Everything you need to know - 72 hours in Copenhagen

Getting around

1. By Train and Metro

Single tickets -

A 2-zone ticket can be bought at all train and metro stations' ticket machines, and costs 24 dkk. These 2-zone tickets covers all of Copenhagen (except from the airport) and you can use it on all transportation for 60 minutes. This ticket is great for travellers who want to supplement their walking or cycling with occasional use of the train for further venues.

24-hour ticket -

This ticket gives you unlimited travel by trains, buses, and the metros in all zones in Copenhagen for 24 hours, and costs 130 dkk. This ticket is good if you plan to travel outside Copenhagen city centre, covering the Greater Copenhagen region. Tickets can be purchased online, or at the airport, and train stations.

24-hour / 72-hour City Pass -

This city pass grants you travel in zones 1-4 (including the airport), for 24-hour (80 dkk) or 72-hour (200 dkk).

Copenhagen Card -

The Copenhagen Card is a tourist card that includes transport in all zones within Copenhagen, as well as complimentary entrance to 79 museums and attractions. It also has some discounts for restaurants, attractions and entertainment options. It costs 389 dkk for a 24-hour card, and has options for 48, 72, and 120. For travellers who would like to spend their time in the museums, this card is the card for you. You can purchase this card online, and collect it when you arrive in Copenhagen.

2. By Foot

Most of Copenhagen's attractions can be conquered by foot. The walk from Rådhuspladsen (City Hall Square) to Nyhavn (the famous colourful buildings) took about 25 minutes or 1.7km. Along the way, you can walk along Strøget shopping street and be entertained by the different shops. Otherwise, complement the walking tour with occasional metro rides.

3. By Bike

The city of Copenhagen is built for cyclists with many cycling paths throughout the city. There are many bike rental stores throughout Copenhagen. Another useful way to get around is using Donkey Republic, a bike sharing application that you can find bikes near your hotels, rent them and return them at any drop-off locations located city-wide. We tried Donkey Rental and it costs about 12.5 dkk for 30 minutes, and about 50 dkk for 2 hours. You will, however, need to download their application on your phones.

Stay

For a luxurious stay, stay at the Nyhavn region, to wake up to the view of the canal. Otherwise, anywhere along Strøget, and that is close to the metro station is great. We stayed at First Hotel Twenty Seven and we paid 1,838 dkk for two nights on Booking.com.

First Hotel Twenty Seven is located three streets away from Strøget, and a short 5 minute walk from Rådhuspladsen, and 8 minutes from Tivoli Garden. We enjoyed the great location, on a quieter street in downtown Copenhagen. The rooms were small, but sufficient for two travellers.

Day 1: Tivoli Gardens + Shopping

We arrived in Copenhagen from Oslo by DFDS ferry (Blog post: How to get from Oslo, Norway to Copenhagen, Denmark by ferry?). From the DFDS ferry terminal, we bought a one way bus ticket that shuttled us to Nørreport train and metro station. From Nørreport, we purchased a single ticket to get us to Copenhagen Central Station which was the nearest station to our hotel.

After dumping all our bags in the hotel, we went straight for Tivoli Gardens (Click to read more about our experience at Tivoli Gardens). Get your Tivoli Garden tickets on Klook for some price savings.

View of Stroget from Københavns Rådhus

In the evening, we explored the longest pedestrian-only Strøget Shopping Street. You can start your journey from Københavns Rådhus (Copenhagen City Square). It was a long 1.1km walk, but it was enjoyable looking at all interesting shops, ranging from budget-friendly chains to high-end brands. Some stores that one must visit will include:

- The Disney Store, Amagertorv 8, 1160 København K, Denmark

The only disney store in Scandinavia, it is definitely a disney-lovers must visit (even if you're just window-shopping)

- The Flagship Lego Store, Vimmelskaftet 37, 1161 København K, Denmark

Purchase Lego where it came from! The store also has lego-built exhibits. One must certainly stop by to purchase some souvenirs home.

- Pandora Flagship Store, Amagertorv 18, 1160 København K, Denmark

Pandora originated in Denmark, and opened its flagship store at this iconic shopping street. The prices of Pandora were much cheaper in Denmark and I just had to get my first Pandora bracelet from its flagship store.

Hotel D'Angleterre

Stroget ends at the beautiful Hotel D'Angleterre, situated right opposite Kongens Nytorv (King's New Square). If you would like to end your journey here, you can take the metro from Kongens Nytorv station. Some may also choose to start their Stroget experience from Kongens Nytorv and work their way backwards to Københavns Rådhus.

Christmas Markets

When we were there in December, there were also several Christmas markets that sold interesting trinkets and souvenirs, and lots of delicious food! The Christmas Markets were located at Kongens Nytorv and Nyhavn harbour. Beside these, there are also several other Christmas Markets in Copenhagen.

The best thing we love about Christmas Markets (or rather, markets in general) is the food!

Succulent roasts!

We tried the roasted pork bun, with purple cabbage no less!

Churros!

Ended the day full and satisfied!

Day 2: Copenhagen by Bike

We love cycling, and the best way to explore Copenhagen is to do what the locals do! We downloaded the donkey republic app, found bikes at the bike parking section 1 minute away from our hotel, and got ourselves a bike each!

Nyhavn, Copenhagen, Denmark

We cycled first to see the famous colourful houses at Nyhavn...

Nyhavn

Nearest metro for non-cyclists: Kongens Nytorv

Skuespilhuset

...then to take a look at the exterior of Skuespilhuset (Royal Danish Playhouse) at the end of the canals. The Royal Danish Playhouse is a waterside theatre for plays.

