city guide : copenhagen.

Oh Copenhagen, you are so lovely. You're so clean, so vibrant, so friendly, so cool. I didn't see enough of you over the four days I was there, but here's what we did manage..

First up, where we stayed. There were 7 of us on this trip, so we needed to find a place big enough to house us all comfortably. We were in luck! We trawled Airbnb and found this gorgeous penthouse apartment within our budget and with plenty of space! 

It was my first time using Airbnb and I will definitely be using it again. It was so easy, great to be able to message the host with any questions, and we loved having a home away from home.

If you use my referral link you will get money off your booking, so get planning a trip! 

On our first day, we just had a little wander around and some lunch & drinks out. The first thing that struck me was the beautiful architecture, often covered in bold block colours or graffiti. The roads were pretty quiet for a city too, due to the amount of bicycles! The city is flat & every road has a wide cycle lane, so it's very easy to get around by bike. This is unfortunately something I missed out on this time, but if I ever go back I'll definitely be hiring a bike! 

After wandering for what felt like eternity, we came across Bodega, a cool cafe bar which had a small lunch menu with familiar things like burgers, and slightly more Danish fish dishes and of course, herring. 

A bunch of us had the pork sandwich. I never knew a pork sandwich could be so good! It was basically two pork steaks in a bun, with pickled cabbage, gherkins etc. So tasty, so messy. I tried the herring too, which was alright, but I probably wouldn't choose it again myself.. 

After some more wandering we came across a food market called Torvehallerne, with both outdoor stalls and more permanent mini-shops inside these big glass buildings, selling fresh ingredients as well as snacks and meals you can eat there. 

Definitely worth a visit if you want to cook something fancy for dinner, to pick up some bottles of craft beer, or need a good quality snack.

We finished up the night in our local pub.

The next morning the boys cooked a hearty breakfast and we made our way to Nyhavn - aka an Instagrammers dream.

This little harbour inlet is full of colourful houses and beautiful old boats. I think I took a picture of every single building, but that was a little too much for the blog, so my favourites are below.

We tried to get a boat over to Christianshavn to head to the spiral church, but we timed it really badly, so we walked the long way around, stopping to jump on the trampolines, and fall pretty dramatically in some cases.

This photo doesn't do the church justice in any way. You can spot the spiral spire from miles away, and it's actually a lot higher than it looks here. 

We made our way up the tiny, higgledy-piggledy, worn away staircases, stopping to let people come down, peeping through dusty windows until we finally made it to the outdoor spiral staircase. It was cold, it was windy, it made me feel quite unwell - and I'm not usually scared of heights - but those views were worth it.

Every time we walked past afterwards, we couldn't believe we'd walked to the top of that tiny spire - it looked so flimsy! 

We had a quick coffee and something sweet, then walked a couple of minutes down the road to Christiana - a commune which doesn't seem to conform to all the common laws, but they have their own - no running, and no photographs.

Next we headed towards Tivoli, stopping at Mikkeller Bar - a bar that had been recommended to us numerous times. It was quite pricey, but boy were the beers tasty. I had one called Susan, and she was perfect.

And then it was time for Tivoli - the second-oldest operating amusement park in the world!

We started off on a couple of the more tame rides, moving on to the Star Flyer (the world's second tallest carousel) which was actually quite terrifying. I also went on a drop tower, and The Demon. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I've finally been on a rollercoaster. In one of the prettiest, oldest amusement parks. And I loved it.

That night saw us heading back to the apartment for a few more drinks, and a few of us ended up staying up until 5am. Sunday morning was a slow start. 

We split off into three as we wanted to do different things - two went to the zoo, two did the Carlsberg tour, and India, Will and I headed to the Copenhagen Street Food Market.

It was SO GOOD. There were so many different kinds of food, it was really difficult to choose. In the end I chose pulled duck in a brioche bun, Will had an amazing dish of Brazilian meats, salsa, corn and potatoes, and India had Korean chicken. We were hoping to have cheesecake afterwards, but the stall had sold out - heartbreaking! 

The market is open Thursday-Sunday lunchtime 'til late, and I highly recommend heading over there.

We wandered around a little more, stopping to buy pastries before heading back to the apartment for a little nap. 

The cemetery where Hans Christian Anderson is buried was our meeting place before dinner. It's not like a cemetery you'd imagine - more like a park with a few pretty graves dotted around. It's more of a park.

Together we all headed back in the direction of Nyhavn to have dinner at a place that had been recommended to me - I can't remember who suggested it but I want to say THANK YOU because it was so delicious. 

Bistro Royal does possibly the best beef I've ever had! It wasn't cheap but it was absolutely worth it. A few of us chose the grilled beef cuvette - which you carve yourself at the table - so a huge hunk of meat turned up for us all to share, as well as sharing bowls of perfectly crisp chips and salad. I love this communal style of eating. The beef was incredibly soft and tasty. You really must have a meal here if you're a lover of meat! 

We headed home via the local pub where we met some hilarious old men and laughed so much. I turned in early, while the others stayed up playing card games.

For breakfast on our last morning we had sandwiches, pastries and juice, before packing up our belongings and heading out for our final adventure.

We headed towards the sea to visit The Little Mermaid - which was lovely until a coach load of people turned up and you could barely see it. We moved on and explored the area a bit - stopping in to an old fort with a beautiful windmill - before heading central for some late lunch.

Our Copenhagen trip was finished off with a smørrebrød - a Danish open sandwich. Because we decided to eat by Nyhaven - a very touristy area - it was rather pricey, but it was tasty. If you want to try some authentic smørrebrød for less eye-watering prices I'd head to the food markets instead.

This super cool city made me feel so safe and relaxed, I would definitely feel comfortable enough to head back there on my own. And I think I might need to, as I didn't get to go shopping...

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