For me, Copenhagen was that random trip that everyone talks about. I had a 5 day break from school and was debating London or Stockholm when a Greek friend told me about her plans to go to Denmark. 100 euro tickets, cheap hostel, I was in. Denmark is one of those places you never hear about, but it ended up being one of my favorite trips. I invited another American guy, and so it was 2 Greeks and 2 Americans for Easter weekend in Copenhagen. Once we arrived, we found out why our tickets were probably so cheap- Copenhagen is shut down for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday. So, even though it has the longest shopping street in Europe (or something like that), it was no use to us. The city was anything but crowded, the weather was great, and we were a good travel group, so we had a great time.
Tivoli amusement park, which supposedly inspired a young Walt Disney on a trip there, is located in Copenhagen and easy to visit. There is also a distinct section of the town called Christiania, which is known for its hippie population and generally relaxed policies. The Danish are called snobby or snooty by some people, but I think their culture is just more reserved than some others to the south. Everyone that we encountered spoke flawless English, even though some told me that they rarely practice it.
On 3 nights, we went out for drinks around town and each time we were welcomed by locals to join them at their already crowded tables. Many of them told us that after a drink or two, the Danish lose much inhibition and love to meet new people. They were definitely neck and neck with the Irish for pub and bar friendliness.
I think Copenhagen was pretty expensive. It was difficult for me to tell because they use the Kroner, which converts to the Euro at about 7.25 to 1 or something. Then, converting Euro to USD at 1.45, it got pretty tricky to figure out.
The most advertised attraction of Copenhagen is probably The Little Mermaid statue, but it is not too old (20th century I think), not very big (slightly bigger than life size), and the sculpture itself isn’t all that impressive. Many of the locals I talked with joked with me about their main attraction, but it gave us a walk through a park one afternoon.
We found ourselves with plenty of time in Copenhagen with 5 days there, so we would sometimes just buy a grocery store beer and head to a park to hang out in the 70 degree sun. The Danes are in the running for the most beautiful people in Europe by some accounts, so lounging on the grass with a beer and watching people and hot air balloons go by filled our afternoons.
Although there weren’t many key sights in Copenhagen, it was a beautiful and fun city just to hang out in in good company. We enjoyed the people, the food ( I had at least 5 Danish danish), the weather and the city. Northern Europe is underrated in my opinion, and this trip inspired me to go to Stockholm for sure later in the year.