Day Trip in Copenhagen

As i was in Denmark for two weeks last Christmas, i had more than enough time to explore around the beautiful city, Copenhagen, where i met up with friends and family and had a lovely time.  If you ever happen to be visiting Copenhagen but for a shorter stay, I recommend the following places to visit.

Torvehallerne, a market that opened publicly in 2011, is a place that will definitely excite both your sight and senses. It consists of two market halls where there are endless stalls selling fresh bakeries, cheese, fruits, seafood, savory dishes, and many special Danish delicacies, such as their famous open sandwiches (smørrebrød).

There are also restaurants and cafes inside Torvehallerne where you can sit down and relax, while you enjoy a nice cup of coffee or a cold pint of Danish Carlsberg beer. The food varieties are also plenty if you feel hungry, ranging from Danish open sandwiches, burgers, sandwiches, to even Spanish and Japanese food. I decided to have some open sandwiches that day, and ordered my favorite fish fillet with remoulade sauce, frikadeller (Danish meat ball), and potato with red onions. My friend ate some quite interesting tuna sashimi wrapped in cucumber.

 After enjoying a much filling meal, you take a stroll inside the market, where you can admire some fresh and beautiful flowers. You can even do a stop over at Summerbird, a prestigious Danish chocolate and confectionary brand. One of my all time favorite are their almonds covered in different chocolate flavors, including raspberry, strawberry, lemon, coffee, seasalt, cocoa, nougat, and many more. It’s a perfect gift to take home for your friends and family.

You also have to try their flødeboller, which is a waffle base with marshmallow like filling inside, and covered in chocolate on the outside. It was my all time favorite snack growing up in Copenhagen. In fact, there was a Christmas tree made of flødeboller inside the Summerbird shop when i was visiting, and it looked sooo pretty and yum.

If you are in for a bit of history and culture, I suggest you to visit the Rosenborg Castle (Rosenborg Slot), which is a mere 15  minutes walk away from Torvehallerne. This castle was used as royal residences until around 1710, and was also built as a country summerhouse in 1606. This is only one of Christian IV’s many architectural projects back then. To have a full experience of the Rosenborg Castle, and if time permits, take a tour inside the castle to see the real life of a royal back then. You are allowed to take pictures inside the castle but you need to pay for this.

The Knight’s Hall, which is located on the third floor (as shown below in the fifth photo) is one of the rooms that captivated me the most. It was originally intended to be used as a ballroom, and as you walk in, you will be mesmerized by the long hall, along with the golden walls and high ceilings above you. I think the high light of touring the Rosenborg Castle must be witnessing the crown jewels and crown regalia at the basement, where you will find the crown of Christian V and  the queen’s crown.

To end the day, head over to Tivoli Hotel for happy hour and enjoy some cocktails. This hotel carries the theme of the amusement park, Tivoli, into its interior design and decor, where everything feels very fairytale and dream like. The lobby has these pretty red and green lights along the window, and paired with the iconic Swan Chairs (as designed by Danish designer, Arne Jacobsen) in a very clean white color.

Upon arriving to sky bar on the 12th floor, the crowd was already bustling with everyone chatting and laughing away in their own world. What i really liked about this bar was that their seats were in the form of swings and had a beautiful  night view of Copenhagen right in front. My friend and i decided to become kids again and sat on the swings as we sipped on cocktails and chatted the night away, just as we saw some fireworks up in the air from a distant. And if you are feeling a little peckish, you can head over to Sticks ‘n’ Sushi for some Japanese food, which is on the same floor as the sky bar. Having the best of both worlds, what isn’t there to love, right?

Photo source: all photos by me