From theme parks and breakaway suburbs to fairy tales and Shakespearean castles, Copenhagen has plenty to offer for travellers heading to Denmark. It’s fair to say Copenhagen (and Denmark) has a quirky charm all its own. That’s half the fun of planning a trip here.
Tivoli: Not your average theme park
Most big amusement parks are out-of-town affairs, surrounded by car parks the size of large villages and with plenty of space for the white-knuckle rides to sprawl amongst the hot dog stalls. It doesn’t work this way in Copenhagen. The city’s unique amusement park, Tivoli, can be found hiding behind high walls, right in the middle of the city centre.
Tivoli – in the heart of Copenhagen
Taking a walk along the streets and boulevards around Tivoli is a strange experience. Ordinary city traffic whizzes past the screams of children on roller coasters.
The park itself is undeniably attractive. The gardens are extensive, there are some lovely places to eat or get a drink, and branding is refreshing by its wide-scale absence. You’re not going to be accosted by a giant mouse covered in corporate logos here, that’s for sure.
But it’s not all about being pleasant for the grandparents. There are some serious thrill rides, including some vertigo-inducing spinning chairs, roller coasters designed to bring back lunch, and a G-Force defying slingshot ride. Tivoli also has the distinction of being the second-oldest amusement park in the world, having opened for the first time in 1843.
Bakken: Old fashion fun
It’s a mere spring chicken compared to Bakken, however. A model of quaintness, this rather more old-fashioned take on the Disney experience is in the middle of a huge park called Dyrehaven. Dyrehaven was formerly a hunting ground for the Danish royal family, but it’s now a place where families go for picnics.
Back in 1583, there weren’t frighteningly fast roller coasters or hi-tech simulators to draw in the crowds, but a spring did the job nicely. After one was found in Klampenborg (which is now effectively a suburb of Copenhagen) entertainers came from miles around, correctly surmising that they could ply their trade as people came to the water. This developed into Bakken, the oldest permanent amusement park in the world by a long stretch.
Bakken has a few fairground sidestalls, a rather feeble log flume and a roller coaster that is about as fearsome as a doddering old grandmother. But all this doesn’t matter. The real joy is that, like Tivoli, it’s free of all the Coca-Cola, McDonalds or Mickey Mouse branding that most theme parks are cursed with. There are also lots of pretty little restaurants and cafes selling proper food, rather than stalls where fat children can buy enormous tubs of popcorn and vats of fizzy drinks.
It’s also worth a visit for one of the more bizarre rides, Mine Train Ulven (or the Wolf Mine Train). What on earth have wolves got to do with mining?
Christiania: Micronation madness
Somewhat less enchanting to the little ones is Christiania. To describe it, you’d have to reach for a term that is somewhere between ’suburb’ and ‘independent republic’. This oddball enclave was set up in 1971, when a group of alternative lifestylers took over a collection of old, decaying military buildings.
It became a focal point for the hippy ethic, and was generally left alone by the authorities as Christiania’s residents ran the area amongst themselves. In recent years, police have turned less of a blind eye to the goings-on in Christiania, and it has a noticeably less peaceful edge than it is supposed to.
Christiania – not a hippy theme park
It’s an undeniably scruffy place – gardening and decorating don’t seem to be key priorities for the residents – but it’s fascinating to walk around. Take the time to stop and chat to someone, and you’ll get a rundown of Christiania’s history, as well as an impassioned defence of its ethos. You can also try out the unique homemade bikes, and pop into artists’ studios and galleries while you’re there.
Just make sure you’re going in with the right idea of the place – anyone trying to bill Christiania as a quirky, hippy theme park is sadly mistaken – it’s a lot grittier than that, but intriguing nonetheless.
Dansk Design Centre
For a more conventional type of cool, head to the Dansk Design Centre. This shows off one of the country’s biggest earners – wood and furniture is Denmark’s sixth-biggest export trade, and the Danes can sure do some impressive stuff with it.
The Design Centre is the sort of place you leave drooling with avarice – it’s the equivalent of walking around the home of someone who is far cooler than you’ll ever be. There’s an educational element to it as well – you can learn about the properties of different woods through various interactive displays, which is far more interesting than it sounds.
There’s also a historical trawl through some of the great design innovations of the last century or so – from the Bic pen and the glass Coca-Cola bottle to the Sony Walkman and Dyson vacuum cleaner. A couple of Danish inventions – Lego and the Velux slanted window for lofts – get honourable mentions.
Hans Christian Andersen’s Wonderful World
Copenhagen also has a couple of highlights for the literary-minded. The nation’s most famous author – Hans Christian Andersen – wasn’t actually from Copenhagen, but this doesn’t stop the capital claiming him anyway.
It’s possible to go on walking tours around sites linked to the fairy tale supremo, but Hans Christian Andersen’s Wonderful World on Rådhuspladsen (Town Hall Square) provides a nice dose for anyone who secretly likes a big slice of hokum. It’s full-on tacky, right down to the moving statue of the man himself in the entrance hall.
As a museum, it does a dreadful job. It skips from Hans’ early life to his travels with barely a mention of his writing. But where it works is the stories themselves. A range of Andersen’s famous fairy tales are written out on story cards. Many of them are accompanied by 3D scenes from the stories, with moving models and liberal splashing of bright colours.
Press a button, and they’re read out. Essentially, you can spend a few hours reverting to childhood. Thumbelina, The Swineherd, The Little Match Girl and The Emperor’s New Clothes are amongst Andersen’s fairy stories that are given the full treatment.
And the thing that stands out most is how dark some of the stories are – they’re clearly not just for children.
Helsingor Castle
The other literary link comes just to the north of Copenhagen in Helsingor. If that name sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because William Shakespeare called it Elsinore and used it as Hamlet’s home (it’s covered on a Viator North Zealand castle tour).
Hamlet’s castle at Helsingor (Elsinore)
It’s a proper castle, with a substantial moat and green turrets designed to strike fear into any potential invaders. Yet there’s a surprising lack of Shakespeare paraphernalia inside – though live performances are held here every year. The castle is well worth a poke around anyway. Once used as a tollhouse, it now generates revenue by hosting a series of arts and crafts studios – and the range covers everything from ceramics to jewellery.
