Some Copenhagen Recommendations

Eating, drinking, walking, and copin'hagening.

By no means am I an expert regarding this city; I’ve only spent a total of two weeks in Copenhagen. But a lot of this is informed by those who have lived here or those I trust for travel advice.

Occasionally will be updated if I get more recommendations from trusted friends or from my own subsequent visits. As of May 20 I’ve been to Copenhagen thrice lol

In case you missed it, my prior travel dispatches from the Danish capital:

Transiting & Essential Apps

There’s almost no reason to take a taxi within Copenhagen. The metro from the airport to the city center is cheap and fast, and within the city, either the metro or a bike rental is the way to go.

Citymapper or Google Maps will provide directions. 

You can buy metro tickets at the station or with the DOT Tickets app (the app doesn’t like Visa cards for some reason, but Mastercard or AMEX should work, and it now supports Apple/Google Pay). 

One crazy thing about Copenhagen’s metro system is that it’s mostly an honor system. (A society built on trust, can you imagine.) There’s no fare gates, so you could just walk into a train car and pay nothing… unless a transit cop happens to come by to validate your ticket. I’ve only seen tickets get validated on trains likely to contain many confused tourists (routes to/from the airport and popular destinations). The fine is steep, but it’s not like the Danish government will issue a Red Notice over an unpaid metro fare. On the other hand, it’s not very expensive to ride the metro (it’s like $2) and it would be very embarrassing to get caught.

Donkey Republic is the local bike-share app, equivalent to Citi Bike in New York, and it’s easy to sign up. (You’ll need to be able to receive text messages to create an account.) Their bikes aren’t the fastest, but they’re more than enough for the short trips for which they’re designed. It’s never hard to locate their distinctive orange bikes, and it’s a semi-dockless program, so you can leave them practically anywhere. There’s also e-bike rentals, both from Donkey Republic and other apps like Lime.

There’s almost no need to get cash while you’re in Copenhagen; in fact, most places will probably look at you funny if you hand them some paper bills. A credit card with no foreign transaction fees will be sufficient.

Lodging

In contrast to the professionally managed homes in the US, most AirBnBs in Copenhagen are the actual apartments that people live in, and they’re just renting it out while they go on trips. For this reason, sometimes reservation requests get declined, so have a backup in case that happens. In terms of neighborhoods, it’s a small city so everything is fairly convenient as long as you’re near a metro station. I really like Nørrebrø, and Indre By is smack dab in the city center.

Eating & Drinking

Copenhagen has a reputation for being one of the most expensive cities in Europe, and it’s certainly true. I found the cost of food to be roughly on par with New York, especially since tipping isn’t a thing here (the credit card machine may prompt you to add one, but you really ought not to unless you got exceptional service). Drinks are cheaper than in New York, especially for wine. This was a big reason why I had at least one glass with every meal. Natural wines are extremely popular in Copenhagen, so there’s not too much difference from what you’d see on a Brooklyn wine list.

It’s advisable to book reservations whenever you can, as restaurants tend to get full, especially on weekends. But besides the Michelin-starred places, you can usually get away with making a reservation a day or two before.

Every spot on this list comes recommended by myself or trusted friends, but those are based on tourist experiences and assume the restaurant’s quality hasn’t sharply changed since our visits! An asterisk (*) means I’ve personally been, and two asterisks (**) is my top recommendation. But everything on the list is good!!

Fancy Restaurants

This could be your table at Noma.

• Alchemist*

• Jatak**

• Kadeau

• Noma*

Not As Fancy Restaurants But Still Very Nice

Some pretty scallops, at Omar.

• Anton* — French-ish, nothing surprises but everything perfectly executed

• Bæst

• Baka d’Busk* — Very vegetarian and very satisfying

• Calma** — Italian!

• Kødbyens Fiskebar** — Very creative seafood dishes in a lax setting

• Mangia*

• Nr 30*

• Omar** — Parisian-style small plates. Terrific value for the money.

• Restaurant Barr

• Ripotot* — French-Nordic with great wine list

• Selma*

Bakeries

• Andersen & Maillard*

• Flere Fugle*

• Hart Bageri*

• Juno the Bakery*

They’re all kind of equal in my opinion but my take on bakeries is the closest one is the best one. Cardamom buns are an essential eat.

Casual/Fast Food

• Arla Unika** — Cheese producer in a food hall, buy some cheese and eat it in a park, or take it back home. Gammel Knas will change your life.

• Hallernes Smørrebrød*

• Harry’s Place** — Best hot dogs!! Eat with your hands!!

• Hija de Sanchez

• Kebabistan

• Omegn & Venner*

• Popl

• Poulette*

• Surt

Coffee

• April

• Coffee Collective

• Hart Bageri

• Prolog

Wine Bars

• Paloma Vermuteria*

• Pompette*

• Propaganda

• Ved Stranden 10

Craft Beer Bars

• Brus* —Cans of beer from To Øl make an excellent souvenir

• Peders* — Crowded underground spot pouring rare beers from around the world.

Cocktails

• Bird*

• The Barking Dog*

• The House of Machines*

• Ruby

• Victory*

Seeing

Mainly, rent a boat and cruise around Copenhagen’s canals. Absolute must!

Cisternes.

• On foot

  • Just walk around aimlessly, it’s a very pretty city**

  • Konditaget Lüders - playground

  • CopenHill

  • Freetown/Christianshavn**

  • Tivoli Gardens*

  • Assistens Cemetery*

  • Hofor Power Station

  • Nordre Toldbod (ending scene of Another Round)*

  • Amager Beach (also great to bike through)*

• Car needed but absolutely worth the trip to do some hiking

  • Møns Klint**

• Art

  • Louisiana Museum of Modern Art**

    • A half-day or full-day trip, as the museum is north of the city, but absolutely worth the visit. Quick train ride, or even better if you bike up there!

  • Cisternes**

    • Insanely cool art space (underground, former water cisterns)

  • Medicinsk Museion

  • There’s a handful of art galleries (that are free to enter), you can sort of Google them

  • A lot of folks recommend the Danish Architecture Centre which I thought was mostly just okay but there’s a big slide at the top that you can ride all the way down to the ground floor.

Cycling

Biking just to get around is already perfect, but here’s a few routes if you wanna make a day out of it. I rented a bike from the nearest shop, but you usually get a clunky cruiser better suited for slow city rides than going out of town… don’t make that mistake if you’re biking more than 10km in a day! Find a nicer bike shop that will rent you a solid gravel bike or road bike. I rented a touring bike from Baisikeli and it was perfect.

Important! The winds of Denmark can be quite strong, and usually come from the north. Plan accordingly, or you’ll get a big workout.

Some routes I have done:

• Havneringen (The Harbour Circle)** an easy loop that takes you through Copenhagen’s most interesting neighborhoods. I can think of no better way to get oriented with the city, and you can do it in under an hour on a Donkey bike.

• Pleasant bike route to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

  • Super fun, leisurely 2.5 hour ride that takes you through a deer preserve, quaint towns, and a ride along the coastline (I made a lot of pit stops to take pictures)

  • My modified route (which skipped some of the stops) Having done this twice, my suggestion now is to take the train up to the Louisiana, then ride back into town. The wind will be at your back instead of against you.

• Amager Dragør Loop

  • I went around the entire island which was fun but be advised some dirt trails at the southern tip.

• Six Forgotten Giants

  • You can see all six in one day if you get out early enough.