100 Best Things to Do in Copenhagen (Part One)

I found this video on YouTube sharing the 100 Best Things to Do in Copenhagen. So I thought I’d ‘react’ on what I’ve done so far (and the ones I’d avoid – either personally or in general lol).

Get Lost in the Streets of Copenhagen – Not exactly hard to do some days but I do like taking different routes on my cargo bike like “If I go right here instead of straight on, what happens?”. I went in my friend’s car a few weeks ago from church to her house and she does the “back” routes from Frederiksberg to Brønshøj before heading on the main route to her house. I was so puzzled where I was, as I recognised some bits of the journey but didn’t really know where we were until we got to Brønshøj and realised that we’d just approached a junction I use lots just from a different direction.
Nyhavn – it’s a go to tourist stop. I’ve been a couple of times now. I think my favourite was at Christmas last year when the Julemarked was at one end (nearest Kongens Nytorv). I’ve been in torrential downpours too – the coloured buildings are still lovely on a wet day but it’s not so nice to stand around and enjoy in the rain lol. (I’m sure we went in person but we also saw Nyhavn from our boat tour here and we took my parents when they came to Copenhagen at New Years).
Canal Tour – Another one that we did on our first trip. We were trying to figure out how to see a lot of the city with two adults and a small child (Jaxon was almost 5 on our first trip to Copenhagen and wasn’t very confident on a bike).
Enjoy Poor Weather – Yeah, you just have to get used to it lol. Often you still take your waterproof even on the sunniest of days just in case it rains – today it’s sunny but there is a sky full of clouds so it’s always possible we could have rain…
Old-Fashioned Ice Cream – I generally end up with ice creams from the freezer section in the supermarket. When we went to Nyhavn with my parents, Jaxon and I had churros but I think Chris had a cup of mulled wine in one hand and ice cream in the other after a miscommunication. (or I wasn’t concentrating…)
Den Lille Havfrue/The Little Mermaid – I don’t know what I was expecting but having walked what seemed like miles from the bus stop to The Little Mermaid, yep I was disappointed. I don’t know whether I’d built it up in my head or something but I was like
Seaplane – pretty sure this would be very cool! We often see them flying over the city from the ground. Jaxon can tell the difference now between a sea plane and “normal” plane just by looking at it lol. (I love seeing the aerial photos by Nicolas Cosedis of the city so maybe being in a seaplane would be like a real life Cosedis photograph….You can see some of his pictures here – I have his book on my wish list but it’s a proper big coffee table type book!)
St Alban’s Church – I’ve not been into St Alban’s Church but I have been past it a couple of times. It’s an interesting church because it’s built in a “British” style and it does look like it’s been transplanted from somewhere in the UK and just landed in Copenhagen.
Water Bus – Jaxon told us all about taking the water bus as i think he’d been on it as part of a school trip (udeskole. This is a day each week where the class are taken out on some form of trip, in the summer this includes going to the Skolehaven or school garden, sometimes it’s going to museums or the castle). When my parents were in December/January, we took our first trip on the Water Bus – it was good fun even if it was sooo foggy we couldn’t see very far.
Smørrebrød – Controversial but I don’t think I’ve actually tried Smørrebrød yet. We have rugbrød but use it for sort of deformed sandwiches. Might be able time that I give it a go. Might need to see if I can find some non-fish versions. Anyone want a field trip to try some?
Amalienborg Palace – When Auntie R was here in April, we walked past Amalienborg on our way to The Little Mermaid. We didn’t really stop to have a proper look due to the weather. There is a museum at Amalienborg so might need to add that to “Hannah’s List of Things to do in Copenhagen”
Nebbiolo on Store Strandstræde – Another that probably wouldn’t make my list. I don’t really drink and if I do it’s the odd can of cider or beer (and even then it’s usually accompanied with a glass of cola or squash…). So the idea of going out to a wine bar isn’t really my thing at all. (Skaal is about the only bar I’ve been to and that was for a date night after the main event of going to the cinema)
Bike Taxi – nope, not had need for one lol. I do like the idea but the closest I’ve got is Chris riding the cargo bike with me in the front.
Rent a bike
Liquorice “Lakrids” – my favourites are the specific ones that come in the blue Haribo bag from Føtex but these aren’t the best lol. If you’ve got the pennies try the Lakrids by Bulow
Toga Vin & Ølstue
Gasoline Grill – maybe one day but at 95DKK (£11) just for the burger it turns into an expensive meal out for all four of us (maybe I take Chris on a date night…)
Borgerkroen Pub – I don’t really drink and the smoking would put me off
Østerbro Shopping – I’ve been around Østerbro to walk from the Metro to one of the knitting groups I sometimes go to but I’ve not really explored it properly – might need to do that.
City Metro – having come from Bedford where there is public transport but it’s 98% late and not always so helpful. We now live here in Copenhagen – with amazing links we’re about half way between two bus routes, about a 10-15 minute walk from the Metro and S-Tog meaning that a large chunk of the city is within a walk and a train ride. We’re really close to Nørrebro station which is on the M3 Metro (which opened in 2019 – in fact we saw the M3 København H metro station being built on our first trip here).
Blågårdsgade – I’ve probably been past the end of the road hundred times but not actually sure i’ve been along it. (I vaguely think I might have cycled along it on a magical mystery tour but I’m not 100%)
