A Girl’s Guide to Travel, Studying, Working, and Volunteering Abroad

While working on a TV show in May I found out that we were going to have an unexpected 2 week hiatus. I thought about staying home being lazy and just enjoying my time off and sleep in every day until 11am. However I have been suffering from a major case of the travel bug for the past few years now and the moment my mother jokingly said to me “Two weeks off? I’m surprised you aren’t going anywhere!” I started checking out flights for Europe.

I had been hoping for a European vacation later in the summer with the idea of heading to the north, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Not having tons of time though I decided just to travel to Denmark and Sweden and it perfectly worked out that the dates I would be visiting Denmark were the same dates as Chris from the Aussie Nomad.

I am pretty sure we did as much as physically possible in Copenhagen in a 48 hour period (minus the Carlsberg brewery and a few museums because they are closed on Monday’s and partly due to too many other things that we were doing).

Getting to the city center: I flew into the Copenhagen Airport (CPH) from London and it could not of been easier to find the trains to get to the city: just follow the signs and you can’t miss it. I took the train a couple stops from the airport to the Copenhagen Central station which only took 10-15 minutes. Chris took the train from Germany using a Eurorail pass and it dropped him off right at that same station.

Accommodations: I had a hard time deciding where to stay in Copenhagen as the internet was full of bad reviews for every place and all of them seemed more expensive than other hostels throughout Europe (FYI: Denmark is one of the most expensive European countries). My final choice for a hostel was based on location and I stayed at the Danhostel Copenhagen Downtown hostel right in the middle of the city a 2 minute walk to Tivoli and about a 5 minute walk to the train station. A weird thing about this hostel is that they asked the guests to clean everything. Now I understand cleaning up after yourself but there needs to be a certain amount of upkeep on their behalf which was lacking and foam pads and metal bars on beds don’t mix well together. Chris stayed at the Sleep in Heaven hostel on the outskirts of town but he seemed to get around by public transport easily and I’m pretty sure he enjoyed the free wi-fi a fair bit.

Sightseeing: The top tourist attraction in Copenhagen hands down would have to be the famous Little Mermaid statue (Den lille havfrue) which sits in the harbour just off of Langlinie Park. The statue was originally commissioned by the founder of Carlsberg Beer after being fascinated by the fairytale which he saw portrayed at the ballet based off of the famous Hans Christian Andersen’s story. It’s a nice scenic walk from the city center to where the statue is located especially if you walk along the canals and harbour which some may argue is the longer way to get there, but it is worth it. You get to pass by the Danish Stock exchange with its unusual three dragon spire, you get a nice view of the Spire from the Church of our Saviour near Christiania, the Amalienborg palace (the future home of the Crown Prince Frederik and family) and you can see the multi-color buildings of Nyhavn Harbor and why not enjoy an ice cream from one of the many ice cream shops along the way?

Another must see/do item in Copenhagen is Tivoli Gardens. Located in the center of the city, Tivoli is said be the 2nd oldest theme park in all of Europe, opened in 1843. Inside Tivoli there are theme park rides and roller coasters, lots of games to play, a lake to stroll around, a few concert areas and many places to eat and drink. Chris and I both agreed it is definitely a great place to go on a first date, or a romantic night on the town while on the road.

Unique features: Copenhagen is also famous for a small area of the city called “Christiania” which is also known as “the Freetown”. Regarded as a commune, it is an old military area that was taken over by squatters in the 70’s and is run by its own rule with no policing by the Copenhagen Police inside its walls. A very colourful place, not only from its shockingly crazy graffiti, but also from the people who live there. We were told by a few people to visit here including a lady at the tourist information desk, but aside from it being a “must see” we didn’t know much about it. As we walked through part of the compound we were taking photos and a little video but not too long after we got there we were told by some residents to put our cameras away. There is a street in Christiania called “Pusher” street, since there are no Police here, drugs are legal and everyone sells them on tables and stands on this street, just as if they were as normal as hot dog stands.

Shopping: Although Copenhagen is very expensive it would be a shame not to take in some of its fabulous shopping, even if you are just doing it from the window. Be sure to visit the pedestrian streets of Købmagergade and Strøget where all the big brand names are squeezed in between the fabulous boutiques.

Everything is located very close to the city center — easily walkable or just a quick bike ride away. The city has many bicycle paths and there are many options of bikes to rent for a day or even just a few hours.

More than 24-hours? I also recommend checking out the Copenhagen Zoo if you have time. The highlight of the zoo in Copenhagen for me was seeing the Polar beers and the low-light for Chris (the aussie nomad) was of course seeing Australian animals. However an interesting fact, the Copenhagen Zoo is the only place in the world outside of Australia where you can find the Tasmanian Devil. The Tasmanian Devils found here were actually donated from Australia on the birth of Danish Prince Frederik and Princess Mary’s (originally Australian) first son.

Written by Cailin O’Neil who visited Copenhagen, Denmark in May 2010. Be sure to check out Cailin’s website, Travel Yourself.