Duck statue (on Copenhagen Street Food side) with the bridge in the background

From there, you will see a bridge. Cross it and make a left turn at the end of the bridge. You'll see a gated warehouse look-alike, walk right through towards the waterside and you'll be able to see Copenhagen Street Food. We actually didn't research on this and found this place by chance! Inside the warehouse, it is actually a huge food hall.

Here, you will find food from different cultures. You can purchase food from any stall, and find a seat anywhere in the food hall. We arrived about half an hour of its opening and there were already many people enjoying their food there! After cycling out in the cold, it was a great place to hang out to fill our bellies and warm our bodies!

From left to right: Please Company's Gourmet Hotdog, Duck it's Homemade Duck Confit, Duck it's Duck Fat Fries

We've tried several food items till we could no longer eat, and these were our favourites! *drools* The Gourmet Hotdog was meaty and the green sauce (probably pesto and mint?) really helped to enhance the smoky flavour of the hotdog. The duck confit was tender and flavourful. And the duck fat fries were soooo addictive!

Copenhagen Street Food

Hal 7 & 8 Papirøen, Trangravsvej 14, 7/8, 1436 København K

Opening Hours:

Monday-Wednesday: 12-21 Thursday-Saturday: 12-22 Sunday: 12-21

*Update: Papiroen is now closed!

Amalienborg Palace

To burn off the calories we've consumed, we cycled to Amalienborg Palace. It was quite a scenic and relatively fuss-free cycle there as we were able to use the bike paths, and didn't have to worry about pedestrians, or the cars. We didn't join the tour as there was a procession a while later. A delegate was visiting the Palace and they started shoo-ing us to the side of the square.

Another reason why we chose to cycle was because the nearest metro to Amalienborg Palace was back at Kongens Nytorv.

Amalienborg Palace

Amalienborg Slotsplads 5, 1257 København K, Denmark

For opening hours, kindly check their website for more details

St Alban's Church

Our next mission was to see the Little Mermaid found in Langelinie Park. We first had to pass by St Alban's Church.

St Alban's Church

Churchillparken 11, 1263 København K, Denmark

Gefion Fountain

The nearby Gefion Fountain marks the start of the park. The Gefion fountain depicts a goddess plowing the sea with four oxen. Cycle all the way into the park until you see a crowd of tourist and you know you've reached your destination!

Gefion Fountain

Churchillparken, 1263 København K, Denmark

The Little Mermaid, Den Lille Havfrue

It was not easy to take this picture as there were lots of people trying to get a shot with it.

The Little Mermaid

Langelinie, 2100 København Ø, Denmark

After completing our mission, we still had daylight and wanted to seize the day heading towards Frederik's Church and back to Christiansborg Palace.

Christiansborg Palace

By the time we've arrived at Christiansborg Palace, we were too tired and decided to return our bikes! The Christiansborg Palace is located on an 'island' alongside other attractions such as Børsen (former stock exchange), Danish Jewish Museum, Tøjhus Museum, Thorvaldsens Museum, and .

Copenhagen City Hall

After returning the bikes, we also took a short walk to Copenhagen City Hall, completing more shopping at Stroget, this time also taking a detour towards Norreport.

Danish pasteries at Lagkagehuset

One simply cannot leave Denmark without having some Danish pastries, so we found a cafe and had some pastries while resting our feet from all that cycling and walking. We also stumbled upon this bakery as we saw quite a number of people in the store, and it turns out that its quite a popular bakery that has other outlets in Copenhagen.

Our verdict? The strawberry tart was good, but the mille feuille was too sweet for us. But oh well, at least we got a nice photograph!

Lagkagehuset

Frederiksborggade 6, 1360 København K, Denmark

Day 3: Fisketorvet

What's great about cycling in Copenhagen it has its own cycling lanes, and one must definitely visit Cykelslangen, an elevated cycling path near Fisketorvet. We took a train to Dybbølsbro St and walked to Fisketorvet. From here, you can rent a bike and go on the Cykelslangen!

Unlike the bridge to get to Copenhagen Street Food that allows pedestrians and cyclists to go on it, the cykelslangen is a bike only path! Almost like the red brick road in pokemon, this bike path is only red! We had a cheap thrill going on it and then headed to shop at Fisketorvet.

Fisketorvet Copenhagen Mall

Havneholmen 5, 1561 København V, Denmark

The mall was nicely decorated, and had many shops that you can browse. We also tried a Asian buffet at JUST THAI because we were craving for Asian food after being away for so long, and it was one of the cheaper option.

It wasn't really anything to shout about, but I guess it is pretty affordable for big eaters! Spent the rest of the time window-shopping!

One other attraction that we didn't have time to go was the Copenhagen Zoo! Do visit it if you're there!

So, we didn't exactly have a full 72 hours, but close to it! Alternatively, there's also a 2-day guide. We hope this blog post was informative! Now, onward to Malmo, Sweden! :)

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Our travel must-haves:

1. Hidden pockets -

Super useful especially when you want to keep your passport and currencies without having to worry while taking a nap on the plane or on the train. This saved us once where we were almost pick-pocketed. We felt a hand going into our pockets on a crowded square, but too bad, the pocket's inside our pants! ;)

2. Cabin Max -

Super useful airline carry-on bagpack, fits in most budget airlines too!

3. Cabin Luggage -

This is an alternative to those who may not be able to carry a bagpack!

4. Ultra-light down -

In order to travel with only one carry-on, the ultra-light down is a must!

#Cycle