Dronning Louises Bro – Queen Lou’s Bridge lol. Well every time I take the bus into Indre By then I go over the bridge. Recently there’s been a loppemarked (flea market) on the bridge. Also it was closed for Tour De France as the Tour De CPH route went over the bridge.
The Lakes “Søerne” – These lakes are either side of Dronning Louises Bro. There are 3 lakes – at the northern end there’s Sortedam Lake, then Peblinge Lake and Sankt Jørgens Lake at the southern end. At the southern end there is the Tycho Brahe Planetarium (If you’re a nerd and watch Who Do You Think You Are then this it the distance relative of Judi Dench and why she’s honorary Danish now lol). (Also the southern end is in Vesterbrø and the Northern end is in Østerbro)
Torvehallerne – If you’re a foodie, this has to be like number 1 on your list for sure! So many different stalls with different food choices.
The Round Tower – We’ve visited The Round Tower a few times now. I’ve been to the top once with both Jaxon and Chris. When we took part in Kulternatten in October 2021, the boys went up to the top while I waited at the bottom with Rex. There was all sorts of things about stargazing and astronomy.
Gråbrødregtorv – It’s possible I’ve been through here without knowing – if not I’m definitely adding it to the list.
Lego Store – 2 out of 3 of my boys absolutely love Lego so it’s a favourite place (Although we often buy our Lego from the supermarket as the pricing is better and it’s less crazy than the very tourist-y Lego Stores here).
Strøget – This is like Copenhagen’s answer to Regents or Oxford Street in London. There are so many designer shops as well as other stores to look at.
Tivoli Gardens – Chris and Jaxon love going to Tivoli. They love the rollercoasters. I’m not a fan of rollercoasters although I don’t mind some of the calmer rides. When the boys do want to go then I often send them two off to have a great day and then Rex and I hang out at home or do something different. The last time the boys went, they ended up staying right into the evening for all the fireworks – Jaxon finally went to bed around 11pm!
Central Train Station “København H” – Take the train to Helsingør – I’m a Shakespeare nerd so going to Helsingør and Kronborg Castle are on my to do list. Although Shakespeare calls the castle Elsinore in Hamlet, it is (sort of) the castle from his play.
Geranium – I’ve seen it on food shows – definitely not my palette lol
Woops! 32 was missing but I guess Kronborg could be 31 making Geranium 32?
Alchemist – yeah no chance me ever being able to go here lol.
Gammel Strand – I’ve walked along Gammel Strand to get to other places but not always stopped to appreciate it, in it’s own way so maybe that’s something I need to do soon.
Jernbanecaféen – Another drinking one…
Istedgade – ooh cheeky! We did stay near here – there’s a very cool playground here. The grounds the playground is on used to be part of the Royal Copenhagen Shooting Society – the wall that looks like it’s a castle was part of this. On our first trip to Copenhagen, our hostel was a few streets away in Helgolandstrade so we know the area.
Gaza Grill – Okay this is one to do…
Vesterbro Neighbourhood –
Kødbyen/Meat Packing District – During our first trip to Copenhagen, our hotel was just along the road from the Meat Packing District. We didn’t really experience the restaurants there that time, but our knitting group (Copenhagen Yarn Lovers) has met at Warpigs Brewpub for lunch/knitting group. The food was lovely but kind of pricy – my small tumbler of lemonade (maybe 330ml like a can) was about 50dkk so around £5 – ouch!
Magasasa Dim Sum – again one I’ve not tried but dim sum is yummy so need to go try it.
Kaf & Konsol – Maybe I take Jaxon to this one…
Nordhavn Neighborhood – I went to collect a bag of second hand clothes for Rex from someone in Nordhavn, I got very excited when I realised all the streets in that particular bit are named after ports. It started with Southamptongade… I took a screenshot of the map on my phone and sent it to Chris commenting how it wasn’t really a Danish name. Then he pointed out to me that the streets around there are all sea ports – for instance Dover Passage and Dunkerquegade are a short walk away from where I was stood.
A 7E Cup of coffee – more to try…
Bager Bosse Bakery – Bakery – better try it. Spandauer are yummy! But my favourite is still Onsdagsnegl from Sankt Peders Bageri (they now have their own Instagram too so if you like to drool over your phone check out their account.)
Marina Shisha Lounge – Nope no thank you.
Langelinie – I’ve not really been any further than the Little Mermaid, so I still have most of Langelinie to explore at some point – including The Genetically Modified Little Mermaid statue too. My last two trips to The Little Mermaid have been pretty much rained off so maybe while the weather is better I need to give it a go and get exploring.
Copenhill – We’ve been to Copenhill twice. When Chris was here without us, he set himself the challenge to climb Copenhill something like 29 times so that it was the same as climbing Everest. (It almost sounds like a challenge that Kara and Nate would do. It’s a bit like this one actually…)
Amager Beach Park – we actually went here a few weeks ago. When we previously visited the beach we went to Bellevue Beach which is a really little one. The beach at Amager is considerably bigger, this meant that we could sit sort of by ourselves without feeling like everyone was really close to us. Jaxon and I went paddling in the sea but I wimped out and decided it was too cold for me lol.
Bistro Royal
King’s Garden (Kongens Have) – Another one I visited thanks to my knitting group. We met at the cafe in Kongens Have for a coffee and some knitting. It was so lovely to meet more friends.

