Copenhagen City Guide.

We booked this holiday way before I found out I was pregnant so the original plan of being out all day, cycling around, boozing and a day trip to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art were scuppered. Instead, our main focus was walking to the next place to eat. Copenhagen’s food scene is one of the top in the world thanks to Noma and I’ve been wanting to explore it since watching the episode of Will Poulter making pastries in the second series of The Bear. I’ve sectioned everything out like the other travel guides, so enjoy!

What we did. We visited the city in early March, after originally planning on going in February. I’m so glad we changed our plans because it would have been basically freezing then and we were lucky to get some sunshine (even though I was still in my neck to ankle length North Face which I call the walking sleeping bag). Our first must-see was Nyhavn, which we went to first thing to avoid the crowds. On the way there, we stopped off at Poster Land as I was desperate to get a print framed in the future nursery for what was technically the bump’s first trip. I got the most adorable illustration of ducklings crossing the road in the city - I found the exact same one online that you can get here. After taking our pics of the harbour and avoiding all the tourist traps, we walked from here to go and see The Little Mermaid which everyone told me was a bit underwhelming but I loved it. The walk through the park to get there was really peaceful and we ended up walking back through the Amalienborg Palace where we caught the Changing of the Guard ceremony. As mentioned, the rest of our plans mainly centred around food and walking through the city to get there. To get to the meatpacking district, we walked past Tivoli World which was closed for winter and had a peak through the rails. We could spot the antique roller coaster (that description doesn’t give me the best confidence of something that transports you through the air). It did look like a lot of fun - maybe one day we’ll come back with the baby - eek.

What we ate. Our first dinner and proper meal was at Høst where you can have the 3 or 5-course tasting menu. It ended up being around 8 courses with all the extra nibbles you get. The stand-out dishes were the scallops with hazelnuts and the mushroom sauce that was used on both the chicken and beef tenderloin. Our first lunch the next day was a highly recommended burger from the Gasoline Grill - there are a few scattered over the city but the one in the petrol station is the original site. It didn’t disappoint and I can confidently say it was one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. Continuing on the meat theme, we wandered over to the meatpacking district to try all the BBQ treats at War Pigs. We shared their platter of ‘A little bit of everything’ that included brisket, pulled pork, a ‘link’ which was a cheese and jalapeno stuffed sausage, mac and cheese, and coleslaw. Not a fancy place at all and it’s also a brewpub, so if craft beer is your thing this is the place to visit.

It’s definitely a smoked and raw fish-heavy place so we decided to cut our losses and do Italian twice and come back and do all the places we originally intended to go to when I could eat everything (Marv and Ben, Barr, Fiskebaren, and Paté Paté). For our second night we had a pizza at Spuntino (the place that had chunks of parmesan as an appetiser), and on our last night we walked over to Scarpetta Rantzausgaude for pasta and a comedy lemon meringue pie. If you look up Copenghagen Food Collective you can see their huge list of restaurants where you can see their menus and easily book online.

What we drank. I had a whole list of bars to go to that were recommended but I was around 10 weeks preggers at this point and Steve was in deep marathon training so it was Coke Zero’s all round. I really wanted to try some wine bars and the ones I was told about were Nebbiolo, Ved Stranden 10 and Bronnum which is also supposed to be a lovely place for champers. For cocktails, Tata at Hotel Sanders and Ruby Cocktail Chronicles were both high on my list. Beer is a big deal in Copenhagen and Ørsted Ølbar sounds like the perfect place to experience the best craft beers from Denmark and beyond.

Where we stayed. I love staying somewhere I can walk everywhere to so we chose the modern and boutique Hotel SP34. It ended up being the same place one of my best friends had stayed in who said it was a few minutes walk from the pastry shop we ended up going to every morning. We had a small double room that was quite tiny but perfect for two people - in hindsight, we would have gone for a bigger room because we were in the hotel way more than originally planned (my daily naps). A highlight for me was trying out the Scandinavian sleep method of two separate duvets which was a total game changer. They also have a wine hour and a separate nightcap hour where drinks are on the house - I couldn’t indulge in this but definitely would have!

How we got around. For everything we had planned we were really lucky that we could walk everywhere. For getting in and out of the city from the airport, the Metro was so easy to use and so cheap. Uber isn’t a thing in Copenhagen because of national taxi laws, but if you do want to travel that way you can download Viggo which is basically the same.

The Itinerary.

Day One

Arrive and check-in to the hotel.

Walk to get a snack at Torvehallerne Food Market to keep you going - a great place to try the traditional Smørrebrød (open sandwich).

Dinner at Høst.

Day Two

Start the day with a pastry from Skt. Peders Bakery.

Visit Nyhavn to have a look at the famous harbour - very random but if you need a wee the public toilets here are phenomenal.

Keep walking to see The Little Mermaid and if you time it right you can stop by Amalienborg Palace to watch the Changing of the Guard ceremony taking place at 12 pm.

Grab a burger at Gasoline Grill.

Head to the meat packing district for even more food - try War Pigs, Pate Pate or Fiskebaren.

Go back to the hotel to get ready for a late dinner.

Dinner at Marv and Ben or Barr (sister restaurant to Noma).

Day Three

Brunch at Wulff & Konstali.

Visit the Hay flagship store and buy all the homeware.

Check out of the hotel and head to the airport.

Click here for my Google Maps list on all the places mentioned.