A Hygge Weekend in Copenhagen

My friend Orla and I have a yearly tradition of rendezvousing in a Nordic country. In 2018, we hit up Bergen, Norway, and in 2019, we decided on Copenhagen. We’ve luckily been able to find cities/countries we both haven’t visited (which is tricky considering my childhood was spent exploring Europe and she lives in London).

If you’re from the U.S., I highly recommend leveraging Norweigian Air for cheap flights. I was able to find a Thursday night - Monday afernoon roundtrip flight from NY for $350 in April. Pretty darn lucky, since it sometimes cost double that to get to San Francisco.

When it comes to visiting cities, I’m not that much of a planner. I’ll jot down some spots I’d like to visit, but I like to freestyle it since it doesn’t require as much coordination.

Accommodations: Orla picked out a lovely hotel in central CPH called Hotel Danmark. The great part about this hotel is that there’s free wine everyday from 5-7pm and free bike rental! We definitely embraced both.

Day 1: Arrival in CPH

We both landed in the morning and dropped off our stuff at the hotel. I was so tempted to sleep, but it was a sunny day and there was exploring to do.

We first stopped at a cafe called Sonny which was walking distance from our hotel. We enjoyed some much needed coffee and yummy avocado toasts.

We wandered around the streets and made our way to one of the top attractions in Copenhagen called Nyhavn. This is the port area by the water filled with so much energy - from musicians playing on the streets to colorful buildings, I simply adored aimlessly wandering around the bright cobblestoned streets.

We then day drank our way through a few wine bars (because why not?) and went out to dinner at a trendy restaurant called BÆST. Definitely recommend sharing a few plates to get a taste of all the delicious options! My friend was a sweetheart and used this dinner to treat me to an early birthday celebration - she’s a gem. We called it an early night because of my overnight travel; confirming the hotel has very comfortable beds.

Day 2: Copenhagen + Louisiana Museum of Art

We started the day off exploring some other gems in Copenhagen. We got breakfast at Paludan Book & Cafe, which was essentially a cafe inside of a library - very pleasant. My roommate, Kathleen, insisted that she’s had the best almond croissant ever at Democratic Coffee Bar, so I also went there. (As I type this out, i can safely confirm I ate and drank my way through this city and Danish pastries are vastly underrated).

Paludan Book & Cafe

Democratic Coffee Bar ft. World’s Best Almond Croissant

We then went to CPH Central Station to catch a train to the Louisiana Art Museum, which was about a 35min journey. Get off at Humlebæk Station and then it’s a 10 minute walk to the museum - it’s through residential neighborhoods so very leisurely.

Louisiana Art Museum

Louisiana Art Museum

Once back in Copenhagen, we parted ways for a bit as she fancied some shopping, and I wanted to continue wandering around. I walked through Magstræde which is a very picturesque cobblestoned street in central CPH and walked ~20 minutes to Christianshavn. To simplify: More beautiful streets along the water. It doesn’t get old, I promise.

Magstræde Street

Magstræde Street

Christianshavn

Christianshavn

Christianshavn

We rounded out the day eating at Cafe Wilder in Christianshavn. It was a cozy little wine bar and the service was excellent

Day 3: Copenhagen + Dragør

Another morning, another cafe. We walked to a different part of the city (the European equivalent of a Financial District) and stopped at Hart Bageri. I had read that this is one of the best bakeries in town, and I wasn’t misled.

We then walked on to Frederiksberg Gardens where i got my dose of a European castle. Leaves/flowers hadn’t started to sprout yet; I can only imagine how beautiful the gardens would be later in the Spring and Summer.

We then decided to get out of the city and take a bus to a small seaside town called Dragør. You’ll need to catch bus 35 and it’ll be the last stop - about 1 hour journey, but oh so worth it. Just look at the pictures below and you’ll be convinced.

Day 4: Copenhagen + Departure

We finally decided to bust out the bicycles and make our way to the Copenhagen Design Museum. If there’s one thing you need to know, Nordic countries take design seriously. It was fascinating to see their approach to every day items, as well as their emphasis on building sustainability into their design models. We also naturally stopped for croissants before leaving Copenhagen to our respective cities.