Christmas Prep: Planning Your Handmade Gifts

I know, I know. Stand down, July is a bit early to talk about Christmas (We have 6 family birthdays in the next 4 weeks – I get it!). But I have my reasons, so hear me out. Handmade gifts take time, and if you want to try and make them and not get stressed about it, you’re going to want to start thinking about them now. While you have the time to breathe.

Normally I leave it until September to start thinking about Christmas, after all the schools have gone back (Well at least in the UK they have, here in DK they go back in about 4 weeks at the beginning of August)

So, why am I talking about Christmas now. If you’re like me and like to make some of your Christmas presents, it definitely makes sense to start earlier and have time to breath than be desperately trying to get those last rows done the night before you give the gift (and skipping finishing touches like blocking if needed).

We’re into July which means that it’s just under 6 months to Christmas. So whether you want to knit items to decorate your home or you want to knit a bunch of gifts for people on your list, the time to get planning is now.

I start with my Christmas Planner (or inserts) from Mrs Brimbles and look at what was given last year – and what’s changed to this year. (If you need a planner you can get the inserts on Anna’s website or Etsy, the bound planner is available from Amazon here). Last year I went with the bound version but I have found that it’s easier to take the “Present Log” pages out of my Filofax Domino planner and take them with me when I go shopping rather than the whole planner.

Make a list of everyone you need to buy for. Then narrow down who you’re going to knit something for.
Think about what you want to make for then. Be realistic about time – it might be easier to knit the same thing for everyone with different colours yarn. (One year I knitted two cowls to the same pattern with different yarn). For partners, parents or best friends you might want to make something different for them. (On balance if you’re knitting for a Secret Santa for someone at work you might just want to make something that takes less time and effort!)
As far as the time, it can be hard to gauge how long a project is going to take. So it might be better to work it out the other way round. You have six months from now, divide that by how many projects you want to do. 5 people to knit for, 6 months to go, that just over a month for each project. That way you don’t need to panic, if you haven’t completed them all yet. A month sounds like a long time but if you’re doing bigger projects you might need to try and do your smaller ones quicker to allow you the extra time on your big project (You might even want to start with that big project so that it is done and ready). Similarly if you’re making lots of big projects, you might want to be really careful about your time scale. On one knitting project, my Dad created a whole spreadsheet for my Mum which worked out how many rows she needed to do each day to stay on her target. I think each day he’d add how many she’d actually done so that it recalculated her target – so if she’d done a lot one day the average might go down, if she’d had a day where she couldn’t reach her minimum then this was spread out again across the remaining days.
One you’ve got an idea of your timeline, take a look at patterns and yarn choices. Maybe see if you have things in stash that can be used to start your projects with (this helps with using what you already have but also might lower your overall Christmas present spending too). This also means that if you need to order any yarn, you can get that done and start on the projects you already have the yarn for.
Here’s a harsh one but you do need to think about it. Be willing to let some people go. Think about who you really want to knit for? Focus on those people and those things. You’ll be happier and feel less stressed about it – for sure! (Some friends and family don’t always comprehend the love that’s gone into a homemade something special. I recently made a crochet blanket for someone close to our family. I’d been living and breathing the blanket, at every opportunity I had the crochet hook in my hand and was doing the next bit. With all the sorting I had no wrapping paper so ended up wrapping it in my jumper while I delivered it to the person, who didn’t care once they realised what was inside my jumper! When they opened it they were SO excited and happy with it. That definitely made it all worth while!

