get the ticket for the royal reception rooms. I didn't find the kitchen or ruins worth visiting and the stables have very particular hours so even though we tried visiting twice, we missed being able to enter each time.
Amalienborg - I didn't go to this one since we didn't have enough time but this is the official home of the Danish royal family!
shopping
Flying Tiger - this is a Danish chain that I absolutely love and visit it whenever I can! It has a bunch of fun little trinkets and the best way I could compare it is to Five Below but better quality and aesthetic. They also have seasonal decor that rotates throughout the year so it's fun visiting the store and see the different holiday and seasonal merch.
Sostrene Grene - this is another Danish chain similar to Flying Tiger but even more aesthetic. They have home decor, craft supplies and food similar to Flying Tiger but everything is in neutral colors. It reminds me a lot of IKEA.
If you're into thrifting, visit the area to the west of Copenhagen University! There are a ton of cool shops and the area has a great vibe for hanging out. Some of the stores we visited are Wasteland, PRAG Indre By, Episode, and Carmen Copenhagen.
other things to do
Tivoli Gardens - unfortunately it was closed when we went but this amusement park inspired Walt Disney to create Disneyland! It looks really pretty from what I could see through the fencing so I look forward to going one day!
Take a canal tour - we did the the Stromma canal tour near Gammel Strand since it was included in our Copenhagen card (more details below) and we loved it! We saw a completely different side of the city we didn't get a chance to see walking. You can also get a glimpse of the Little Mermaid if you don't want to make a trip out there to see her.
Go up the Round Tower - we didn't have enough time to visit but heard the views are beautiful from there!
where to eat
Khmer cuisine - we had never tried Cambodian food before and this restaurant is highly rated and we can see why. The restaurant itself was small but cozy and the staff were super friendly. The food was out super quick and everything was delicious! We tried the chicken Amok (the national dish), the Lok Lak, and the Char Kuytiev.
Isola di Lampedusa - a little further out but if you need to grab lunch near SMK, this is the perfect spot. They have HUGE slices of pizza at affordable prices.
Farumhus - cute little cafe with the best cinnamon roll pastry I've ever had.
Nakorn Thai - the pad thai was sooooo good! It's close to the Design Museum and Amalienborg so it's a great spot to eat at.
WokXpress Store Kongengade - another excellent Asian restaurant near Amalienborg. We had the wonton soup, pad thai, pad see ew, and the green curry and everything was delicious. The pad thai tasted more like a stir fry than true pad thai but still really yummy!
India Royale - you really can't go wrong with Indian food but we loved this restaurant. We got the butter chicken, paneer butter masala, tadka dal, and of course lots of naan.
tips
consider the Copenhagen card - depending on what you're planning to do, it may be worth getting the Copenhagen card. It covers transportation and museum entrances as well as some other stuff! They have a calculator online so you can see if its better to get the card than just individually buying each entrance ticket. We loved it because with all the rain, we ended up popping into a bunch of museums we hadn't even planned on visiting that we loved and didn't have to be worried about buying metro tickets so we used it liberally.
don't make visiting the Little Mermaid a huge part of your itinerary - she's kind of out of the way of other things to do in the city so I wouldn't prioritize going to see her. If you do though, set aside some time to stroll through the park that's on the way to her.
skip Gasoline Grill - this is one of the most recommended food stops in Copenhagen but I'd say don't waste your time or money. The lines are usually super long and wait time kind of crazy for a fast food burger. The burger I had was dry and flavorless and the bun was really greasy. The fries weren't even that good. You're basically paying almost $30 bucks for a mid burger so I would only recommend going if you are a vegetarian or have one in your party because the veggie burger was the only saving grace of this place.
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