The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
COPENHAGEN
Copenhagen deserves every inch of its reputation as one of Europe’s loveliest, most user-friendly capitals. It delivers all the key elements of a desirable city-break destination (including historic, cultural and culinary attractions) while niftily side-swerving many of the usual metropolitan stresses. The streets feel clean and safe, the locals speak super-fluent English and everything about it just seems to work.
That said, even its biggest fans would have to concede that it wasn’t looking its best for most of the 2010s, when major infrastructure projects turned big chunks of the city into giant building sites. Now, though, it’s reaping the benefits. Landmark squares, such as Kongens Nytorv and Rådhuspladsen, have re-emerged in freshly landscaped glory and the newly expanded Metro is a joy, with punctual trains running round the clock, spacious stations flooded with natural light, and almost double the number of stops, making it easier and quicker than ever to explore previously unconnected districts.
Handy timing, because there are interesting new neighbourhoods to discover as emerging areas that have been a work in progress for years are finally beginning to blossom. To the north, in the developing docklands district of Nordhavn, the Åarhusgade quarter is buzzing, with cutting edge architecture, indie shops and eye-catching features such as the popular harbour baths and rooftop playground/gym of Konditaget Lüders. Across town in Carlsberg Byen, the former brewery site is home to a rapidly expanding food and design scene that includes the likes of Surt (excellent sourdough pizza) and Kona (izikaya upstairs, ramen downstairs), while the popular Carlsberg Visitor Centre, closed since 2018, is finally due to reopen at the start of December.
Other cultural attractions have been revamped of late, too. Designmuseum Danmark reopened after a two-year restoration last summer, the Museum of Copenhagen unveiled its new city-centre premises in 2020 and The Museum of Danish Resistance, destroyed by fire in 2013, is now up and running again, not far from the Little Mermaid.
If it’s a while since you’ve been, prepare to be amazed by how much more choice there now is on the accommodation front. The last two years alone have seen openings as varied as Zoku Copenhagen (double rooms from £116; livezoku.com), home-office lofts in up-and-coming Amager Vest; NH Collection Copenhagen (double rooms from £125; nh-collection.com), contemporary chic rooms in a prime harbourfront spot; 25hours Hotel Copenhagen Indre By (double rooms from £171; 25hours-hotels.com) with colourful décor in the heart of the city; and Next House Copenhagen (from £38; nexthousecopenhagen.com), a cool urban hostel close to the station.
As for the famous food scene, it gets better and more diverse by the day. Right now, there’s a wave of New Asian restaurants blending the core principles of New Nordic cuisine (seasonal and local) with techniques and tastes from further afield. Current hotspots include Jatak, incorporating Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese influences; Propaganda Korean street food; Goldfinch which serves up Cantonese sharing dishes; and Koan, holder of two Michelin stars for its refined Korean cuisine. Meanwhile, it’s easier than ever to find great vegan food (check out the innovative restaurants of the Ark Collection), and Mediterranean cuisine is having a moment, particularly in Norrebro, where Silberbauers Bistro serves up flavour-packed Nicoise dishes and Mirabelle bakery has become Mirabelle Spiserìa, with a menu of Sicilian food and wine.
Walk off all the food with a stroll around the city’s newest green space: Opera Park. Planted with more than 600 trees, it is slated to open this autumn next to the Opera House.