Now you’re getting there on the organising you can get started with your projects. Here we go!!

Will you be making any of your Christmas presents or is it still too far away for you to think about it? Do you have any go to patterns when it comes to knitting for people?

Projects: Stormy Open Back Sweater

Four years ago, Handknits and Hygge put out a call for test knitters and I answered that call. The project in question was the Stormy Open Back Sweater. I’d been meaning to try and knit something for myself for a long time but I think it always got put to one side or pushed down as I said “When I’m skinnier, I’ll knit…. etc”. Well, having done most of my jumper it was the end of the test knit and I always intended to come back to it but other projects and things (and one then two tiny humans) got in the way.

There’s been a lot of de-stashing/sorting/chucking away been going on in our house back in the UK and so during my trip in May, I needed to call in the “big guns” so to speak. Chris had done a great job of getting all my yarn into one place in the kitchen. I was reluctant to take it all to a charity shop as there were odd balls of like 20-30g that would probably binned rather than adopted. I invited ladies from two of my knitting groups to pop by when they had chance.

One of my knitting ladies, came to say hi and to raid the stash, then sat on the floor with the boxes around her and packed all the little odd balls into one bag so that I could make a scrap blanket rather than chuck them. On another visit, my friend J went through my WIPs pile/stash and told me off lol (especially for one cardigan that literally needs sewing together and then it’s finished). When I shared on social media, she said she wasn’t telling me off, she was being encouraging lol.

Having spent a little while this afternoon trying to figure out where I was upto. I decided it would be easier for me to frog the sleeve and start from where you join the working yarn to the held stitches from the body and go from there. It’s definitely going to be a kind of project that I work on while the boys are at school or out or something like that, as there will be counting going on.

I guess the question is will my measurements from 4 years ago still fit now… (also I can’t remember if it was top down or bottom up so might need to get creative to add some inches to the body as it seems too short…).
I think when I was doing the sleeves before I had shorter needles that I had been using but currently I can’t find them. I remember seeing this video from Knitty Natty on YouTube. So after some creative shuffled with my stitches, I’m working with the lace pattern on one needle and then the rest of the sleeve on the other rather than half way being in the middle of the lace bit. Whether this works is another thing but we’ll see how it goes and if not I’ll be off to one of the knitting shops for different needles.

Exploring Copenhagen: Where to Find the Most Interesting Murals

Something great about Copenhagen is the street art. Some of it is graffiti and can look messy but other pieces are like these murals.

Back in October while I was still exploring I started collecting photos of the murals and sharing them on Instagram. For those first few weeks, it still felt a bit like an extended holiday and so there was time to explore in a way.

Now the list is getting longer I figured it was about time that I put them into a blog post and shared them here as well.

Mural 1: Thorvaldsensvej

This one looks a little faded but even then still looks so much nicer than maybe a plain brick all or a wall with graffiti tags on it (the kind like this…I think some graffiti can be really effective.)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hannah J (@hannahjplans)

Mural 2: Norrebrorouten

Next door to Ali’s Bageri at Nørrebrogade and Nørrebrorouten (across the road from Superkilen/Røde Plads). This was one of my first ones I saw when I moved to Copenhagen, from our first apartment we’d cycle along Nørrebrorouten to get to church. We worked out that actually it wasn’t the best route and then started taking a different route so I didn’t see it as much as before.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hannah J (@hannahjplans)

Mural 3: Nattergalevej

Between Nattergalevej and Rørsangervej there’s a playground that Jaxon has called the Treehouse Playground (I think I might have to check my source on that one when he gets home from school). On one of the buildings near the entrance, there is this mural – I think it’s really clever out the design comes around the corner of the building.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hannah J (@hannahjplans)

Mural 4: Lergravsvej

While following Walk 1 in The Copenhagen Companion, I found this mural on the end of one of the buildings. It was an unexpected find but definitely brought some colour to what was a grey day.

