After a mostly uneventful trip, with in Lufthansa Business Class from Chicago to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to Copenhagen, we had arrived in our first destination.  Being our first trip with a baby, as we would find out, perhaps unsurprisingly, our travels would be very different from in the past.

Exploring Copenhagen

 Copenhagen City Hall (Råthus)

While in Copenhagen, we split our time between the Radisson Blu Royal and the Marriott, burning points for both properties.  Both are well situated in central Copenhagen.  The Radisson is across from Tivoli Gardens, and only a few minutes walking from various other sites, including the Råthus, shown above.  The Marriott isn’t far away, along the water, and an easy walk to various sites.

One of several lovely spring days we experienced in Copenhagen.

This trip was in mid-May, so before prime tourist season, the weather was cool, but just fine for exploring.  We did a lot of the tourist spots in central Copenhagen, and ventured out a little further as well.  Here are some photos of our time there.

Statue of Absalon facing the site of the original castle he built when founding Copenhagen

The Royal Stables, Copenhagen

Folketing, the home of Danish Parliament

We also toured the Royal Reception Rooms in the palace

A fountain near the Royal Library

Notice the steeple in the above photos, that is at the top of the Christiansborg Palace, now the home to the Danish parliament.

We spent lots of time just exploring Copenhagen on foot, sometimes having a general idea of where we wanted to go, but not always.  One day as we were heading towards Nyhavn, we noticed a troop of soldiers in ceremonial uniforms marching down the street.

 

Royal Life Guards marching through Copenhagen, daily at 11:30

Once at Nyhavn, we stopped at on open place and had a drink.  It was really a pretty spot.  The smart (…or cheap…) traveler would likely just do like the locals and bring a beer from a local store and enjoy it along the water without the tourist markup in the restaurants.

Nyhavn, a famous spot for beautiful architecture

Tivoli Gardens

The Radisson is right across from Tivoli Gardens, so we decided to see what all the fuss was about since we could often see and hear people on the various rides as we were out and about in the area.  It is the second oldest amusement park in the world and according to some accounts was an inspiration for Disneyland.  My daughter is a little young for roller coasters, but we did explore the park, and my wife enjoyed her favorite junk food: cotton candy.

The Moorish Palace home of the Nimb hotel

It was a beautiful spring day when we visited

We did venture further from just the city center on occasion.  One day we took a S-tog (surface train) to Carlsberg to take a brewery tour.  I’ve visited breweries all over, and this was one of the more interesting tours I’ve visited.  Carlsberg isn’t that popular in the US, but it really has grown all over the world.

 

Some of buildings on the Carlsberg Brewery tour

We also decided to take a day trip across the sound into Sweden.  It was a new country for all 3 of us, and an easy train ride from Copenhagen Central Station (aka Kobenhavn H) which is 5 minutes walk from the Radisson and maybe 10 from the Marriott.  The train ride was about 35 minutes.

Kobenhavn H, another impressive train station great hall

Quick trip by train to Malmö, Sweden

We only spent a few hours in Malmö, but I thought it was worth it to add another country to our lists.  We walked around the city center, and through various parks on another nice sunny day.

Malmö Rådhus

I was proud that my daughter was 8 months old and had already visited her 3rd foreign country.  Okay, we’re geeks.

Excellent dining in Copenhagen

Finally I wanted to share a food recommendation from our time in Copenhagen.  We received a recommendation to try Gorm’s pizza.  There are a few locations, but the place we visited at Magstræde 16 was in a building from the 1300s.  Not *that* old for Europe, but downright ancient compared to what we experience here in the US.  I’d pass along this recommendation.  Tasty wood-fired pizzas and a nice wine selection for decent prices.

SØS pizza from Gorm’s. yum!

Another food spot I must recommend is Copenhagen Street Food. It is warehouse space where various food trucks/stalls are set up.  Apparently this is going away in a few years, so I’d suggest enjoying it while you can.  For Copenhagen, prices are very reasonable.  It is very near Noma, a famous Copenhagen restaurant that often requires reservations months in advance.  Depending on where you are staying, it could take some effort to get there, but it is well worth the trip.

We were at the end of our stay in Copenhagen, but our trip wasn’t over yet.  We had a few days left, and we’d spend them in Zurich.  On our way out of town, we visited the SAS lounge in the Copenhagen airport.  I didn’t have time to fully explore it or do a full report, but here are a few photos:

SAS Lounge in Copenhagen

Pretty typical of SAS lounges.  There was a nice food spread as well.  But what I enjoyed the most was a mock-up of the new Business Class seat that will be standard in their fleets.  The staggered seat looks pretty nice!

SAS new Business Class

From Copenhagen, we flew Swiss nonstop to Zurich.  Next up is a review of the as always nice Swiss service on board.