Copenhagen Travel Guide: Attractions, Food & Hidden Gems

Amalienborg is a cluster of four palaces built originally for four Danish noble families, but bought by the royal family when their previous home, Christiansborg Palace, burned in 1794. The rococo palaces, which are today the home of the royal family, are built around an octagonal courtyard, with a magnificent statue of King Frederick V in its center.

Near Amalienborg are the Copenhagen Opera House and Frederick’s Church. The changing of the royal palace guards is a spectacle very popular with tourists. It takes place every day at noon, accompanied by music and drums. The guards march from their barracks by Rosenborg Castle, through the streets of Copenhagen, all the way to Amalienborg.

Address: Amalienborg, Amalienborg palace square, Copenhagen 1257, Phone: +45-33-40-10-10

The University of Copenhagen Botanical Garden is spread over 10 hectares of green spaces, gardens and greenhouses in the heart of Copenhagen. The garden was originally established in 1600, but was moved to its present and much larger space in 1870.

The garden, which is open to the public and is a popular place for a stroll for the residents and tourists, has 13,000 plants, 600 of them native Danish species. There are plants from all over the world, including Arctic. The garden has 27 old greenhouses, the oldest one being the Palm House built in 1874.

Address: Botanical Garden, Gothersgade 128, København 1353, Phone: +35-32-22-40

Christiansborg Palace, home of the Danish Parliament, the Ministry of State and the Supreme Court, is an elegant palace located on the small island of Slotsholmen in Copenhagen. The Danish Royal Family uses some parts of the beautiful palace, such as the Tower Room and the Oval Throne Room, for various official functions and events.

The queen receives foreign ambassadors to Denmark in the Oval Throne Room, and Danish kings and queens are proclaimed from the balcony of the Throne Room. The most spectacular is the Great Hall, with 11 queen’s tapestries that portray 1000 years of the history of Denmark. The main part of the palace was completed 1928 in the Neo-Baroque style, but the 1826 chapel is in a Neo-Classical style, and the showgrounds, completed in 1746, are in the Baroque style.

Address: Christiansborg Palace, Prins Joergens Gaard 1, Copenhagen 1218, Phone: +45-33-92-64-92

Only a 10-minute drive from Copenhagen, hidden in the beautiful, verdant Dyrehaven forest, is the oldest amusement park in the world. Founded in 1583, Dyrehavsbakken, popularly called Bakken, has been a favourite spot for generations of Copenhagen residents, kids and adults to come for a day of summer fun.

The park is a perfect mix of amusement elements, activities, restaurants, bars and pubs, with live music and entertainment. There are 33 rides for all tastes and levels of bravery, including a beautiful wooden 82-year-old rollercoaster. There are also 78 other attractions such as gaming arcades, shooting stalls and more.

Address: Dyrehavsbakken, Dyrehavevej 62 | Klampenborg, Copenhagen 2930, Phone: +45-39-63-35-44

Designed in the early 18th century for the royal family, and surrounding magnificent Frederiksborg Slot Palace, Frederiksberg Gardens are the most romantic and probably the most beautiful of Copenhagen’s many gardens. The gardens have many foreign inspirations, such as a Chinese teahouse, waterfalls, temples and grottos.

Originally more formal, in the French style that was modern at the time, the garden has now been made more natural, and has been open to the public since 1749. You can see people rowing a boat on the pond, just like King Frederik VI did, or strolling through the shade of ancient trees or following a path among flowerbeds. Although it is located right in the city, the garden feels distant and secluded. Hearing and seeing elephants from the nearby zoo adds to the impression.

Address: Frederiksberg Gardens, Frederiksberg Alle 65, Copenhagen 1820, Phone: +45-33-95-42-00

The immense Gefion Fountain located on the Langelinie waterfront next to Churchill Park is one of the most imposing monuments in Copenhagen. The complex sculpture is a creation of Danish sculptor Anders Bundgaard, built between 1897 and 1904, and was revealed to the city a year later.

The fountain was a gift to the city from the Carlsberg Brewery for their 50th anniversary. The fountain represents Norse goddess Gefion with oxen pulling the plough, and is so enormous that the sculptor had to rent space in order to build it. Ever since it was built, the fountain has been a popular outing spot and a favourite with the local photographers and tourists taking photos during their visits to Copenhagen.

Located at the edge of Copenhagen proper, in Østerbro area, Kastellet (or the Citadel, as the Danish call it) is a set of wonderfully preserved star fortresses designed in the shape of a pentagram, with bastions on all five corners. Kastellet was part of the ramparts that used to stand all around Copenhagen.

Only Christianshavn still exists. It was built in 1660 by King Christian IV to protect Copenhagen from the sea. Within the Kastellet are a church and a famous windmill. Kastellet still houses diverse military activities, but it is mostly a popular public park and an important historic site. Both the church and the military organize frequent concerts on the Kastellet grounds.

Address: Kastellet, Center of Churchill Park, Copenhagen, Phone: +45-33-11-22-33