Murals 5 and upwards: Møntmestervej

This is a whole street of murals. There is a row of 7 or 8 apartment buildings (on each side of the road) and at the end of each building, there is a mural.

Colourful Murals in Copenhagen — The Corner of Møntmestervej and Smedetoften

Rytterbakken (Even) – This made me think of Alice in Wonderland right?

The corner of Sokkelundvej and Møntmestervej

I will keep my eyes peeled and could be back with some more as I find them on my travels. Have you been to Copenhagen? Have you seen any murals like these? Are there murals like these where you live? (There’s one that’s popped up in Bedford – how cool is this Octopus on the Lurke Street Car Park)

Five Places to Visit in Germany
#AD

What has a suspension railway and a fairytale castle got in common? Well, they are both in Germany. That’s where my list of five places to visit in Germany started.

The great thing about being in mainland Europe now is that cities that normally feel *SO* far away when we lived in the UK are now reachable by train (or a short flight). When we visited Billund there were lots of posters in the train stations along the route about taking the train from Copenhagen to Hamburg in Germany for DKK500 (so £55ish!) return. (And it takes about 5 hours, so if we did make the trip it would definitely be an overnight trip, I’d be booking accommodation too)

So if I could get on the train and visit places in Germany. Where would I go? Well, the list has been growing for a while but here are my Top 5 Places to Visit in Germany. So far I’ve seen a section of the Autobahn as we drove to Strasbourg one holiday and a 2 hour stopover in Munich Airport! (Also, I get these aren’t really close to one another and so would probably be multiple trips or some long German Road Trip Adventure)

Miniatur Wunderland and the Historic Port of Hamburg

Well, the train runs straight from Copenhagen to Hamburg, so why not start there. Now model villages aren’t everyone’s cup of tea and maybe they wouldn’t be my first choice but this one has some impressive stats. This one boasts over 12 kilometres of track and nearly 900 trains as part of the network throughout the model village. And if we’ve made it that far – why not explore the historic port? A lot of ships would come along the Elbe River into Hamburg to deliver their cargo. When the Elbe River reaches Hamburg it splits into a number of smaller canals through the southern side of the city. (Maybe a boat tour would be needed too?)

Neuschwanstein Castle

As a kid, I loved Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (well at least until the Child Catcher arrived) so to find out that Baron Bomburst’s Castle was an actual real place excited me. But that’s a long way to go to see a castle, so I soon started to create a list of other places to visit. The castle is also the inspiration behind Disney’s Cinderella Castle.

When we were at Billund, we saw the Lego model of the Neuschwanstein Castle in Miniland. I got a bit excited about it and Chris laughed at me for being super nerdy!

Wuppertal Schwebebahn (Suspension Railway)

This was an accidental one in a way. Jaxon and I had been watching videos with my Dad about different railways around the world and one of the ones that came up was a video about the Wuppertal Schwebebahn railway.

The Brandenberg Gate, The Berlin Wall and the Surrounding Area

Having grown up on many different war films thanks to my Dad as well as then studying World War 1 and 2 in History at school, putting actual places to the history has always been something I’ve wanted to do. The Brandenberg Gate is modelled on the Acropolis in Athens. It stands at 28 meters tall and I’m sure if the stones could talk they’d definitely have some stories to tell. It stands a short distance away from the Reichstag, where the German Parliament sit and when the Berlin Wall was still standing, a section of the wall ran alongside the Brandenberg Gate.

When I told someone about wanting to go to the Berlin Wall, they pointed out that there are only tiny bits of it left. Well okay, but it was still significant in history, right? The bits of the Berlin Wall (Berliner Mauer) that remain are just concrete walls covered in graffiti and yet they still attract thousands of visitors each year.

Berchtesgaden

Another one of those “further afield” places. Berchtesgaden is a national park in the Bavarian Alps on the Austrian border (in fact it’s not that far away from Salzburg in Austria if you want a field trip to see things like Schloss Mirabell (Mirabell Palace) and many other filming locations from The Sound of Music).

« Older posts

Newer posts »