Copenhagen
Between bikes, breweries and boats, there’s no shortage of ways to keep yourself entertained (and fit) in Denmark’s picturesque capital
‘I LIKE to ride my bicycle’, Queen sang and you could be forgiven for thinking they were in Copenhagen at the time.
The city is home to more than 560,000 bikes, riding on 390km of bike lanes.
Standing well back from the road and watching the city’s inhabitants whiz by, it’s not uncommon to see a tourist go flying or hear a shouted curse from a cyclist who almost mowed someone down.
Half of the city’s population commutes by bike every day, including 63 per cent of the Danish Parliament.
Australia’s own Princess Mary tows the kids to school each morning on the back of her bike.
But why is the two-wheeled transport so popular?
The city is incredibly flat and, with a mass of rivers and waterways making roads more difficult, it’s easier to get around.
It’s also fairly small, meaning travel time is drastically reduced.
The Danish tourism website explains the exercise also keeps Danes healthy.
“With 390 kilometres of biking lanes and traffic lights especially for bikes, the city’s infrastructure is built on the fact that a bicycle is not only the cheapest, healthiest and fastest way to get around the city, it is also a very important factor in reducing carbon emission,” the website states.
Despite the popularity of bikes, a tourist can easily get around on foot — if they can successfully dodge the two-wheeled madness.
It’s clear why Nyhavn is one of the most Instagrammed spots in Europe, with old sail ships and yachts sitting in front of brightly painted buildings.
Everywhere are tourists, pausing to take photos of the iconic site and trying not to be run over by the thousands of cyclists.
Construction started on Nyhavn in 1670 and is the gateway from the sea to the old town.
Famous fairytale storyteller Hans Christian Anderson lived there for about 18 years, and nearby sits the original little mermaid.
Despite having an initial reputation for beer, sailors and prostitution, Nyhavn has, over time, reinvented itself and is now one of the fanciest places in the city.
Inside the colourful buildings are some of the most expensive restaurants and cafes in the city, and, rain or shine, the area is always bustling.
Being quite far north — Copenhagen sits at a latitude similar to that of Moscow, northern England and central Canada — it gets pretty chilly, so the cafes provide blankets to go on patrons’ laps.
The more expensive the cafe or restaurant, the fancier the blanket, with the truly top end places providing furs.
However, the Danes are traditionally humble people, and we’re told it’s uncommon to find locals sitting at the outside tables.
Scandinavia is a collection of four countries with similar north Germanic heritages, climates and unions.
But one of the biggest differences between the nations is their laws.
There are stories of people being arrested in Norway and jailed for two nights, and their homes being searched, simply for being found with just two grams of marijuana in a pocket.
Meanwhile, in Copenhagen’s city centre, stands Christiania, a hippy-style commune area where dealers stand behind stalls openly selling a dozen different varieties of marijuana. Police don’t go there at all. The openness and prevalence of the drugs is bizarre, with individual signs advertising the different flavours of drugs, and vendors calling out their prices to prove they are cheaper than the stall next to them.
Christiania began under a different name back in the 16th century.
Then it was a separate city, which eventually was taken over by the military in the early 20th century.
By the 1960s the barracks were empty and the hippy commune officially began in 1971.
Walking among the stalls, the scent of the sweet smoke fills your nostrils, and for nonsmokers, it is very quickly too much.
As an Australian in Copenhagen, it’s not possible to visit the city and not stop by the palace.
One of our own is living the fairytale all little
girls dream of: meeting a prince in a pub, falling in love and marrying and becoming a princess.
One day Mary from Tasmania will even become the Queen of Denmark.
She has reportedly become more popular in the Scandinavian country than the current Queen (a mean feat as she is very much loved) as she became fluent in Danish after realising her role would require it of her.
This is an impressive feat — especially given the Danes ask most who visit to simply stick to English so they don’t butcher the language.
Despite being a princess, she has kept her Tasmanian sense of self and still even rides the kids to school on a push bike.
So well known is Mary, that it only takes a few words in an Australian accent for one of the guards outside the palaces to immediately point to which is hers.
From princesses to beer, the Carlsberg Brewery is another must do on a trip to Copenhagen. Probably the best brewery in the world, it offers dozens of different flavours of beer, and for the non-ale drinkers, about six different varieties of Somersby ciders.
In the stables, are six horses, signifying how the beer used to be made, with horses used to deliver beer around the area.
The large museum has an easy to follow path, taking you from the very beginnings of beer, through to how it is drunk now.
There are beer tasting opportunities and the world’s largest unopened beer bottle collection.
The collection began in 1968 when Leif Sonne began collecting unopened beer bottles from around the world.
According to the brewery’s website, he originally kept them in his private house, but when the collection reached 10,000, he had to move them somewhere else.
“A thorough count which lasted one whole day was conducted on October the 13th 2006, and the final number reached 16,384,” the website states.
Located in Vesterbo, about 2.5km from Copenhagen Central Station, its an easy walk to the brewery, or there’s a free shuttle bus.