Things to see in Copenhagen in one day

Hi All!

My parents are going to visit Stockholm from Amsterdam in mid May. They will be coming from Amsterdam by train and have a break journey in Copenhagen for 4-5 hours. Can anyone please suggest any good places to visit in Copenhagen during the day, any nice castles or museums or anything.

Any suggestions will be of big help to me for arranging their trip. They both are 60+ and neither drink nor smoke. So the bars will be out of contention.

Thanks!

Travellingtechie!

There's some comprehensive information on the Wikipedia site here: Wikipedia - Copenhagen

Copenhagen is a wonderful city and not so big, with just over 1million residents. It's so easy to get round the sightseeing bits in 2-3 hours. Buy a 10 journey bus/train/metro ticket clip-card. Last time I was there, it cost 140DKK. That's about (I think) €20. It gives you unlimited access to get on/off all 3 services.
Alternatively, just a few bus rides (if your folks aren't up to using stairs so much) will be a great memory for them and won't cost anything like as much. You can buy a ticket on the bus and there are little free travel guides scattered all over the city in various languages - including English.
I find it still so hard to decide whether I perferred Copenhagen or Oslo. Two stunningly beautiful cities.
Watch out though.... Copenhagen isn't cheap!! Have a great trip.

Hi,

What time of the day will your parents be in Copenhagen? I know the city very well. I was born in Malmö, right across the water, and grew up there. I have been to Copenhagen hundreds of times. For a couple of years (long time ago) I worked at Copenhagen Kastrup Airport.

If your parents only have 4-5 hours, my advice would be for them to just walk around. When they exit the train station, the side entrance to Tivoli amusement park is RIGHT ACROSS the street. They could easily spend the entire time in Tivoli but I would suggest they limit their time their to 2-2.5 hours. If they exit Tivoli on the opposite side from where they entered, they will have to cross a major street (H.C. Andersens Boulevard) and they will then be in a large open square: Rådhuspladsen (=City Hall Square). City Hall, an imposing building, will be on their right (impossible to miss). Cross the square, and the famous "Strøget" pedestrian street is right there. "Strøget" was the very first pedestrian street anywhere (as far as I know) when it opened to pedestrians only back in the early 1960s. It's actually a series of connecting, narrow, streets that run from Rådhuspladsen to Kongens Nytorv, about 2 miles/3 km away. The official name of the street when you enter from Rådhuspladsen is Frederiksberggade. It's a very pleasant and easy walk, and at a leisurely place, and stopping at a few places (shops) on the way, you can easily walk the entire length of Strøget in an hour or an hour and a half. If your parents spend a couple of hours and then walk Strøget they will have utilized their time in Copenhagen very well. When they get to Kongens Nytorv, simply take a taxi back to the train station. Forget about a bus card. They won't have the time to take advantage of that and once they get to Kongens Nytorv they don't want to try to figure out what bus to take etc etc. A taxi will be a bit more expensive than the bus obviously, but without the hassles. And MUCH quicker.

If you, or they, have any further questions, let me know!

bgl,
My husband and I will be in a camper making our way to Ystad by way of Copenhagen. Does it make sense to visit Ystad? Can you tell me how long a drive it is? It's silly, but I love the Kurt Wallendar series by Henning Mankell and I want to see the town it takes place in. I'm wondering if leaving our camper in Copenhagen and taking the train would be smart or driving over the bridge with the very expensive bridge toll is the way to go. Going to Denmark was not part of our plan so I'm trying to figure out how long this will take for a day visit in Ystad and how much it will cost. Any advice would be welcome.
Thanks!

Hi Claire,

Ystad is a cute little town, just under an hour's driving time from Malmö, so it's easy enough to get to. If you're going to use public transportation, you won't have any difficulties. Take the train from Copenhagen to Malmö. It runs every 20 minutes, and I believe the current one-way fare is SEK 98. That's about $12-$13. Spend a couple of hours walking around in downtown Malmö. Almost the entire downtown area is a pedestrian only zone. Easy to get around. Are you familiar with the "Turning Torso"? This is a spectacular 56 story apartment building in Malmö that was just completed a few years ago. The entire structure turns 90 degrees from top to bottom. Google "Turning Torso" and you'll get plenty of links (with photos - can't be explained without seeing it!). It's about half a mile away from the train station in what used to be an industrial area but is now re-developed as a residential area with some very interesting, and colorful, buildings.
The trains from Malmö to Ystad run frequently. Takes about 50 minutes and oneway fare is equivalent to about US$10.
But why not drive across the bridge, and spend two days driving around in the province of Skåne? I could name a handful of places that are quick and easy to reach...!

How much time are you currently planning on spending in Copenhagen?

Bo-Göran

Hi Bo-Goran,
Thanks for your help! This will be just a quick trip. We will probably stay one night in Copenhagen then head to Malmo and Ystad. Sounds like we should plan a day each for Malmo and Ystad. It's so expensive in that area which is one reason we will not be lingering ($50 for one night in a campsite). We will be heading from there to The Netherlands and then to Calais and on to the UK. Wish we had more time but we're under the gun with the Schengen Agreement and must be out of the EU for 90 days which is why we're heading to the UK. This is a year long trip and we will already be close to the end of our second 90 day period in the EU.
Claire

Hi again Claire,

There is a campground immediately north of the bridge (on the Swedish side), at a place called Sibbarp. Right by the beach. You can get a good grasp of the area by just typing in 'Map of Malmo Sweden' in Google, and then zoom in on the area just north of the bridge. The green part is a park and open grassy areas, and part of that is the campground. There is also a campground east of Ystad, again right by the beach. What time of the year will you be there?

Bo-Göran

Hello again Bo-Goran,
We will be there towards the end of May. How's the weather then? Thanks very much for the info on the campground. I also forgot to mention that I looked up the Turning Torso. Amazing! We'll definitely want to see that. I didn't realize that Malmo had a traffic free area. That sounds great. I know so little about this area.
Claire

June is considered the best month of the year. Everything is fresh and green. End of May could be about the same. BUT, the weather can be unpredictable. If you're lucky, there will be a high pressure with nice sunny days and temperatures in the mid 70s/F range (close to +25C). If you're not so fortunate, it could be around 60F/+15C and wet off and on. Just no way of knowing...! And just about all cities in Scandinavia now have large parts of their downtown areas as 'pedestrian only'. Also, when you drive to/from Ystad would suggest that in one direction you drive along the coast (via Trelleborg). The scenic route!