I really loved the colourful little houses and walking by the water and in the parks of Copenhagen. Such a peaceful and charming city!

Reaching the centre from the airport is fairly simple. My hostel was right next to the main train station. There are trains to Hovedbanegård every 10 minutes. The Urban House is actually more than a hostel. You can find a restaurant and bar and even a tatoo shop. Really nice! And the check-in is all automatic in case you’re afraid to talk to people!

Saturday: a long walk from the Centre to the Little Mermaid

I started my day walking down Strøget to go and eat a delicious cake from La Glace, the oldest and confectionary in Denmark.

I registered for the classical free walking tour. Our guide Cheresse, a slightly excentric American girl, was really passionate about history and told us many truly interesting (and fun!) stories about King Christian IV. The programme of the tour: the Church of the Holy Ghost (Helligandskirke), Gråbrødretorv where a pillar of shame was erected, the Cathedral (Vor frue kirke), the Round Tower (Vrundetaarn) and a quick look at the Rosenborg Castle (Rosenborg Slot).

The tour finished at Torvehallerne, a very nice covered market with plenty of places to find yummy food. For me, it was the perfect opportunity to taste smørrebrød.

Once alone, I decided to visit the Nørrebro district, its artificial lakes, its hipsters and its cemetery (Assistens Kirkegård) where you can find the graveyards of Hans Christian Handersen and Søren Kierkegaard who said ‘Marry, and you will regret it; don’t marry, you will also regret it.’

I crossed the bridge again to head to the Botanical Gardens (Botanisk Have) and Rosenborg park (Rosenborg Have). Lots of young Danes were having fun in the park playing wooden games and drinking beers. Made me want to join them! But I had a mission: find the little mermaid!

I walked by Frederik’s Church (Marmorkirken), ate a piece of cake in Taste, stopped in Amalienborg square, walked through Kastellet to finally reach the Holy Grail: the Lille Havfrue. Not much to say frankly, the statue is small and surrounded by tourists posing for their Instragram account but well, I needed a pic too…

Because I enjoyed my raspberry mojito from Tolboden for too long, I missed the last ferry back and decided to take the train in Osterport. I didn’t regret it: the Nyboder area hosts a very colourful series of houses that are all the same!

In the evening, I discovered Nyhavn by night and ended up in a mini techno festival in Slotsholmen. I wish I could have gone to the Tivoli gardens but I didn’t as I was solotravelling and attractions seem better to enjoy with someone else. Anyway, despite the price , I have only heard good things about it!

Sunday in Christianshavn

My legs were still hurting from Saturday. So I decided to take the public transport: the waterbus! I got out in Nyhavn, to admire the boats during daytime, and walked over to Christianshavn on the pedestrian bridge. Attracted by a delicious barbecue smell, I discovered the Copenhagen Street food market, full of stalls and trucks selling all sorts of food and drinks from everywhere in the world. Such a nice atmosphere!

The next stop was the famous hippie “free town” of Christiania. I must admit I loved discovering colourful (again) houses, decorations and murals as well as walking up North along the water without being distured by any cars. I didn’t feel in a city anymore. But the “peace and love spirit” and the “let’s sell weed in the middle of the street” is definitely not my type of culture.

Out of Christiania and back in the European Union, I walked pass the Our Saviour’s Church  (Christians Kirke) – but the queue didn’t make me want to stay – and crossed over to Slotsholmen to discover Borsen and climb on top of the Christiansborg Castle (Christiansborg Slot). Very nice view of all landmarks of the city… and I even managed to spot the famous bridge to Malmö!

A last walk along the water to watch the sunset… and it was time to flight back home 😦 A pity I didn’t have an extra day or two togo to Roskilde, Helsingor or Malmö!

Have you been to Copenhagen? Did you have time to explore the region around the city too?